Power Station for an RV

Quick answer: sizing a power station for an RV

Using the preset above — a refrigerator (150 W), a fan (50 W) and a router (10 W), 210 W combined, for 10 hours — the calculator recommends 2500 Wh at this site's typical 85% efficiency. That figure comes directly from the same formula every calculator here uses: Required Capacity (Wh) = (Total Watts × Hours) ÷ Efficiency, so 210 × 10 ÷ 0.85 ≈ 2471 Wh, rounded up to 2500 Wh.

Your own number will differ based on which devices you actually run and for how long — switch the calculator above to your real combination, or use the Size Calculator directly. The two things that decide it are the same everywhere on this site: watts (W), how fast your gear draws power, and watt-hours (Wh), how much energy is stored.

What can you run in an RV?

Beyond a built-in RV fridge — often run on propane or the RV's own 12V system rather than needing a portable power station at all, see below — common power station loads in an RV or van include a fan, interior lighting, a router for connectivity, phone and laptop charging, and occasionally a microwave or coffee maker for short bursts. Air conditioning is the one common RV load that needs its own honest treatment, covered further down.

Add or remove devices in the calculator above to match your actual rig rather than relying on the preset alone — only include what you'd genuinely run off the power station itself.

How much power do RV devices use?

These are this site's existing planning wattages — average running watts, not a spec for your exact appliance — used consistently across every calculator here:

• Refrigerator (full-size): 150 W
• Mini fridge / cooler: 70 W — see the Mini Fridge guide if this is closer to your setup
• Fan (standing/box): 50 W
• Wi-Fi router / hotspot: 10 W
• Phone charger: 10 W
• LED strip / interior lighting: 20 W
• Laptop: 65 W — see the laptop power station guide for sizing detail
• Microwave: 1000 W — brief bursts, but a large instantaneous draw while it's on
• Coffee maker: 800 W — same pattern, short duration but high draw
• Portable/window air conditioner: 1200 W — the heaviest common RV load by far, covered in its own section below

RV power examples

Two combinations, both using this site's existing device wattages and 85% efficiency, to show how required capacity scales with hours and load:

• The default preset (refrigerator + fan + router, 210 W) for 10 hours: required capacity ≈ 2500 Wh — the figure the calculator above shows by default.
• The same combination for a full 24-hour day: required capacity ≈ 5950 Wh — well beyond a single portable power station's typical range, which is exactly why most RVers pair this kind of continuous load with solar recharging or shore power rather than sizing for a full day on one charge alone (see solar section below).
• A lighter van-life combination — fan + router + a mini fridge instead of a full-size fridge (50 + 10 + 70 = 130 W) — for 10 hours: required capacity ≈ 1550 Wh, noticeably less than the full-size-fridge preset above.
• If you'd rather see runtime instead of required capacity, switch the calculator above to "How long will it run?" mode with your own combination, or use the Runtime Calculator directly.

Many RVs already run on 12V DC

Many RV-specific appliances — lighting, water pumps, fans, some fridges — are designed to run directly on the RV's 12V DC system, often from a separate house battery, not necessarily through a portable power station's AC inverter at all. If a device already runs on 12V in your rig, powering it via a power station's 12V port (where available) can be more efficient than routing it through an AC outlet, since it skips the inverter conversion step.

This matters for sizing: only add devices to the calculator above that you'd actually run off the power station itself. A fridge already wired into your RV's existing 12V house battery or propane system shouldn't be double-counted against a separate portable power station unless you specifically intend to power it that way.

RV air conditioning: an honest reality check

RV air conditioners are genuinely demanding loads — this site's planning figure is 1200 W continuous, several times heavier than the rest of a typical RV combination put together, plus a substantial compressor startup surge on top of that. Running an RV AC off a portable power station is technically possible but requires a large-capacity unit and still only provides limited runtime even then — see the dedicated air conditioner calculator for the exact runtime math at different capacities.

For extended AC use, most RVers rely on shore power, a dedicated generator, or a much larger purpose-built battery system rather than a portable power station alone. If staying cool rather than running AC specifically is the actual goal, a fan (50 W) delivers dramatically more runtime from the same power station — worth comparing directly using the fan quick-calc button above.

Solar for extended boondocking

For multi-day off-grid stays ("boondocking"), pairing a power station with solar panels lets you recharge without shore power or a generator — which matters given how quickly a full day of continuous RV loads adds up (see the 24-hour example above). The same formula used on this site's dedicated solar page applies here: Recharge Hours ≈ Battery Capacity (Wh) ÷ (Panel Watts × Sunlight Factor), where the sunlight factor (commonly 0.6–0.7 for a clear day with well-positioned panels) accounts for a panel rarely hitting its full rated output in real conditions.

See the Solar Generator Runtime Calculator for the full recharge-time table and worked examples.

Continuous watts vs. surge watts for RV gear

Lights, a router, phone chargers and a laptop are simple electronic loads with no meaningful startup spike — continuous wattage is all that matters for them. Two common RV loads are the exception: a refrigerator and a portable/window air conditioner both use a compressor, and this site's planning figures treat their startup surge as roughly 3× their running wattage — the same surge multiplier used on the dedicated refrigerator and air conditioner pages.

Real surge varies by unit, so if you're running a fridge or AC, check your power station's rated surge/peak output against your specific appliance rather than assuming a fixed multiplier applies — this is frequently the actual limiting factor for AC, more than total Wh capacity.

How to reduce power consumption in an RV

A few habits stretch a given capacity further, especially useful for boondocking without hookups:

• Run 12V-native appliances (lighting, water pumps, some fridges) off the RV's own house battery rather than through a portable power station's AC inverter, per the 12V section above.
• Favor the fan over air conditioning when the temperature allows it — 50 W versus 1200 W is a dramatic difference in how far the same capacity stretches.
• Turn off lighting and charging devices once they're not actively needed rather than leaving them idle overnight.
• Time heavier short-burst loads like a microwave or coffee maker to avoid running them simultaneously with everything else, since it's the combined instantaneous wattage that determines whether the power station's continuous output can keep up.
• Pair with solar recharging for multi-day stays rather than sizing a single charge for the whole trip — see the boondocking section above.

Common RV sizing mistakes

A few recurring mistakes lead to an undersized (or unnecessarily oversized) power station for RV use:

• Double-counting a fridge or other appliance that's already wired into the RV's own 12V house battery or propane system, instead of only counting what actually runs off the portable power station.
• Sizing for a full 24-hour day of continuous use without factoring in solar or shore-power recharging, which produces a much larger capacity requirement than most portable units offer — see the 24-hour example above.
• Assuming a portable power station can run RV air conditioning for a full night — check the dedicated AC calculator for the honest runtime math before relying on this combination.
• Ignoring the power station's continuous output and surge ratings and focusing only on Wh capacity — a fridge or AC needs the inverter to deliver both the running watts and the startup surge, not just enough stored energy.
• Ignoring efficiency loss — the 85% default used here means usable energy is always somewhat less than the rated Wh capacity, not equal to it.