Free outage check
Find out what battery capacity your refrigerator needs during an outage.
About 60 seconds. Estimates are accepted. No label needed. No email.
- Minimum usable capacity, in Wh
- Estimated runtime for your outage
- Startup-power check, compressor
Answer first, before any question
May fit under conditions
What kind of refrigerator are you keeping cold?
This is the answer most likely to change the verdict.
The limiting factor is an unproven compressor start.
Low / insufficient confidence — no unit is recommended at this level of evidence.
What this answer assumes (5)
- Standard US household compressor refrigerator
- A 24-hour outage
- The refrigerator only — no other load
- No recharge credited during the outage
- Automatic transfer is not assumed
Step 1 of 4 — one question at a time
- Step 1How long should it stay cold?
- Step 2How much energy does it use?
- Step 3Can a station run it?
- Step 4What can change the answer?
What the arithmetic already says
A typical US refrigerator uses roughly 1,000–1,900 Wh per day, so a 1,000 Wh station covers most of one day and a 2,000 Wh station covers one to two days — but a 72-hour outage usually fails without enough daily recharge, and no capacity figure means anything until the station can also start the compressor. This check does that arithmetic with your numbers, conservatively.
Products this check may confirm — or rule out
Illustrative candidates, not a ranking. Your inputs determine the result. Affiliate status never determines technical eligibility.
BLUETTI FridgePower
Dedicated automatic refrigerator backup
A single-purpose unit that takes over automatically when the power drops. The check tests whether your outage length and compressor actually fit it.
Candidate — not a recommendation|Affiliate program active
Start with this unit →BLUETTI Elite 200 V2
Versatile portable 2 kWh class
A general-purpose station you can reuse for other loads. The check tests capacity against your outage and startup watts against your compressor.
Candidate — not a recommendation|Affiliate program active
Start with this unit →Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2
Versatile portable 2 kWh class
Checked on the same evidence as every other unit. Anker is not an affiliate partner here, so any destination is the official product page.
Candidate — not a recommendation|Official page, non-affiliate
Start with this unit →BLUETTI Elite 400
Extended-outage class
For a long outage. Planned conservatively rather than on its best measured run, and its startup ceiling is its rated continuous output — never a marketing lifting figure.
Candidate — not a recommendation|Affiliate program active
A dedicated refrigerator backup does one job and switches over on its own. A versatile portable power station does many jobs but usually needs you to plug the refrigerator in. They are different architectures, not different brands of the same thing — and no Anker unit here is claimed to be a direct FridgePower equivalent.
No product images here — the check decides, not photographs. It can also conclude that none of these units closes your setup.
Check my setup against these optionsProduct-aware entry points: BLUETTI AC200L, Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2, PECRON F3000LFP, BLUETTI FridgePower, BLUETTI Elite 200 V2, Anker SOLIX C2000 Gen 2.
Common questions
- How many watt-hours does a refrigerator need per day?
- A modern US refrigerator on its EnergyGuide label usually lands between 350 and 700 kWh per year, which is roughly 950 to 1,900 Wh per day. Use your own label figure: the range between two models is larger than most people expect.
- Will a 1,000 Wh power station run my refrigerator?
- For a short outage, often yes. A 1,000 Wh station delivers roughly 765 usable Wh after conversion losses and a retained safety reserve, which covers about 10 to 18 hours of a typical refrigerator — provided the station can also start the compressor.
- Will a 2,000 Wh power station cover a 72-hour outage?
- Usually not on its own. Three days of a typical refrigerator is roughly 3,000 to 5,700 Wh at the outlet. Without enough daily recharge to replace what you use each day, the cycle never closes and the answer is a different architecture, not a bigger battery.
- Why do you ask for running watts and startup watts separately?
- Energy and power are different problems. Watt-hours decide how long you last; running watts decide whether the station can hold the compressor, and startup watts decide whether it can start it at all. A station can have plenty of energy and still fail on the surge.
- Where is the EnergyGuide number on my refrigerator?
- It is on the large yellow EnergyGuide label, usually inside the door or on the back, printed as "estimated yearly electricity use" in kWh. If the label is gone, look up the model number on the manufacturer's site, or measure 24 hours with a plug-in power meter.
Read the full refrigerator backup guide
See the 15-scenario refrigerator outage sizing table — the same arithmetic applied to 300–700 kWh/year across 24, 48 and 72 hours, with the assumptions and open gates shown in full.
Browse all guides, diagnostics and research — grouped by the job you are trying to do, each labelled with how it was produced.