What size power station do you need for a weekend of camping?

Camping loads are bursty and small: LED lanterns are a few watts, a phone recharge is ~10–15Wh, a diffuser fan 20–30W for the evening. A realistic "typical" budget is about 250Wh per day — lights, phones, a fan, a camera battery. Add a 12V compressor cooler and the budget roughly doubles.

The days-of-use columns below convert those budgets into runtime per station. Note what the table doesn't reward: inverter size. For camping, a small, light unit with good $/Wh usually beats a heavy 2,000W-class station you'll carry twice a year — check the weight column on the full comparison table before deciding.

How the table is computed: runtime = rated capacity × 85% usable ÷ average draw. Prices are today's price at each brand's official store (including on-page promo prices where we can verify them); the table re-ranks every night. Omitted: out-of-stock models, models without a current battery-only price, models whose runtime rounds below half a day, and stations below 100W continuous output (or without a published rating) — they can't run this load regardless of capacity. Methodology.