Watt Hour Capacity Needed

How much watt hour capacity do I need?

Whether you are looking to use a portable power station for travel, RV, work, or home use – the main question will end up being:  how much watt hour (battery) capacity will I need?  To figure this out you will need to estimate what devices will need to be powered and how much power they will require to run.

Watts are a measure of energy used to power a device.  So, what we want to know is how many watts does each device take.

Watt hours are the amount of hours a device is powered, multiplied by the watts used.

Watt hour capacity is the amount of energy a portable power station can store.  Once we know what total watt hours our devices will need, then we can better select a power station size.

Calculate watt hour capacity

The wattage given is typically for 1 hour of time.  Thus, to calculate the watt hour capacity needed to power a device, multiply the device’s watt usage by the hours the device needs to be powered.

For example:  if we want to power a 10W led light fixture for 5 hours, then we would multiply the watts & hours to calculate the total Wh capacity we would need from a portable power station.  …10 watts x 5 hours = 50Wh. 

Device Watt Hour Use Samples

Below our a few sample watt use calculations, to help give an idea of how much power devices might take.  Do verify your own device watt use requirements, and add in any additional devices you might need.

Portable Power Station Sizes

The overall portable power station capacities can be divided into three main groups/ ranges: small, medium, large.  The larger size capacities are more suitable for home use.  These larger sizes come in 1,000 Wh; 2,200 Wh; 3,600 Wh; 7,200 Wh; etc.; capacities.

Portable Power Station Sizes:
Small:    < 500 Wh
Medium:   500 Wh – 1,000 Wh
Large:    1,000 Wh +