Our lab data revealed the portable power stations that will keep your fridge running during outages

Portable power stations are a great tool for keeping your most important devices – including phones, laptops and routers – charged in case of an emergency like a power outage, but what if you need to power your fridge or washing machine? You may feel like you need to spend thousands of dollars on a whole-home backup system like a Tesla Powerwall. But luckily, CNET’s lab tests revealed that you don’t need as much power to run your appliances as you might think.

We tested 19 large and extra-large portable power stations to see how long they could run our lab test refrigerator. Results showed that while extra-large models often keep your refrigerator running longer, that’s not universally true, and depending on your energy needs, a smaller portable power station can work just as well for many larger appliances.

Key points to remember:

• The Fossibot 3600 Pro performed best overall, keeping the test fridge running for an impressive 44.65 hours (1.86 days). Mega 5 Oupes follow closely in second place with 43.72 hours (1.82 days).
• The Oscal Power Max 2400 had by far the shortest runtime at just 12.58 hours (0.52 days).
• The Anker Solix F3800 Plus performed poorly for its size, lasting only 25.68 hours (1.07 days) despite its large 3,840 Wh capacity.
• The Bluetti AC200L unit is the efficiency king for large appliances, lasting 29.27 hours with a 2,048 Wh battery.
• The Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 is a high-performance model, lasting 27.4 hours with a 2,048 Wh battery.

Laboratory prices for power plants:

CNET’s lab tests give us tons of data that helps us determine the most efficient portable power stations in every size category. Our winners for round-trip efficiency, which measures how much energy you get from the power plant versus how much energy you have to draw from a wall outlet to recharge, are listed below.

Most efficient small unit (<600 Wh): UDPower AC0600 (RTE: 72.92%)
Most efficient average unit (600-1299 Wh): Bluetti Elite 100 V2 Biosourced (RTE: 83.44%)
Most efficient large unit (1,300-2,199 Wh): Bluetti Elite 200 (RTE: 81.08%)
Most efficient X-Large unit (>2200 Wh): Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus (RTE: 79.66%)

For charging speed, which measures how quickly a portable power station can charge to 100% from empty, we only have one winner.
Fastest charging: Oupes Mega 1 Lite 0.73 hours (approximately 44 minutes)

How CNET is testing portable disaster power stations

Each of the 19 portable power stations in our test batch was used to power a full-size refrigerator (Whirlpool, 60 Hz, single phase, 118 V, full load 7.2 A) until the battery was completely depleted. We measured how long each unit ran the refrigerator and reported the measured results in hours and days. Because this test reflects real-world usage rather than a laboratory-controlled measurement of battery capacity, efficiency ratings (round-trip efficiency) are only reported from our standard testing procedure.

While the results showed that larger units last longer for demanding appliances, they also revealed that slim, custom-designed models such as the Bluetti FridgeGuard prove that you don’t need bulky, bulky home backups. In fact, several of our top-performing models weren’t what we consider “extra-large,” with capacity above 2,200 watt-hours, but were instead in the more modest 1,300 to 2,199 Wh range.

Unique measurements we use for stress testing our refrigerators

Watt-hours measured (Wh): The total usable capacity that the battery can offer.
Refrigerator Watt-hours (Wh): The actual amount of energy consumed by the refrigerator during the test duration.
Delta: The difference between the measured Wh and the refrigerator Wh. This represents the energy that the power plant itself consumed (idle consumption) just to run its inverter for that period of time.
Discount percentage: The delta divided by the measured Wh. This gives us the exact percentage of the battery’s total usable energy that was wasted as internal overload.

The Best Power Stations for Major Appliances

Below is our list of powerhouses, ranked by how long they ran our test fridge.

As the combined list below shows, while units with huge XL battery capacities typically sit near the top, large, highly efficient units, including the Bluetti AC200L and Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2, can outperform several larger systems (such as the Anker Solix F3800 Plus and Pecron E3600LFP) simply because they waste much less power.

The extra-large models naturally dominated absolute runtimes, but performance varied widely depending on efficiency, with the Fossibot 3600 Pro being our clear winner in terms of battery life and efficiency at 44.65 hours (1.86 days). In the large category, despite having smaller batteries, the best large units were found to be incredibly energy efficient, with the Bluetti AC200L being the clear winner, providing 29.27 hours of fridge runtime (1.22 days).

Refrigerator operating time in descending order

1. Fossibot 3600 Pro: 44.65 hours (1.86 days)
2. Mega 5 Ops: 43.72 hours (1.82 days)
3. Jackery Home Power 3600 Plus: 38.58 hours (1.61 days)
4. Jackery Home Power 3000: 32.05 hours (1.34 days)
5. Bluetti Apex 300: 30.43 hours (1.27 days)
6. Bluetti AC200L: 29.27 hours (1.22 days)
7. Anker Solix F3000: 28.97 hours (1.21 days)
8. Pecron E3600LFP: 28.15 hours (1.17 days)
9. Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2: 27.40 hours (1.14 days)
10. Bluetti Elite 200: 26.32 hours (1.10 days)
11. Anker Solix F3800 Plus: 25.68 hours (1.07 days)
12. Bluetti FridgePower: 23.43 hours (0.98 days)
13. ETAKER M2000: 22.48 hours (0.94 days)
14. DJI Power 2000: 22.42 hours (0.93 days)
15. BougeRV Rover 2000: 9:10 p.m. (0.88 days)
16. Dabbsson 2000L: 9:00 p.m. (0.88 days)
17. Grecell H2400: 17.75 hours (0.74 days)
18. GoalZero Yeedi 1500: 16.50 hours (0.69 days)
19. OSCAL Power Max 2400: 12.58 hours (0.52 days)

After testing eight, we recommend just one extra-large portable power station for refrigerators.

