If the power fails at 2 a.m., your CPAP is the one load in the house that can’t wait until morning. The good news: CPAPs are modest power draws, and most mid-size power stations can run one. The catch is that “can run one” and “can run one all night, with margin, the way you actually use it” are two different answers.
This roundup picks four stations from our 20-product database by use case — multi-night outages, a single night on a budget, travel, and a week without power. Every runtime below is capacity math, labeled Estimate, with the assumptions shown. For the underlying sizing method, see our CPAP backup power sizing guide — this page applies it to specific products.
A boundary before the picks: this is power planning, not medical advice. We can’t tell you any setup is safe for your condition. Verify your device’s draw with its manufacturer, size for the settings you actually use, test at home on a normal night, and talk to your clinician or device provider about anything device-specific.
We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
The draw, in plain numbers
A CPAP running pressure only typically draws ~40–90W depending on the machine, with ~60W the common planning figure (Estimate — check your manual; the number on the power brick is the supply’s rating, not necessarily the running draw).
The single biggest variable isn’t the brand of machine. It’s the heated humidifier: with the humidifier and heated tube running, draw roughly doubles — plan on ~90W (Estimate). Whether you use the humidifier is a therapy decision for you and your provider; what we can tell you is the power consequence, because it changes the battery you need by a full size class.
One efficiency fact that works in your favor: most CPAP makers sell a 12V DC converter for their machines. A station’s inverter loses roughly 15% of the energy it converts to AC (our math assumes 85% inverter efficiency). Running through a DC converter skips most of that loss, so the same station lasts longer. Whether a converter exists for your model, and whether a station’s DC output matches it, is a spec-sheet question for both manufacturers — but if it fits, it’s free runtime.
The math behind every “nights” figure below
We use the site’s standard formula — requirement = watts × hours ÷ 0.85 efficiency × 1.20 reserve:
One night, pressure only (60W × 8h): ≈ 678Wh of station capacity
One night, humidifier on (90W × 8h): ≈ 1,016Wh of station capacity
“Nights” for each pick = its rated capacity ÷ the nightly requirement above, rounded conservatively. The 20% reserve is deliberate: batteries age, rooms get cold, estimates are estimates. Note what this math does to the smallest stations in our database: the 268Wh BLUETTI EB3A, the 245Wh EcoFlow RIVER 3, and the 518Wh Jackery Explorer 500 all fall short of even one planned night — 17 of our 20 products clear a single night at 60W, and those three are why it isn’t 20.
Best overall for multi-night outages: BLUETTI Elite 200 V2
Nights (Estimate): ≈3 nights pressure-only · ≈2 nights with humidifier
Strength: the recharge speed to match the capacity. Its 1,000W solar input (Manufacturer specification) is the fastest in the 2kWh class alongside the EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max, so on a multi-day outage a sunny afternoon meaningfully refills what the night used — the difference between a station that lasts a weekend and one that lasts until the grid returns.
Limitation: 53.4 lbs is the heaviest in its class (the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 carries nearly the same capacity at 39.4 lbs). Fine beside a bed; not something you want to carry upstairs nightly. It also has no expansion-battery path in our records — 2,073.6Wh is the ceiling.
Nights (Estimate): 1 night with real margin pressure-only (≈1.5 in the raw math) · ≈1 night with humidifier, with essentially no margin to spare
Strength: price per watt-hour. At $349 for 1,024Wh (Manufacturer specifications, price checked Oct 15, 2026), it’s the cheapest station in our database that clears the one-night requirement with reserve — nothing smaller or cheaper does the math. It’s the honest floor for CPAP backup, not a compromise pick.
Limitation: the humidifier scenario uses the whole battery. If your humidifier runs all night, every night, treat this as a one-night-only answer and look at the 2kWh class above. An expansion battery (up to 3,072Wh total) exists, but at that combined price the 2kWh stations are usually the better buy.
Nights (Estimate): 1 night with margin pressure-only (≈1.6 in the raw math) · ≈1 night with humidifier
Strength: it’s the lightest full-night answer we stock — 23.8 lbs for a genuine 1,070Wh (Manufacturer specifications). For a station that has to move between a bedroom, a car, and a campsite, nothing else in our records clears the one-night bar at this weight; the next tier down (500Wh class) fails the math outright.
Limitation: no expansion path, and 400W maximum solar input is slow if you’re recharging off-grid between nights. This is a one-to-two-night tool you recharge from a wall when you can, not a ride-out-the-week system.
Nights (Estimate): ≈6 nights pressure-only as it sits · ≈4 nights with humidifier · up to ≈12 nights with humidifier if expanded to its 12,288Wh maximum (Manufacturer specification)
Strength: it’s the only pick here where a week is a planning scenario rather than a hope. The expansion headroom plus 2,600W of solar input (Manufacturer specifications) mean capacity can be added or refilled faster than a CPAP drains it, and the same unit covers the fridge and other household loads in our sizing guide scenarios while it’s at it.
