Whether you’re looking to achieve a specific hairstyle, reduce frizz, or simply speed up the drying process, a hair dryer proves to be a versatile and essential grooming tool to have in your home.  A portable power station allows you to use your appliances with no access to power from the Grid. So can a Portable Power Station run a hair dryer?

What Size Portable Power Station to Run a Hair Dryer

When using a hair dryer with a portable power station, it’s crucial to ensure that the power station can handle the wattage of the hair dryer. Most standard household hair dryers are around 1500 watts.

In order to size your power station appropriately for your hair dryer you’ll need to match the wattage of the hair dryer to the inverter rating of the power station. You will need an inverter with a rating higher than the hair dryer. So if you are using a 1500-watt hair dryer you need an inverter that is at least 2000-watt.

How Long Will a 2000 Watt Portable power station Run a 1500-watt Hair Dryer

Electrical energy is measured in watt-hours. One watt-hour equals one watt expended for one hour. The number of watt-hours used by an appliance over a period of time equals the total amount of power consumed by that device over that period.

To calculate watt-hours, multiply the watts used by an appliance over a period of time by the number of hours that appliance is used. If you use a hair dryer for an hour, it will consume about 1500 watt-hours.

With 2000 Watt-hours available from the Portable power station you can your hair dryer for:

= (2000*0.85)/1500

=  1.13 hrs

A 2000-watt Portable power station can run the 1500 Watt hair dryer for around 1 hour minutes. When hooked up on a solar panel this could be longer.

Conclusion

It’s important to note that using a hair dryer with a portable power station can significantly deplete the capacity, potentially limiting the run time. If running a hair dryer with a portable power station is essential, choose a power station with a high enough wattage rating, and be mindful of the limitations to avoid overloading the system.

Most hair dryers have three settings: low, medium, and high. The higher the setting, the more energy it uses. If you set the temperature to low or medium, you’ll use less power. The best way to save power when using a hair dryer is to use it in cold air mode. Alternatively, consider lower-wattage alternatives or travel-sized hair dryers designed for lower power consumption.