Very large (> 2,200 Wh)

1. Fossibot 3600 Pro: 44.65 hours (1.86 days)
2. Mega 5 Ops: 43.72 hours (1.82 days)
3. Jackery Home Power 3600 Plus: 38.58 hours (1.61 days)
4. Jackery Home Power 3000: 32.05 hours (1.34 days)
5. Bluetti Apex 300: 30.43 hours (1.27 days)
6. Anker Solix F3000: 28.97 hours (1.21 days)
7. Pecron E3600LFP: 28.15 hours (1.17 days)
8. Anker Solix F3800 Plus: 25.68 hours (1.07 days)

The Fossibot 3600 Pro is the best powerhouse to run your refrigerator. Our test refrigerator ran for 44.65 hours (1.86 days). This means you can get almost two days of cooling in the event of a power outage if you own the 3600 Pro. It is also remarkably energy efficient. Even though the Oupes Mega 5 had a much larger measured watt hour (4,352.86 Wh compared to the Fossibot’s 3,293.74 Wh), the Oupes wasted an incredible 1,730.22 Wh just to run its inverter.

This resulted in a 39.75% reduction in efficiency for the Oupes Mega 5. Meanwhile, the Fossibot only lost 860.03 Wh on overload (a 26.11% reduction), allowing it to power the fridge for almost an hour longer despite its smaller battery. This shows better energy efficiency when handling cyclical loads of a refrigerator.

The Oupes Mega 5 comes in a close second in the extra-large category, offering 43.72 hours (or 1.82 days) of power. On paper, while these models appear to be in a bind, that says poorly about the much larger Mega 5, which only has 4,352.86 watt-hours, according to our measurements, despite what it claims on the box.

Compare that with the Fossibot 3600 Pro’s measured power of 3,293.74 Wh. This means that, despite having a massive capacity of 5,040 Wh on paper, the Oupes Mega 5 actually loses a huge portion of it in the real world, making it ineffective at running the cyclical loads of a typical refrigerator.

After the Mega 5 Opps, our list begins to separate into more distinct winners. The Jackery Home Power 36000 Plus lasts 38.58 hours (1.61 days), while the Home Power 3000 lasts 32.05 hours (1.34 days). This is to be expected based on size and capacity, since each subsequent unit, like the Bluetti Apex 300, had lower measured watt hours and capacity than the previous model.

Large portable power stations that punch above their weight

Large (1,300 to 2,199 Wh

1. Bluetti AC200L: 29.27 hours (1.22 days)
2. Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2: 27.40 hours (1.14 days)
3. Bluetti Elite 200: 26.32 hours (1.10 days)
4. Bluetti FridgePower: 23.43 hours (0.98 days)
5. ETAKER M2000: 22.48 hours (0.94 days)
6. DJI Power 2000: 22.42 hours (0.93 days)
7. BougeRV Rover2000: 9:10 p.m. (0.88 days)
8. Dabbsson 2000L: 9:00 p.m. (0.88 days)
9. Grecell H2400: 17.75 hours (0.74 days)
10. GoalZero Yeedi 1500: 16.50 hours (0.69 days)
11. OSCAL Power Max 2400: 12.58 hours (0.52 days)

If you’re looking for a smaller portable power station that can still run your refrigerator and other key appliances, look no further than the Bluetti AC200L. With a capacity of just 2,048 Wh, it ran the fridge for 29.27 hours.

It completely outperformed several XL units with significantly larger batteries, including the Anker Solix F3000 (3,072 Wh), which lasted 28.97 hours, the Pecron E3600LFP (3,072 Wh), which lasted 28.15 hours, and the Anker Solix F3800 Plus (3,840 Wh), which lasted 25.68 hours.

It dominated the large category by a solid margin, beating the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 (27.40 hours) and the Bluetti Elite 200 (26.32 hours).

However, the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 is also worth considering. Also offering a capacity of 2,048 Wh, it achieved 27.40 hours of battery life, comfortably outperforming the XL Anker Solix F3800 Plus despite having a battery almost half the size on paper.

How much wattage/wattage do you actually need to run your major appliances?

Our lab tests show that you may not need as much wattage or wattage in your portable power stations as you might think. It all depends on what you’re trying to feed.

“Simply put, 80% of users’ actual backup power needs are below 200W,” said Sean Tan, public relations manager at Anker Solix, referring to data from a survey of 759 Anker Power Plant customers. “Refrigerators, Wi-Fi routers, lights, phone/laptop charging. No air conditioners. No power tools. The ‘wattage arms race’ has been optimized for the edge 20%, while the 80% pay extra for capacity they never use.”