Limitation: cost and weight, plainly. $2,799 and 113.5 lbs is a home-backup appliance, not a CPAP accessory — it’s oversized if CPAP is genuinely your only load, and it does not travel. Buy it for the house, and let the CPAP be one of the things it covers.
The AC180 deserves its “also ran” line: at $499 it splits the DELTA 2 and the Explorer 1000 v2 on capacity (≈1.7 nights pressure-only in the math) and is a reasonable pick if the 2kWh class is more than you want to spend. Compare it directly on its product page.
How to choose — run your numbers, not ours
These picks assume 60W/90W draws and 8-hour nights. Your machine, your settings, and your sleep schedule move the answer:
Get your real draw. Your manual or the manufacturer’s spec page beats any planning figure — including ours. If you can only find the power-brick rating, use it as the conservative number.
Decide the humidifier question as a power question. If it stays on, you need roughly 1,016Wh per night of planned capacity; off, roughly 678Wh. (How you use your therapy is between you and your provider — we’re only pricing the electricity.)
Count your nights, then add the reserve. Multiply the nightly requirement by the outage length you want to survive. Our formula already includes a 20% reserve; don’t strip it out to make a smaller station “fit.”
Check the converter option. A manufacturer 12V DC converter, if one exists for your machine and matches the station’s DC output, effectively buys you runtime the AC math doesn’t credit.
Test before it matters. Run one full night at home on the station and read the remaining charge in the morning. That number outranks every estimate on this page.
Run your own figures — your watts, your hours, your humidifier setting — in the Outage Brief sizing guide with the CPAP scenario, and read the full CPAP sizing guide for the safety framing behind the math.
Then join the Outage Brief newsletter: one short email a week with verified price checks and outage-prep walkthroughs, so the station you picked is charged, tested, and ready before the night you need it.
Short answer first. For a standard full-size fridge, the sweet spot is the 2,000Wh class: in our sizing guide, 11 of the 20 stations in our database keep a typical fridge running a full 24 hours, and every one of them is 2,000Wh or larger. Our picks below come from those 11 — ranked by use case, not by commission. Prices are from manufacturer stores, checked October 2026, and they change; the check date is shown with each price.
We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
Running watts are modest. A typical full-size fridge’s compressor draws about 150W while it runs.
It doesn’t run constantly. The compressor cycles on and off — a duty cycle of roughly 35% is the standard planning figure. That puts daily consumption at about 1,260Wh (150W × 24h × 35%).
Startup surge is brief but real. When the compressor kicks on, it can spike to roughly 750–1,200W for a fraction of a second (Estimate). Every station below clears that spike on continuous output alone — for a fridge, capacity runs out long before power does.
Apply our standard planning math — required capacity = energy ÷ 0.85 inverter efficiency × 1.20 reserve — and a full 24 hours needs about 1,779Wh of rated capacity. All runtimes below are Estimates at 80–90% inverter efficiency, assuming the fridge above.
The DELTA 3 Max does the full day with roughly a third of its battery to spare, and it’s the easiest of the full-day stations to live with: at 44.8 lbs it’s near the light end of the class, and it recharges from a wall outlet faster than anything else here — 0–80% in about 68 minutes, which matters when the grid flickers back for an hour mid-outage.
Limitation: it’s a fixed size. The base DELTA 3 Max has no extra-battery port (expansion is a feature of the separate DELTA 3 Max Plus), and its 500W solar input ceiling is the lowest in this lineup — fine for topping up, slow for multi-day solar-only running.
Three stations in this roundup wear a $899 tag; the Elite 200 V2 returns the most fridge-hours for it. It holds the most capacity of the three, posts the longest estimated runtime in the 2,000Wh class, and works out to about $434 per kWh — the lowest cost per unit of storage of all 11 full-day matches. Its 2,600W continuous output is also the highest in the class, and BLUETTI rates the battery for 6,000+ cycles.
Limitation: at 53.4 lbs it’s the heaviest of the $899 stations — roughly 9 lbs more than the DELTA 3 Max for about an extra hour of runtime. Like the DELTA 3 Max, it isn’t expandable.
If your outages run two or three days, this is the pick. On its own it carries our example fridge for roughly two and a half days; add up to two extra batteries and the same fridge runs past five days (Estimate). It also takes up to 2,600W of solar — the most here — so a sunny day genuinely refills it, and EcoFlow lists it as UL 9540 certified. (The Anker SOLIX F3800 in the table below is the alternative if you want even more expansion headroom — up to 26,880Wh — at a lower starting price.)
Limitation: 113.5 lbs on wheels. This is a unit you park next to the fridge before the storm, not one you carry room to room. And at $2,799, you’re paying for whole-home output (including 240V) that a fridge alone will never use.
The Explorer 2000 v2 is the lightest station that makes the full 24 hours — 39.4 lbs, about 14 lbs less than the Elite 200 V2 and the easiest here to carry up stairs or load into a car. It gives up nothing on the core job: the same 31–35-hour estimated fridge runtime as the rest of the 2,000Wh class, with five AC outlets.
