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Power station guides 26 articles
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By use
- Home backup and power outages
- Apartments (no generator allowed)
- Camping and van life
- RVs and campers (30-amp)
- Running a refrigerator
- CPAP machines
- Starlink and Starlink Mini
- Gas furnace in a winter outage
- Pellet stove in a winter outage
- Space heater runtimes
- Sump pump backup
- Electric blanket all night
- TV, tailgates and movie nights
- Christmas lights
Short answer: yes, but not for long. A typical plug-in space heater draws 1,500 watts on high, which is about as much as anything in your home that plugs into a normal outlet. A popular 1kWh power station can run one for roughly half an hour. If you want to stay warm through a winter outage, there are far better ways to spend your battery — and we’ll show you the numbers.
The quick math
Runtime (hours) ≈ Battery Wh × 0.85 ÷ Heater watts
| Power station | Capacity | Max output | Heater on high (1,500W) | Heater on low (750W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 | 1,070Wh | 1,500W | At its limit — not recommended | About 1.2 hours |
| Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 | 1,024Wh | 2,000W | About 35 minutes | About 1.2 hours |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus | 1,024Wh | 1,800W | About 35 minutes | About 1.2 hours |
| Jackery Explorer 2000 v2 | 2,042Wh | 2,200W | About 1.2 hours | About 2.3 hours |
| EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 | 4,096Wh | 4,000W | About 2.3 hours | About 4.6 hours |
Heaters cycle on and off with a thermostat, so real runtime in a small, closed room can be somewhat longer. In a cold, drafty room, expect these numbers.
What your power station needs to run a heater at all
- Continuous output above the heater’s wattage, with margin. For a 1,500W heater, look for 1,800W or more. Running a station at 100% of its rating makes it hot and may trip it.
- A pure sine wave inverter. All the major brands have one.
- Plug the heater directly into the station. No extension cords or power strips; heaters pull enough current to overheat cheap cords.
Smarter ways to stay warm on battery power
Heating air is the most expensive thing you can do with a battery. Heating you is cheap:
| Option | Typical draw | Runtime on a 1kWh station |
|---|---|---|
| Electric blanket | 50–100W | About 9–17 hours |
| Heated mattress pad | 50–150W | About 6–17 hours |
| Small “personal” ceramic heater on low | 200–400W | About 2–4 hours |
| Gas furnace blower (furnace burns the gas) | Often 300–700W while running | Many hours, depending on how often it cycles |
| Space heater on high | 1,500W | About 35 minutes |
If your home has a gas furnace, keeping its blower running is the most heat per watt you can get from a power station. See can a power station run a gas furnace — it needs a safe, electrician-installed connection.
A winter outage plan that works
- Pick one room — ideally small, interior, with few windows — and close it off.
- Use an electric blanket at night; it can run all night on a 1kWh station.
- Use the space heater in short bursts on low to take the chill off, not continuously.
- Recharge during the day with solar panels or from a car. Even in winter, 400W of panels can put back roughly 800–1,200Wh on a clear day. See our portable solar panel guide.
- Save some battery for the fridge, phones, and Wi-Fi.
Safety: what never to do
- Never run a gas generator indoors or in a garage — carbon monoxide kills within minutes. A power station is safe indoors precisely because it doesn’t burn fuel.
- Don’t use propane, kerosene, or camp heaters indoors unless they’re specifically rated for indoor use, and always with a working CO alarm.
- Keep heaters 3 feet from anything that can burn and use models with tip-over and overheat shutoff.
- Don’t cover the power station or tuck it under blankets; it needs airflow when working hard.
Which power station for winter outages?
- Mostly blankets, fridge, and Wi-Fi: a 1kWh unit is enough. See best power stations for home backup.
- Want to use a space heater too: 2kWh+ with 2,000W+ output, such as the Jackery Explorer 2000 v2.
- Furnace blower plus heater for long outages: 4kWh-class, like the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3, plus solar.
Common questions
Can a 1,000W power station run a space heater?
Only a low-wattage heater (or a 1,500W heater set to an output under the station’s limit). A 1,500W heater on high exceeds a 1,000W inverter.
Can solar panels power a space heater directly?
Not practically. You’d need well over 2,000W of panels in full sun. Use solar to recharge the station; use the station for short heating bursts.
Is it safe to run a space heater from a power station indoors?
Yes, if the station’s output exceeds the heater’s draw, the heater is plugged in directly, and you follow normal heater safety. The station itself produces no fumes.