Guide
Updated · 23 Sep 2026 · Sheet checked · 23 Sep 2026
It depends
For homeowners who want food cold, internet up, and gas-furnace heat circulating through an overnight outage — and are sizing a portable station or small inverter generator against that stack.
Sizing guide, not a product SKU. Continuous watts first, surge second. Usable Wh ≈ rated Wh × 0.85. Desk math from manufacturer bands and live Outage Stack pages — not a clamp meter on your gear.
A “will it run / how long?” guide for refrigerator + modem/ONT + Wi‑Fi router + gas-furnace blower for about eight hours. Cross-check /guides/what-size: Fridge 150–400 W run / 600–1,200 W start. Modem and blower rows are sourced below.
Blower-only heat on a gas furnace (circulator + controls while the burner runs on gas). Not electric heat strips. Not a heat-pump compressor.
Measure first. Nameplate amps × volts and a Kill-A-Watt beat any chart.
| Load | Run | Start / note |
|---|---|---|
| Fridge (compressor on) | 150–400 W | 600–1,200 W kick; often ~30–50% duty once cold |
| Modem + Wi‑Fi router | 15–35 W | Continuous while online |
| Furnace blower (ECM) | 90–300 W when on | Cycles with thermostat |
| Furnace blower (PSC) | 500–900 W when on | Older fixed-speed |
Anchors: Outage Stack fridge row; ENERGY STAR annual-kWh framing; ARRIS SB8200-class modem measured ~6 W; NETGEAR router adapter ceilings (real draw lower); Pick HVAC PSC/ECM blower bands; Goodman GPGM3/GPUM3 Indoor Blower FLA 3.8–7.0 as a nameplate FLA ceiling example.
Stack continuous: lean ECM ≈ 250–450 W; mid ≈ 450–700 W; PSC + fridge on ≈ 700–1,300 W. Average watts for Wh sit lower when loads cycle.
8-hour energy budget (avg W × 8):
| Scenario | Avg W | 8 h Wh | Rated Wh @ 0.85 usable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lean (fridge + modem + ECM, cycling) | ~180–250 | ~1,440–2,000 | ~1.7–2.4 kWh |
| Mid (typical fridge + ECM heat) | ~300–450 | ~2,400–3,600 | ~2.8–4.2 kWh |
| Heavy (PSC blower often on) | ~600–900 | ~4,800–7,200 | ~5.6–8.5 kWh |
Against live stations (/stations/{slug}):
Continuous watts are rarely the gate on a 1.8–2.4 kW 120 V station. Wh and blower type are.
station. Street prices: not published here.Skip a ~1 kWh carry station as an 8-hour fridge + heat plant. Skip PSC continuous-fan plans without measuring — that load alone can burn 4–7 kWh in eight hours. Skip electric furnace elements or whole-home standby with a listed ATS — that is Generac Guardian 22 kW class. Skip “it ran my fridge once” anecdotes that omit the blower.
It depends. Live 1.8–2.4 kW stations usually clear continuous watts for this 120 V stack. Eight hours is a Wh problem. Roughly 1 kWh bricks fail. Roughly 2 kWh bricks can make a lean ECM stack if duty cycles stay mild. Mid or PSC loads need expandable multi-kWh or a small inverter generator. Until blower type and average watts are known, size the Wh — not Buy.