Limitation: no expansion port, and its 400W solar input ceiling is the lowest in this roundup — irrelevant for a one-day outage, a real constraint if you later want to stretch into multi-day solar running. Its fastest recharge (~1.7 hours) also requires turning on emergency charging in the Jackery app.
Two honest notes on the table. The Explorer 3000 Pro’s $2,499 is Jackery’s refurbished price — it’s no longer sold new in the US — and it’s the worst value per kWh here. The F2000 matches the 2,000Wh class on runtime but costs more than double the $899 stations; it’s in the table because it’s a verified full match, not because we’d send you to it first.
What didn’t make the cut: the entire 1,000Wh class. Good stations — the BLUETTI AC180 ($499) runs our example fridge an estimated 18–20 hours — but none of them reaches 24 hours. If your outages are almost always under ~18 hours, that class saves real money; just buy it knowing where the wall is.
How to choose
Start with your fridge, not our example. Your EnergyGuide label (annual kWh ÷ 365) gives your fridge’s real daily consumption. Our sizing article walks through substituting it into the same formula.
Respect the duty cycle. The 35% figure assumes a reasonably cool room and a closed door. A fridge in a hot garage, opened often, can hit a 50% duty cycle — daily need climbs to roughly 2,540Wh, the 2,000Wh class falls short, and the 3,600Wh tier becomes the honest answer.
The runtime headroom is your second-load budget. Every 2,000Wh pick above runs the fridge 31–36 hours, not 24 — that surplus is what powers a router, lights, and phone charging alongside it. Add a freezer or a work-from-home setup and the surplus disappears fast; that’s what the calculator is for.
Buy expansion only if you’ll use it. Among the picks, only the DELTA Pro 3 grows after purchase. If your outages are reliably one day, a fixed 2,000Wh station at $899 beats a $2,799 expandable one you never expand.
Your next step
Run your own fridge — and everything you want alongside it — through the Outage Brief sizing guide. The fridge preset uses the same duty-cycle, efficiency, and reserve math as this article, applied to all 20 stations in our database.
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The transfer-switch boundary: when a portable station isn’t enough
There’s a clean line in backup power, and it matters more than any spec sheet: anything you plug into the station is your business; anything that connects a backup source to your home’s wiring belongs to a licensed electrician. This guide explains where that line is, what sits on each side of it, and how to know when you’ve outgrown a portable power station.
A quick note on what this guide is not: we don’t give electrical installation advice. Transfer switches, panel interlocks, and whole-home wiring get referred to licensed electricians and manufacturer instructions, every time. We explain the boundary; we don’t cross it.
The line, stated plainly
A portable power station is designed for one job: you plug devices directly into its outlets — fridge, phones, router, CPAP, a lamp — and it powers them. No house wiring involved, no electrician needed. That’s the entire use case our product records and calculator are built around.
The moment you want backup power to flow through your home’s circuits — into wall outlets, hardwired appliances, or the breaker panel itself — you’ve crossed the boundary. That work involves your electrical panel, permits in most jurisdictions, and mistakes that can injure utility lineworkers or burn down a house. It requires a licensed electrician. There is no DIY version of this that we will ever recommend.
What a transfer switch actually does (conceptually)
When the grid goes down and a backup source feeds your home’s wiring, there has to be exactly one source connected at a time — grid or backup, never both. A transfer switch (or the simpler panel interlock kit) is the hardware that enforces that rule. It physically prevents your backup source from energizing the utility lines outside your house.
Why that matters: if your generator or battery system backfeeds power onto “dead” utility lines, a lineworker repairing those lines can be electrocuted by your house. This isn’t theoretical — it’s the reason transfer equipment exists, the reason it’s code-required, and the reason utilities and inspectors care about it.
You don’t need to know how to wire one. You need to know that it exists, what problem it solves, and that installing it is electrician work.
Signs you’ve outgrown a portable station
A portable station stops being the right answer when the loads stop being portable:
Hardwired loads you can’t unplug. A furnace or boiler, a well pump, a hardwired sump pump, hardwired smoke/CO detectors on backup circuits — if it doesn’t have a plug, a portable station can’t feed it without an electrician in the middle.
You want backup to be automatic. If nobody’s home to wheel out the station and plug things in — or the person home can’t do it safely — you’re describing a standby system, not a portable one.
The outage scenario is days, not hours. Our outage kits guide covers what portables handle well. Past that, the math usually favors a larger installed system or a fuel generator with proper transfer equipment.
You’re already thinking about the panel. The moment the plan involves breakers, subpanels, or “just running a line from the garage,” stop and call the electrician first. That sentence is the boundary announcing itself.
None of this means a portable station was the wrong purchase — most households’ critical loads (fridge, phones, medical devices, lights) are plug loads, and a station covers them without any wiring work at all.