For refrigerators in particular, you need to consider that these are intermittent loads. This means they cycle on and off, consuming a lot of power for short periods of time, then going into a low-power sleep mode. For this reason, the efficiency of the inverter and the self-consumption of a power plant (no-load consumption) matter more than just the size of the battery. That’s why a portable powerhouse like the Fossibot F3600 Pro can beat out something like the Oupes Mega 5, which looks bigger on paper in terms of capacity.

“We typically recommend a 1 kW or 2 kW power plant for common kitchen appliances such as refrigerators, microwaves and coffee makers,” said Brian Essenmacher, North American business development manager for EcoFlow. “These mid-sized units can typically power a refrigerator for half a day or a full day. »

“A smaller refrigerator of 10 to 15 cubic feet, during a short four-hour outage, may only require a power plant of about 1 kWh,” said Marc Deng, R&D manager at Bluetti, agreeing with the power estimate, while emphasizing that for U.S. consumers the requirement could be higher. “But the reality for many American households is different. The largest French door and side-by-side refrigerators are often between 18 and 28 cubic feet, with a typical power consumption of around 80 to 190 W. For families preparing for longer outages caused by hurricanes, winter storms, or grid outages, around 2 kWh becomes a much more practical starting point.”

What you need to know before buying a power plant for a refrigerator

“The biggest pitfall is looking only at capacity,” Tan said. “Capacity tells you how much energy is stored, not how much actually reaches the device.” It highlights two things that matter more: low-load efficiency and idle consumption. “A household refrigerator operates between 100 and 200 W, turning on and off cyclically. Most of the time, the power plant operates well below its rated power. Efficiency at these light loads varies greatly from unit to unit.” As for idling consumption, “When the refrigerator compressor is turned off, the power plant remains essentially idle, but continues to burn energy. Typical industry idle consumption is 15-20W. This adds up quickly. »

Those looking for a reliable backup solution for their refrigerator should prioritize low idle power consumption and high small-load efficiency over purchasing the largest and heaviest battery available. A well-optimized 2,000 Wh unit can easily outlast a poorly optimized 3,000+ Wh unit, as our data shows. By default, all portable power stations waste energy; the key is to find the one that wastes the least, while still providing stable power.

Ideally, you also want one with an uninterruptible power supply (or UPS), which helps maintain a stable, continuous power supply. “Modern refrigerators often rely on electronic controls and variable frequency compressors, designed to operate continuously under stable power conditions,” said Marc Deng, R&D manager at Bluetti. “A good rule of thumb is that the inverter transition time should be less than 20 milliseconds, with around 10 milliseconds being ideal. If the transfer is too slow, the refrigerator’s internal electronics can reset, causing the compressor and control system to restart unnecessarily. Over time, repeated interruptions can create additional strain on the device.”

It’s also important not to overlook the surge statistic claimed by many portable power stations. Deng pointed out that depending on the refrigerator model, the start-up surge can range from around 600 W to well over 1,200 W. “The surge power is very important,” Tan said. “Starting the compressor consumes several times the operating power. A station needs 2,500 to 3,000 watts peak to reliably handle most residential refrigerators.”

You also need to consider the percentage of energy wasted on overhead. The Anker Solix F3800 Plus wasted 46.63% of its power just staying operational, which explains its short runtime. The Pecron E3600LFP had the lowest pressure loss with a tiny 15.75% reduction, while other highly efficient units included the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 (18.21% loss) and the Bluetti AC200L (22.16% loss). These low-loss units ensure that energy actually reaches the refrigerator rather than being lost as internal heat.

In the XL category, our clear winner is the Fossibot F3600 Pro, which costs $2,600 at full price, but is often on sale for less. It lasted the longest and wasted the least energy in the XL category. For large power plants, our winner is the Bluetti AC200L. It exceeded its size and electrical capacity, providing excellent efficiency and the longest refrigerator run time of any large portable power station.

Do you need a portable power station designed specifically for refrigerators?

It’s worth noting that there is a new category of portable power stations, with slim models designed to sit or be mounted behind a refrigerator. Examples include the new Bluetti FridgePower and the Jackery FridgeGuard, both of which I’m testing at home, while Anker’s Solix S2000 is a more traditional version of this capability.

Of these, we were only able to run lab tests on the FridgePower, and the results are impressive. It’s on the higher end of portable power, allowing our test fridge to run for 23.43 hours (0.98 days), which lasts almost a full day. Of its measured capacity of 1,621.09 Wh, the FridgePower only lost 328.08 Wh (a 20.24% reduction) due to internal inverter overhead. This compares favorably to other, more efficient models.

Although it doesn’t keep the refrigerator running for several days, even the bulky Fossibot 3600 Pro struggles to do so. Design is its biggest selling point: the FridgePower is thin, lightweight, and can be out of sight and out of mind, unlike plugging your refrigerator into a traditional power station. So while it’s not needed to power a refrigerator, the FridgePower won’t be out of place in your kitchen and provides enough power to get you through an outage.