Skip to main content
Power Station StationIndependent power planning
Menu

Capacity class

What a 500Wh power station actually runs

A capacity figure describes what the battery holds, not what reaches your outlet. Reserve and conversion losses take a share before any appliance sees a watt, and the output rating decides what you can plug in at all.

Research by the Power Station Station Editorial Team

Rated capacity
534 Wh
Average across the 4 records in this class.
Usable through AC
423 Wh
After 90% usable capacity and 88% conversion efficiency.
Records in class
4
Each one source-checked against the manufacturer’s own published specifications.

Our answer

A 500Wh station delivers roughly 423Wh through its AC outlets once reserve and conversion losses are taken out, which is what actually drains during an outage.

Current records in this class

Capacity puts these records on the same shelf, not on equal footing. Continuous output, published surge behaviour, solar acceptance, and carrying weight reveal the practical differences.

Source-checked power station records in the 500Wh class
RecordCapacityContinuous outputPublished peakWeight
BLUETTI AC50B448 Wh700 WNot published14.8 lb
Goal Zero Yeti 500499.2 Wh500 W1,000 W16.1 lb
DJI Power 500512 Wh1,000 WNot published16.1 lb
Goal Zero Yeti 700677.37 Wh600 W1,000 W20.3 lb

A record with no published peak needs model-level verification before a motor start can be relied on.

What this much energy buys you

Each figure is calculated against a station in this class using the same visible planning profile. They are calculations rather than measured results, and a load with a motor still has to clear its startup demand first.

  • Household refrigerator: about 6.9 hours on the BLUETTI AC50B.
  • Chest freezer: about 12 hours on the BLUETTI AC50B.
  • Upright freezer: about 12 hours on the Goal Zero Yeti 700.
  • Mini fridge: about 25 hours on the Goal Zero Yeti 700.
  • 12V portable fridge: about 22 hours on the BLUETTI AC50B.
  • Starlink Mini: about 11 hours on the BLUETTI AC50B.
  • Wi-Fi router and modem: about 20 hours on the BLUETTI AC50B.
  • Laptop computer: about 14 hours on the Goal Zero Yeti 700.
  • Television: about 6.3 hours on the Goal Zero Yeti 700.
  • CPAP machine: about 10 hours on the BLUETTI AC50B.

When to move up a class, and when not to

Move up when a full day of use exceeds the delivered AC energy above, when a load runs for long unbroken periods, or when you cannot count on recharging between uses.

Do not move up to solve an output problem. If an appliance exceeds the continuous rating, or starts harder than the inverter can supply, a larger battery in the same output class changes nothing. Capacity and output are separate specifications.

Continue through this cluster

Use the next page that answers your unresolved constraint

The 300Wh class belowLess weight and lower cost, if the energy still covers the plan.The 800Wh class aboveMore delivered energy when a full day of use runs past this class.Every current product recordCompare the full database across capacity classes.Appliance power requirementsStart from the load rather than the hardware.Calculated runtime answersSee every station measured against every load.Outage load plannerSize a whole outage plan rather than one appliance.Portable power guide hubBrowse completed capacity, electrical, appliance, and planning guides.

Evidence used on this page

Important fields are tied to a specific source. Manufacturer claims, government guidance, calculations, and planning assumptions remain separate.

  1. Capacity, AC output, lifting mode, chemistry, cycle life, solar input, weight, UPS, and warranty checked.

    official product page

  2. Published specification table covering capacity, chemistry, lifecycles, inverter output, solar input window, weight, and warranty.

    official product page

  3. Capacity, output, chemistry, cycle life, weight, input, and ports checked.

    official product page

  4. UPS transfer time, warranty, and accessory-based solar ceiling checked.

    official support

  5. Published specification table covering capacity, chemistry, lifecycles, inverter output, solar input window, weight, and warranty.

    official product page