What size power station do I need for my RV?

Add up each device's watts times the hours you run it per day, then add 20% headroom. A 2,000Wh station covers a fridge, lights, laptops and phones for most van setups; RV air conditioning needs 3,000Wh or more.

Can a portable power station run an RV air conditioner?

Only the large ones. A typical 13,500 BTU RV AC draws 1,200-1,800W running and surges higher at startup, so you need at least 3,000W continuous output and 3,000Wh or more capacity for a few hours of cooling.

RV Power Sizer — What Size Power Station Do I Need?

The two numbers that matterCapacity decides how long — output decides what

Capacity (Wh)how long things run:
fridge 150W × 10h ≈ 1500Wh

Output (W)what can run at once:
microwave needs 1000W+ sustained

Right-sized stationenough of both,
neither wasted

Our RV sizer does this math for you — see the tools page.

How the sizing works

We multiply each device's watts by its daily hours, multiply by your off-grid days, then add headroom (20% is the sweet spot — it covers inverter losses and the fact that you never want to drain to zero). We only recommend stations whose continuous output clears your biggest single device.

Pairing with solar? Run the numbers through our solar pairing calculator to see how fast panels refill each station. For the full walkthrough, read our RV and vanlife power sizing guide.

RV & vanlife power sizer

How the sizing works