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Runtime calculation

How Long Will a Goal Zero Yeti 300 Run a 12V Portable Fridge

This estimate separates electrical compatibility from battery endurance. Published specifications control where they exist, and every planning default is labelled where the manufacturer leaves a gap.

Research by the Power Station Station Editorial Team

Estimated runtime
14 hours
From 296.96Wh rated capacity against a 16.4W average load.
Continuous output
350 W
What the inverter can sustain. Output decides whether the appliance runs at all.
Published peak
600 W
Manufacturer surge figure, used only for the startup check.

Our answer

On our planning profile the Goal Zero Yeti 300 runs a 12V portable fridge for about 14 hours, or 12 hours if you keep a reserve back.

The checks behind this answer

Stored energy is the final check, not the first. Voltage, continuous output, and startup demand must clear before runtime means anything. Missing published evidence stays marked unverified instead of being treated as a pass.

Electrical checks applied to this station and appliance pairing
CheckResultWhy
VoltageClearsA 12V portable fridge runs on 12V and the Goal Zero Yeti 300 supplies 115V AC.
Continuous outputClearsA 45W running load sits inside the 350W continuous rating, leaving about 678% headroom.
Startup demandClearsThe 120W start is covered by continuous output alone, so no surge rating is needed.
Inverter self-consumptionUnverifiedThis is a long, low-power load, so the inverter's own draw materially changes the answer. That figure is not published for this station.

How the number is built

A battery holds back some of its rated capacity, and converting to household AC costs more on top. Of the 296.96Wh rated here, roughly 235Wh reaches the outlet under a conservative planning model.

That energy meets an average load of 16.4W, which applies a 35% duty cycle to a 45W running draw. Holding back a 20% reserve for battery age, cold, and a longer outage leaves 12 hours. These are calculations, not measurements from a test.

What we could not verify

These gaps are in the published evidence, not in the arithmetic. Each one is a reason to check before you depend on this pairing.

  • Inverter self-consumption is not published, and it matters more than the appliance load on a run this long.

Replace our assumptions with your own

Running this fridge from the DC socket instead of the inverter is usually worth 10 to 15 percent more runtime, because the station never has to convert to AC and back.

Check the rated current on the fridge label, then run it for 24 hours in the conditions you actually expect and read the station's own DC output meter.

Continue through this cluster

Use the next page that answers your unresolved constraint

Everything a Goal Zero Yeti 300 can runCompare this answer against the other loads the same station covers.12V portable fridge power requirementsWork through the load itself before choosing hardware for it.Goal Zero Yeti 300 specifications and sourcesSee where every number on this page came from.All Goal Zero recordsCompare the rest of the range.Runtime calculatorReplace our planning defaults with your own measurements.

Evidence used on this page

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

  1. Published specification table: battery pack capacity, cell chemistry, lifecycles, inverter continuous and surge output, solar input window, weight, and warranty.

    official product page

  2. Defines the capacity, efficiency, reserve, duty-cycle, voltage, continuous-output, and startup checks applied across the site. Planning defaults are visible on every page that uses them.

    planning assumption

  3. Published specification table: inverter output and waveform, every DC and USB port with its rating, the solar input window and current limit, AC charge input, and expansion.

    official product page