The thing you must never do: backfeeding
Because it comes up in every outage forum: never plug a generator or power station into a wall outlet to “backfeed” your house (sometimes done with a double-male “suicide cord”). This energizes your home’s wiring without any transfer equipment — which means it can energize the utility lines outside, endangering lineworkers, and it bypasses your panel’s protection in ways that can start fires. It’s illegal in most places, it can void your homeowner’s insurance, and it has killed people.
If someone suggests this as a shortcut around hiring an electrician, that suggestion is the reason the electrician exists. This is a safety warning, not a how-to — there is no safe version of it.
What the electrician conversation looks like
You don’t need to arrive with a plan; a good electrician will size the job. But it helps to know the vocabulary so you can follow along:
Manual transfer switch: a separate switch (often 6–10 circuits) installed next to your panel. When the power goes out, you start your backup source and flip the switch. You choose which circuits get backup.
Panel interlock kit: a mechanical plate on your existing panel that prevents the main breaker and a backfeed breaker from being on at the same time. Simpler and cheaper than a separate transfer switch; still electrician-and-permit work.
Automatic transfer switch (ATS): senses the outage and switches over by itself. This is standby-generator territory — bigger project, bigger cost.
What to ask: which option fits your panel, whether your jurisdiction requires a permit and inspection (most do), and what the total installed cost looks like — get two or three local quotes, because pricing varies widely by panel, region, and scope. What not to ask: how to do any of it yourself.
Where large portable stations fit in
Some of the biggest stations blur the line on purpose. EcoFlow’s DELTA Pro line can pair with a Smart Home Panel, and Anker’s SOLIX F3800 has a home power panel accessory — these are transfer-switch-style products designed to integrate a portable station with home circuits. They can be a sensible middle ground between a plug-in station and a full standby generator.
The boundary still applies: the panel accessory gets installed by a licensed electrician. Buying the hardware doesn’t move the line — connecting anything to your home’s wiring is what the line is about. Our product records note which stations offer these accessories; treat the accessory as the start of an electrician conversation, not the end of one.
The bottom line
Plug loads into the station yourself — that’s what it’s for, and no electrician is needed.
The moment backup power touches your home’s wiring, that’s a licensed electrician’s job: transfer switch, interlock kit, permits, inspection.
Never backfeed through a wall outlet. No exceptions, no shortcuts.
If your critical loads are hardwired or you need automatic backup, price the electrician’s options before buying a bigger portable — the right answer might be wiring, not watt-hours.
Size the plug-load side with our calculator, compare stations in our product records, and if sump pumps are your worry, read the surge guide — it’s the most common place people discover the boundary the hard way.
New to backup power sizing? Join the Outage Brief newsletter — one short, sourced lesson a week, plus verified price drops on the stations we cover.
The 2kWh class is where backup gets serious: a full-size fridge for 24+ hours, a sump pump through a storm, or a multi-day outage kit for the essentials. Four units dominate this class right now, all within $150 of each other, all LiFePO4, all within 6Wh of identical capacity. So the decision comes down to output, weight, solar input, warranty — and price.
All specs below are manufacturer specifications checked 2026-10-15 against the product records. Prices are manufacturer direct-to-consumer, checked the same date. We have not hands-on tested any of these units.
We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
Head-to-head
EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max
Jackery Explorer 2000 v2
BLUETTI AC200L
Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2
Rated capacity
2,048 Wh
2,042 Wh
2,048 Wh
2,048 Wh
Continuous output
2,400 W
2,200 W
2,400 W
2,400 W
Surge / peak
4,800 W
4,400 W
unverified (mfr cites 3,600W Power Lifting mode; third parties cite 4,800W peak)
4,000 W
Battery chemistry
LiFePO4
LiFePO4
LiFePO4
LiFePO4
Weight
50 lbs
39.4 lbs
62.4 lbs
41.7 lbs
Solar input (max)
1,000 W
400 W
1,200 W
800 W
AC recharge
X-Stream 1,800W input (0–100% time unverified)
~1.7 hrs (emergency super charge)
0–80% in 45 min
0–80% in 45 min; 100% in 58 min (AC+solar)
Warranty
5 years
3 years + 2 extended
5 years
unverified (no term on mfr page)
Price (checked 2026-10-15)
$1,049
$999
$899
$999.99 (list $1,199.99)
$/Wh
$0.51
$0.49
$0.44
$0.49
What actually separates them
Capacity is a tie. 2,042–2,048Wh across all four. The differences that matter:
Weight. The AC200L is 62.4 lbs — a two-person lift. The Explorer 2000 v2 (39.4 lbs) and C2000 Gen 2 (41.7 lbs) are the portable ones.
Solar input. The AC200L takes 1,200W of solar, the DELTA 2 Max 1,000W, the C2000 Gen 2 800W, and the Explorer 2000 v2 only 400W. Jackery’s 400W ceiling is a real limitation for multi-day solar recharging.
