Quick Appliance Electrical Reference Matrix
Understanding the split between running watts, instantaneous locked-rotor surge watts, duty cycle percentage, and direct-DC eligibility prevents the vast majority of failed storm setups. Use the benchmark table below before combining multiple high-draw systems onto a single unit.
| Appliance Profile | Run Watts | Surge Peak | Duty Cycle | DC Bypass? | Key Electrical Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPAP Machine (Heater/Humidifier OFF) | 35 W | 45 W | 100% | Yes (28W) | Turning off heated humidifier + heated hose cuts draw from ~85W to ~35W AC (or ~28W via direct 24V DC converter). |
| CPAP Machine (Heater & Humidifier ON) | 88 W | 105 W | 90% | Yes (74W) | Thermal humidification triples nightly energy draw; DC converter still saves the 14W-38W AC inverter idle penalty. |
| Home Oxygen Concentrator (5 LPM) | 350 W | 750 W | 100% | AC Only | Stationary medical concentrators run continuous sieve-bed compressors; verify pure-sine surge headroom and reserve battery margin. |
| Full-Size Kitchen Refrigerator (18-24 cu ft) | 150 W | 1150 W | 42% | AC Only | Compressor runs ~42% of the day (~63W average), but AC inverter tare runs 100% of the 24-hour window plus periodic defrost spikes. |
| Deep Chest Freezer (10-15 cu ft) | 110 W | 880 W | 30% | AC Only | Stays frozen 24-48h unopened, but once powered on AC, inverter idle tare can exceed the freezer compressor energy itself. |
| 12V Compressor Cooler / Camp Fridge | 48 W | 65 W | 38% | Yes (42W) | Running a 12V fridge from the regulated cigarette-lighter port keeps AC inverter off and halves multi-day battery drain. |
| Basement Sump Pump (1/2 HP Cast Iron) | 800 W | 2600 W | 12% | AC Only | Locked-rotor startup spike reaches 2,400W-2,800W for ~300ms. Voltage-droop modes (X-Boost) will NOT run an inductive pump. |
| Forced-Air Gas Furnace Blower | 520 W | 1350 W | 35% | AC Only | Must be wired via transfer switch/EZ-switch. Many gas furnaces refuse to ignite on floating-neutral inverters without a bonding plug. |
| Submersible Deep Well Pump (240V 3/4 HP) | 1300 W | 3800 W | 8% | AC Only | Requires native 240V split-phase inverter (DELTA Pro 3 / SOLIX F3800) wired through a code-compliant interlock or transfer switch. |
| Wi-Fi Router + Fiber ONT Modem | 20 W | 25 W | 100% | Yes (16W) | On AC, a 38W inverter tare wastes 2.3x more energy than the 16W router itself. A $14 USB-C PD 12V trigger cable doubles runtime. |
| Starlink Mini Dish & Integrated Wi-Fi | 36 W | 60 W | 100% | Yes (30W) | Powering via 100W USB-C PD DC cable removes the external brick and keeps the power station AC stage asleep. |
| Starlink Standard Gen 3 (Snow Melt OFF) | 68 W | 110 W | 100% | AC Only | Enable Snow Melt OFF in the Starlink app during outages — automatic heating spikes continuous consumption past 140W. |
| Desktop PC / Home NAS Server (UPS Protected) | 165 W | 260 W | 100% | AC Only | ATX PSUs only guarantee ~16ms hold-up time; 20ms EPS transfer relays on some power stations cause hard reboots. |
| Laptop + 27" Monitor Work Setup | 75 W | 95 W | 85% | Yes (48W) | Closing the external monitor and charging the laptop over 65W USB-C PD cuts desk energy burn by over 40%. |
| Heated Electric Blanket (Medium Setting) | 95 W | 110 W | 55% | Yes (45W) | Heats your body inside a sleeping bag at ~52W avg — 25x less energy than a 1500W space heater for overnight survival. |
| 1500W Ceramic Space Heater (High) | 1500 W | 1520 W | 80% | AC Only | Purely resistive load empties an entire 1,024Wh power station in roughly 40-45 minutes. Never rely on batteries for room space heat. |
Four Rules That Govern Every Emergency Load Plan
Whether preparing for a multi-day Pacific Northwest atmospheric river, a mid-Atlantic winter ice storm, or a summer grid brownout, four universal electrical engineering rules dictate which homes stay warm, hydrated, and connected while neighbors run out of battery overnight:
- Rule 1 — Isolate Low-Wattage Electronics onto DC Immediately: Any device driven by an external 12V, 19V, or 24V wall brick (CPAP machines, routers, fiber ONTs, laptops, Starlink Mini, 12V compressor camp coolers) can run cleanly off USB-C PD or 12V car ports—letting you shut down the hungry AC inverter stage completely overnight.
- Rule 2 — Separate Resistive Wattage from Motor Torque: Never confuse voltage-droop boosting features (X-Boost, Power Lifting, SurgePad) with pure-sine surge headroom. Induction motors in cast-iron sump pumps, chest freezers, refrigerators, and submersible well pumps require full-voltage pure-sine peak amps during lock-rotor spin-up.
- Rule 3 — Guard Cold Batteries Against Freezing Solar Lockouts: Lithium Iron Phosphate packs deliver resilient cycle life, yet refuse all charge current below 32°F without active heating pads. Keep batteries indoors inside living hallways and route solar MC4 extension leads outside under door gaskets.
- Rule 4 — Respect 240V Split-Phase & Neutral-Ground Code Boundaries: Gas furnace flame sensors fail on floating neutrals, and 240V deep well pumps demand true out-of-phase L1/L2 dual-leg inverters wired through UL-listed interlocks or transfer switches.
Want to test custom wattage measurements from a Kill-A-Watt meter instead of defaults? Launch the Main Outage Physics Workbench or review our Simulation Equations and Station Bench Audits.