To avid coffee drinkers having a coffee maker adds a delightful dimension to your daily routine. A cup of coffee can be a quick pick-me-up in the morning or a relaxing beverage in the evening. A coffee maker allows you to enjoy these moments without leaving your home. However, you will still need electricity in order to use your coffee maker. So can a portable power station run a coffee maker?

A 1000-watt portable power station will run a 700-watt drip coffee maker for up to one hour. Depending on how long you are using your coffee maker this can leave with capacity to run other appliances on the coffee maker.

In this article we show you how to size a power station for a coffee maker and how to calculate how long you can run it on the power station.

What Size Portable Power Station for a Coffee Maker?

Standard drip coffee makers for home use typically range from 400 to 1200 watts. Basic models without additional features may be on the lower end of this range. A typical coffee maker that is used in our homes will consume around 500-watts of power.

In order to get the right size portable power station for your coffee maker you’ll need to consider the inverter rating and the watt-hour rating.

Inverter Rating

In order to pick an inverter for a coffee maker you just need to match the wattage of the Inverter to the appliance and size up the Inverter a bit.

So let’s take the large coffee maker that you use in your home and consumes 500-watts of power. For this you’ll need a 700-watt Inverter or in our case a 700-watt portable power station.

Watt-hour Rating

A portable power station will have a watt-hour rating that will determine how long it can run your coffee maker. A 700-watt portable power station with a balanced design will have a 700Wh capacity rating. The watt hour rating determines how long the power station will run the coffee maker.

How Long Will a 700-Watt Solar Generator Run a Coffee Maker?

Electrical energy is measured in watt-hours. The amount of watt-hours consumed depends on the device’s wattage and the length of time it is used.

To calculate watt-hours consumption of your device, you multiply the device’s wattage by the number of hours it is used.

For example, if an appliance with a rating of 100 watts operates for 10 hours, it uses 1,000 watt-hours (100 watts X 10 hours).

If you want to use a coffee maker for 10 minutes, you will need 250 watt-hours (100 watts X 0.25 hours).

Running Time = Portable Power Station Watt-hours/operating power of the device 

= (700*0.85)/500

= 1.19 hrs

A 700-watt solar generator can run a 500-watt coffee maker in 1 hr 11 minutes

Since you will be only using the power station for short periods of time like 10 minutes this leaves enough capacity to use other appliances on the power station. Coffee makers also have warming plates or elements that can contribute to higher power consumption. If your coffee maker has adjustable heat settings, consider using a lower setting to conserve power and extend the runtime or not use this feature at all.

Conclusion

A portable power station is a great option for running your coffee maker in a off-grid home. It can run a coffee maker for a couple of minutes or a couple of times in a day. It is best to add a solar panel to recharge the power station and use other appliances as well.