Output. Three of the four do 2,400W continuous; the Explorer 2000 v2 does 2,200W. In practice, 2,200W vs. 2,400W rarely decides anything. (For the sump-pump surge math, see our sump pump guide.)
Warranty. EcoFlow and BLUETTI: 5 years. Jackery: 3 + 2 extended on direct purchases. Anker: no warranty term published on the product page at check time.
Price. The AC200L at $899 is $150 under the DELTA 2 Max — $0.44/Wh. But that discount buys you 62 lbs and an unverified surge rating.
The verdict (reasoning disclosed)
Best all-rounder:Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2 at $999.99. 2,400W output, 41.7 lbs (portable), 800W solar, 58-minute full recharge, $200 under list. The warranty gap is the only asterisk.
Best value if it never moves:BLUETTI AC200L at $899. Cheapest per Wh, 5-year warranty, massive 1,200W solar input — a stationary pick, not a portable one.
Best for portability:Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 at $999. Lightest in class, but the 400W solar ceiling hurts multi-day solar plans.
Best for maximum solar + output:EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max at $1,049. 1,000W solar, 4,800W surge, 5-year warranty — the most capable, and the priciest.
No single winner: the right pick is the one whose strengths match your scenario.
Here’s something most “best budget power station” listicles won’t tell you: the budget tier is in transition right now. Two of the three best-known sub-$300 units are being wound down by their manufacturers. This comparison tells you what’s actually buyable today, not what was a good deal in 2024.
All specs below are manufacturer specifications checked 2026-10-15 against the product records. We have not hands-on tested any of these units.
We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
The availability situation (read this first)
BLUETTI EB3A: BLUETTI’s US page now marks it discontinued and out of stock. Still available on Amazon at street prices (~$198 last seen). Buyable, but only third-party.
EcoFlow RIVER 3 (base): EcoFlow US no longer sells the base model direct — the page redirects to the RIVER 3 Max bundle ($319). Effectively unavailable new from the manufacturer.
Jackery Explorer 500: Jackery’s direct page redirects to the newer HomePower 1000 v2. Available on Amazon at street prices (~$299 last seen).
Head-to-head
BLUETTI EB3A
EcoFlow RIVER 3 (base)
Jackery Explorer 500
Rated capacity
268 Wh
245 Wh
518 Wh
Continuous output
600 W
300 W
500 W
Surge / peak
1,200 W
600 W
1,000 W
Battery chemistry
LiFePO4 (2,500+ cycles)
LiFePO4
Li-ion NMC (~500 cycles)
Weight
10.1 lbs
7.8 lbs
13.3 lbs
Solar input (max)
200 W
110 W
100 W
AC recharge
~1.3 hr (Turbo)
~60 min
~7.5 hr (external charger)
Warranty
2 years
2 years
2 + 1 years
Availability (checked 2026-10-15)
DTC discontinued; ~$198 Amazon street
Base model not sold direct; Max bundle $319
DTC redirected; ~$299 Amazon street
$/Wh (at street price)
~$0.74
n/a (base)
~$0.58
What the numbers mean
The Explorer 500 has nearly double the capacity of the other two (518Wh vs. ~250Wh) — but it’s the older NMC chemistry, rated around 500 cycles to 80%+. The EB3A’s LiFePO4 battery is rated 2,500+ cycles: roughly five times the cycle life. For occasional outage use, NMC is fine. See LiFePO4 batteries in plain English.
The RIVER 3 is the most portable (7.8 lbs) with the fastest recharge (~60 min), but 300W continuous output limits it to small electronics. And the base model is effectively gone; the $319 Max bundle is a different product at a different price.
The EB3A hits the sweet spot on paper — 600W output, LiFePO4 longevity, 200W solar input — but you’re buying an outgoing model from third-party stock. Fine if the price is right; check the seller’s return policy.
The verdict (reasoning disclosed)
Need something cheap today for phones/laptops/lights? The Explorer 500 at ~$299 street is the most buyable of the three and has the most capacity. Accept the NMC chemistry — at this price and for occasional use, it’s fine.
Find the EB3A under $200 on Amazon? That’s the value play — LiFePO4, 600W output, more versatile than the other two.
Can you stretch to ~$500? Leave this tier entirely. The 1kWh class (DELTA 3, Explorer 1000 v2, AC180) is where the actual value is right now.
We’ll update this page as the replacement models land — that’s the point of a maintained comparison.
Prices checked 2026-10-15. Availability changes fast in this tier; verify before buying.
If you’re shopping for one power station in the ~1kWh class — enough for a fridge overnight, a CPAP for multiple nights, or a full work-from-home setup through a workday — these are the two units you’ll keep coming back to. Both are LiFePO4, both recharge in about an hour, and they’re $70 apart. The differences are in output power, weight, warranty, and expandability.
All specs below are manufacturer specifications checked 2026-10-15 against the product records (DELTA 3, Explorer 1000 v2). Prices are manufacturer direct-to-consumer, checked the same date. We have not hands-on tested either unit.
