Check off what you will run and for how long, and get usable watt-hours, continuous and surge watts, a recharge panel size, and a matched power station tier — live.
How this is calculated
Usable Wh is watts × hours for every checked device, added together, then multiplied by your days of autonomy — the total energy the station has to hold and deliver with zero recharge.
Continuous W is every checked device’s running watts added together, on the assumption they could all be on at once. Surge W is not the sum of every device’s surge rating — loads don’t all start at the same instant — it’s that same continuous total plus the extra kick of whichever single motor has the biggest surge-minus-running gap, almost always the fridge or a power tool. That’s the number that actually trips an undersized inverter.
Recommended panel size divides one day’s Wh by your region’s average peak-sun-hours, then applies a realistic 25% derate for wiring, angle, temperature and inverter losses — the same derate used across Grid CEO’s sizing guides. It targets a full daily refill and doesn’t grow with your autonomy setting — more days of autonomy sizes a bigger battery, not a bigger panel.
- Panel wattage refills one day’s use, not your whole autonomy reserve — that’s what the battery is for.
- Edit any watts or hours field to match the label on your own gear — the defaults are typical values, not your household.
- Once the load list keeps landing on “stack 2+”, that’s usually a sign the real fix is a designed, installed system, not a bigger box.
Want the full walkthrough first? Read how big a power station you actually need.
What we’d actually buy
The tiers above match real units — these are the ones we’d hand our own money to. Picked on merit from what’s on the market right now — street prices, checked July 2026.
- EcoFlow River 3 — 245Wh pocket tier — lights, laptop and phone territory. $180–240
- Bluetti AC70 — 768Wh / 1,000W — the value mid-tier for weekends and small loads. $430–550
- EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 — 4kWh large tier, expandable to 12kWh. $2,700–3,000
- Anker SOLIX F3800 — the stackable top tier — 240V split-phase for the loads this calculator flags as “stack 2+”. $1,999–2,400
Chosen on merit — nobody paid to be on this list, and several of these can never earn us a penny. If a link here ever earns Grid CEO a referral fee, it will say so — disclosure.
- EcoFlow River 3 — 245Wh pocket tier — lights, laptop and phone territory. €200–250
- Bluetti AC70 — 768Wh / 1,000W — the value mid-tier for weekends and small loads. €500–600
- EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 — 4kWh large tier at 230V, expandable to 12kWh. €2,800–3,500
Chosen on merit — nobody paid to be on this list, and several of these can never earn us a penny. If a link here ever earns Grid CEO a referral fee, it will say so — disclosure.
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