Appliances › Comfort & Electronics

What size power station runs a laptop?

Trivial draw; a small unit runs and recharges a laptop many times over.

60 Wrunning watts

—startup surge

100%duty cycle

400 Whfor 6.0 h

Need to run it alongside other things? Add it to the full sizing tool with the rest of your load.

What size you need for 6.0 h

You need about 400 Wh — and 28 units fit. The smallest sufficient is the Goal Zero Yeti 500X; we never push more capacity than your load can use. Surge to clear: 60 W.

The math
Running watts (everything on at once) = 60 W
Surge watts (worst single startup + the rest running) = 60 W
Average draw (cyclic loads counted by their duty cycle) = 60 W
Watt-hours = 60 W × 6.0 h ÷ 90% usable reserve = 400 Wh

Goal Zero Yeti 500Xsmallest that fits

505 Wh 300 W cont · 1,200 W surge ~7.6 h on this load $$

A half-kWh unit for electronics and overnight medical loads.

NMC · ~9 h AC; up to 240 W solar · 13 lb

Check price at Goal Zero → Full specs

EcoFlow RIVER 2 Max

512 Wh 500 W cont · 1,000 W surge ~7.7 h on this load $$

A half-kWh unit for CPAP, electronics, and a mini-fridge overnight.

LiFePO4 · ~1 h AC; up to 220 W solar · 13 lb

Check price at EcoFlow → Full specs

Jackery Explorer 500

518 Wh 500 W cont · 1,000 W surge ~7.8 h on this load $$

A long-running mid-small unit; NMC chemistry, so store it partly charged.

NMC · ~7.5 h AC; up to 100 W solar · 13 lb

Check price at Jackery → Full specs

Goal Zero Yeti 700

677 Wh 1,000 W cont · 1,500 W surge ~10 h on this load $$

Goal Zero’s LiFePO4 value unit — a 1,000 W inverter for fridge and essentials.

LiFePO4 · ~2.3 h AC; up to 200 W solar · 21 lb

Check price at Goal Zero → Full specs

Bluetti EB70Sstep-up

716 Wh 800 W cont · 1,400 W surge ~11 h on this load $$

A rugged 700 Wh workhorse for camping and outage essentials.

LiFePO4 · ~3.5 h AC; up to 200 W solar · 21 lb

Check price at Bluetti → Full specs

Bluetti AC70

768 Wh 1,000 W cont · 2,000 W surge ~12 h on this load $$

A 1,000 W inverter and 768 Wh — handles a fridge and most kitchen bursts.

LiFePO4 · ~45 min to 80% AC; up to 500 W solar · 23 lb

Check price at Bluetti → Full specs

🔗 The "Check price" buttons are brand-direct affiliate links. Once our brand affiliate programs are approved these will earn a commission — at no extra cost to you, and it never changes which unit we recommend. Disclosure.

Can a specific unit run a laptop?

34 of the units we track deliver enough watts to run a laptop. Check a specific one for the runtime and the full verdict:

Goal Zero Yeti 200X

187 Wh · 120 W cont

runs it

Jackery Explorer 240 v2

Jackery Explorer 300 Plus

677 Wh · 1,000 W cont

Common questions

What size power station do I need to run a laptop?

A laptop draws about 60 W running (a resistive load, so no real startup surge). So you want a unit with at least 60 W continuous output. For 6.0 h of runtime that's roughly 400 Wh of capacity — the Goal Zero Yeti 500X is the smallest unit that clears all of it.

How many watts does a laptop use?

About 60 W while running.

Sources: Laptop wattage — Standard appliance-wattage / generator-sizing charts (representative values; verify your nameplate); station specs — manufacturer published specifications (compiled 2026-06-15; approximate). Informational only — a computed sizing estimate from published appliance-wattage charts and manufacturer station specs. It is not an electrical guarantee. For hardwired or whole-home backup, transfer switches, or any permanent install, consult a licensed electrician.