We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
The short version
Buy the DELTA 3 if you run anything with a heating element or a motor — 1,800W continuous vs. 1,500W is the difference between a microwave working and tripping. Faster recharge, 5-year warranty, and expandable to 5kWh.
Buy the Explorer 1000 v2 if portability and price matter most — it’s 4 lbs lighter, $70 cheaper, and still covers the same core scenarios.
Head-to-head
EcoFlow DELTA 3
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2
Rated capacity
1,024 Wh
1,070 Wh
Continuous output
1,800 W
1,500 W
Surge / peak
3,600 W (X-Boost to 2,200W)
3,000 W
Battery chemistry
LiFePO4, 4,000 cycles to 80%+
LiFePO4
Weight
27.6 lbs
23.8 lbs
Solar input (max)
500 W
400 W
AC recharge
56 min (1,500W input)
~59 min emergency super charge (app)
AC outlets
6
3× 120V
UPS switchover
<10 ms
≤20 ms
Expansion
Yes — up to 5 kWh
No expansion port listed
Warranty
5 years
3 years + 2 extended
Price (checked 2026-10-15)
$629
$559
$/Wh
$0.61
$0.52
Where the DELTA 3 wins: output and recharge
1,800W continuous is the headline. In practical terms: a full-size microwave (~1,000–1,200W running), a coffee maker (~900–1,200W), or a circular saw (~1,400W running) all sit above the Explorer’s 1,500W ceiling but inside the DELTA 3’s. It also recharges faster on paper (56 minutes at 1,500W AC input), takes more solar (500W vs. 400W), carries a 5-year warranty vs. Jackery’s 3+2, and is the only one with an expansion path — extra batteries take it to 5kWh.
Where the Explorer 1000 v2 wins: weight and price
23.8 lbs vs. 27.6 lbs doesn’t sound like much until you’re carrying it up apartment stairs. The Explorer is the more portable unit, and it’s $70 cheaper — $0.52/Wh vs. $0.61/Wh. For the core scenarios both handle identically — fridge overnight, CPAP for 2–3 nights, router + phones + lights for a day — the Jackery does the same job for less money and less weight.
The verdict (reasoning disclosed)
Anything over 1,500W in your plan? DELTA 3. That’s microwaves, many coffee makers, power tools, and some sump pumps. The 300W output gap is the whole decision.
All loads under 1,500W? Explorer 1000 v2. Same scenarios, lighter, cheaper.
Planning to expand later? DELTA 3 — it’s the only one with an expansion path.
Neither is a bad buy. Both are LiFePO4 with multi-thousand-cycle batteries, both recharge in about an hour, and both sit in the sweet spot this site recommends for first-time buyers.
This is the heavy class: 3–4kWh base units that expand toward whole-home territory, run 240V appliances, and weigh as much as a person. Two of the three are current flagships. The third — Jackery’s Explorer 3000 Pro — is discontinued new in the US and survives only as refurbished stock, which is exactly why it’s in this comparison: people keep finding it refurbished and asking whether it’s worth it.
All specs below are manufacturer specifications checked 2026-10-15 against the product records. Prices are manufacturer direct-to-consumer, checked the same date. We have not hands-on tested any of these units.
Safety boundary first: units this size can backfeed a home panel if misused. Anything involving transfer switches, panel interlocks, or whole-home wiring belongs to a licensed electrician and the manufacturer’s instructions — we don’t cover installation, and neither should a buying guide.
We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
Head-to-head
EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3
Anker SOLIX F3800
Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro
Rated capacity
4,096 Wh
3,840 Wh
3,024 Wh
Continuous output
4,000 W (6,000W X-Boost)
6,000 W, 120V + 240V dual-voltage
3,000 W
Surge / peak
8,000 W
9,000 W
6,000 W
Battery chemistry
LiFePO4
LiFePO4 (3,000+ cycles)
Li-ion NMC (not LFP)
Weight
113.5 lbs
132.3 lbs
63.9 lbs
Solar input (max)
2,600 W
2,400 W
1,400 W
AC recharge
0–80% in 50 min
1,800W AC max
2.4 hrs
Expansion
Yes
Yes
None (not expandable)
Warranty
5 years
5 years
3+2 new; 6 months refurbished
Availability (checked 2026-10-15)
In stock, new
In stock, new
Refurbished only ($2,499)
Price
$2,799
$2,199.99
$2,499 (refurb)
$/Wh
$0.68
$0.57
$0.83 (refurb)
The two current flagships
The F3800’s headline is 240V from a single unit. 6,000W continuous with 120V/240V dual-voltage output means it can run a well pump, a central AC component, or an electric dryer circuit that the others can’t touch without pairing units. At $2,199.99 it’s also $600 cheaper than the DELTA Pro 3 — $0.57/Wh, the best capacity-per-dollar in this class.
The DELTA Pro 3 answers with capacity and solar. 4,096Wh base (expandable further), 2,600W solar input — the most of any unit here — and 50-minute 0–80% AC recharging. If your plan leans on daytime solar harvest during multi-day outages, the DELTA Pro 3 refills fastest. You’re paying $600 more for that edge.
The refurbished question: Explorer 3000 Pro
At $2,499 refurbished, the 3000 Pro costs more than the brand-new F3800 ($2,199.99) while offering less in every column that matters: 3,024Wh vs. 3,840Wh, 3,000W vs. 6,000W output, NMC vs. LiFePO4 chemistry, 6-month refurb warranty vs. 5 years, no 240V. Its one advantage is weight (63.9 lbs — actually movable by one strong person).
The math doesn’t favor it at $2,499. It would need to be meaningfully under $2,000 refurbished to compete with the F3800 on value. This is a “buy it only if you find a deep clearance” unit, not a “buy it at the current refurb price” unit.
The verdict (reasoning disclosed)
Best buy right now: Anker SOLIX F3800 at $2,199.99. Cheapest per Wh, 240V dual-voltage, LiFePO4, 5-year warranty, in stock new.
Best for solar-heavy plans: EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 at $2,799. The 2,600W solar input and 50-minute AC top-up justify the premium if you’ll recharge primarily from panels.
Explorer 3000 Pro: only on deep clearance. At $2,499 refurbished it’s outclassed by the F3800 at every level.
A note on weight: the F3800 is 132 lbs and the DELTA Pro 3 is 113 lbs. These are stationary units — plan their location once, preferably near where they’ll charge.
Renters have fewer backup options than homeowners — and that’s fine, because the right option for an apartment was never a generator. A portable power station is the legal, indoor-safe alternative: no exhaust, no fuel storage, nothing to bolt to a panel. This guide sizes one for a realistic 12–24 hour apartment outage, covers the weight-and-stairs math, and sorts out what needs your landlord’s permission from what doesn’t.
How we rank products here: fit for the apartment load budget first, then carry weight (stairs are real), then price. Rankings are based on fit and evidence, never commission.
Our picks for this guide
BLUETTI AC180 — Right-sized for an apartment: 1,152Wh, 35 lbs, and quiet enough for a bedroom.
We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
Why gas generators are out
Gasoline generators produce carbon monoxide — colorless, odorless, and lethal in minutes. The CPSC reports an average of about 100 U.S. deaths per year from CO poisoning tied to portable generators, and its standing guidance is never to run one inside a home, garage, basement, or shed, and to keep it at least 20 feet from the house. A 20-foot setback is physically impossible for most apartments, most leases ban fuel storage on balconies, and a generator on a balcony is a CO path straight into your unit and your neighbors’. Battery stations have no exhaust at all, which is why they’re the answer for renters.
What a station realistically covers in an apartment
Apartments are small and the loads are small. A realistic 24-hour budget:
Load
Draw
Hours/day
Watt-hours
Wi-Fi router
12 W
24
288
Two phones
15 Wh each
1 charge each
30
LED lights/lanterns
20 W total
6
120
Laptop top-up
60 Wh
1
60
Mini-fridge (80 W, ~35% duty)
28 W avg
24
672
Total
~1,170 Wh
Estimate, assumptions shown. Drop the mini-fridge and the budget falls to ~500 Wh. At ~85% inverter efficiency, the full budget needs roughly 1,000–1,400 Wh of rated capacity — squarely the 1 kWh station class.
What it won’t run: a full-size range, a space heater, a microwave for more than a burst. Resistive heating loads draw 1,000–1,500 W continuously and drain a 1 kWh station in under an hour.
The weight-and-stairs math
Station
Capacity
Continuous
Weight
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2
1,070 Wh
1,500 W
23.8 lb
Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus v2
1,024 Wh
1,800 W
23.8 lb
Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2
1,024 Wh
2,000 W
24.9 lb
EcoFlow DELTA 3
1,024 Wh
1,800 W
27.6 lb
EcoFlow DELTA 2
1,024 Wh
1,800 W
27 lb
BLUETTI AC180
1,152 Wh
1,800 W
35.3 lb
The 1 kWh class clusters between ~24 and ~35 lb — carryable with one hand and a handle. Step up to the 2 kWh class and you’re at 39.4 lb to 62.4 lb: movable, but a two-person or wheeled job on stairs.
Landlord questions vs. no-permission items
Needs no permission. A portable power station is a consumer appliance, like a large laptop battery. Charging phones, running lights, powering a router, and keeping a mini-fridge cold requires nobody’s approval.
Ask the landlord (or check the lease) about:
Solar panels on the balcony or in a window. Many leases and HOAs restrict what hangs off railings or sits on balconies.
Running extension cords through common areas. Keep the station inside your unit and the cords inside your unit.
Storing fuel or running any combustion device. You shouldn’t be doing this anyway.
Product picks, ranked by fit
1. Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 — 1,024 Wh, 2,000 W continuous, 24.9 lb, 600 W solar input, $549.99 (check price). Ranked first: covers the full 24-hour apartment budget including the mini-fridge, 2,000 W handles the fridge’s compressor start, and at 24.9 lb it’s the lightest unit here with a 2,000 W inverter.
2. Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 — 1,070 Wh, 1,500 W continuous, 23.8 lb, 400 W solar input, $559 (check price). Ranked second: the lightest 1 kWh-class unit in our records.
3. Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus v2 — 1,024 Wh, 1,800 W continuous, 23.8 lb, $749, expandable to ~11 kWh (check price). Ranked third on price, first on future-proofing.
4. EcoFlow DELTA 3 — 1,024 Wh, 1,800 W continuous, 27.6 lb, 500 W solar input, $629 (check price). Sub-10 ms UPS switchover is a genuine advantage.
Tight budget: the BLUETTI EB3A — 268 Wh, 600 W continuous, 10.1 lb, $219 (check price). Note BLUETTI’s U.S. page marks it discontinued — treat remaining stock as while-it-lasts.
Set it up before the outage
Keep it at 80–100% during storm season, know where the router and fridge plugs are, and run a 10-minute dry test: unplug the router from the wall, plug it into the station, confirm the internet stays up. Our outage kit guide covers the non-battery half of the plan.
Try the calculator with the apartment preset. Full spec sources, checked dates, and recall status for every station above are on their product record pages.
A CPAP is a medical device. That changes how you shop — not because the math is complicated, but because the stakes of getting it wrong are different from a dead phone charger.
This guide does one thing: capacity math for a CPAP during a power outage. It tells you how to calculate what battery size your device needs for a night, and what to verify with your manufacturer before you buy anything.
Our picks for this guide
Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 — Covers a CPAP night 14–15 times over in our model; compact and quiet for a bedroom.
We may earn a commission if you purchase through links on this page, at no extra cost to you.
The safety framing first
Everything in this article is an Estimate with the assumptions shown. No figure here is a guaranteed runtime. Actual runtime varies with your pressure settings, humidifier and heated-tube settings, ambient temperature, the station you buy, and the efficiency of how it’s connected.
Before an outage plan becomes your plan:
Verify your device’s draw with the manufacturer. Your model’s manual or spec sheet is the authority.
Talk to your clinician or device manufacturer about device-specific questions.
Test your setup at home before an outage, on a night when the grid is fine and you can switch back.
Have a non-powered backup plan — what you would do if the battery plan fails at 3 a.m.
The numbers: what a CPAP actually draws
~60W without the humidifier and heated tube. That’s the figure most capacity planners use for a CPAP running pressure only (Estimate — verify yours).
~90W or more with humidifier and heated tube on. The humidifier setting changes the answer more than which machine you own (Estimate).
The worked example
Assume: 8 hours of sleep, 60W draw, 85% inverter efficiency.
Step 1 — nightly energy the CPAP consumes: 60W × 8h = 480Wh (Estimate)
Step 2 — what the station must hold: 480Wh ÷ 0.85 ≈ 565Wh of station capacity (Estimate)
The practical takeaway: a ~500Wh station is the floor, not the ceiling. A 1,000Wh-class station is the comfortable answer for 8 hours at 60W.
With the humidifier on high (~90W+): 90W × 8h = 720Wh ÷ 0.85 ≈ 847Wh (Estimate).
CPAP setup
8h need (Estimate)
Station class
Pressure only, humidifier off (~60W)
~565Wh
~500Wh is the floor; 1,000Wh is comfortable
Humidifier + heated tube (~90W+)
~847Wh+
1,000Wh class
Why humidifier settings matter more than the machine
Turning the humidifier from off to high can add 30–40W to the same machine — a 50%+ increase on one device. A 12V DC adapter (sold by most CPAP manufacturers) wastes less energy than running through the AC inverter.
What this guide does NOT do
No medical advice. We are not clinicians. Nothing here replaces your doctor, your sleep specialist, or your device manufacturer’s guidance.
No guaranteed runtimes. Every number on this page is an Estimate.
No “safe for your condition” claims. That determination belongs to you and your care team.
No electrical or device-modification advice. Use manufacturer-approved adapters.
A note on battery chemistry for nightly use
If you’ll run a CPAP on battery regularly, chemistry matters. A LiFePO4 battery rated for 3,000+ cycles (the AC180, DELTA 3, and C1000 Gen 2 all use LiFePO4) tolerates years of nightly cycling. An older NMC unit rated for ~500 cycles would reach its rated cycle life in under two years of nightly use.
Your pre-outage checklist
Confirm your draw with the manufacturer.
Decide your humidifier setting in advance.
Test at home before an outage.
Have a non-powered backup plan.
Talk to your clinician or manufacturer for anything device-specific.
What size station, concretely
For 8 hours at pressure-only settings (~60W), the math lands at ~565Wh — so look at the 1,000Wh class for real margin:
