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Will it run? · UK figures, 230 V

Will a power station run an electric heater?

Short answer: Mostly no

Even a small 1,000 W panel heater empties a 1,024 Wh station in under an hour, and a 2,000 W fan heater or oil-filled radiator is beyond the continuous output of every compact station and all but one mid-size station on our UK list.

average load to cover
1,000W
start-up peak
1,000W
hours to cover
1h

How much power an electric heater draws

  • Fan heater or oil-filled radiator

    2,000 W

    Published figure

    Selectra's comparison uses 2,000 W for a fan heater and an oil-filled radiator, 1,500 W for a convector and 1,000 W for a radiant panel. Selectra

  • Convector

    1,500 W

    Published figure

    1,500 W convector (Selectra). Selectra

  • Radiant panel

    1,000 W

    Published figure

    1,000 W radiant panel (Selectra). Selectra

Hours on four power stations

Worked with BLUETTI's published formula: capacity × 0.9 × 0.85 ÷ (load + 10 W the station uses itself). Capacity and continuous output are from each maker's UK page, read on 11 October 2026. "Too much" means the station's continuous output is below what the appliance needs at once.

Estimated hours of an electric heater on four power stations
LoadEcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus
286 Wh · 600 W		Jackery Explorer 500 v2
512 Wh · 500 W		Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2
1,024 Wh · 2,000 W		Jackery Explorer 2000 v2
2,042 Wh · 2,200 W
Radiant panel (1,000 W)Too much (600 W max)Too much (500 W max)47 min1.5 h
Convector (1,500 W)Too much (600 W max)Too much (500 W max)31 min1 h
Fan heater / oil-filled (2,000 W)Too much (600 W max)Too much (500 W max)23 min47 min
One cell, worked through

Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2: 1,024 Wh × 0.9 × 0.85 = 783 Wh usable. Convector (1,500 W): 1,500 W + 10 W = 1,510 W. 783 ÷ 1,510 = 31 min.

Why heat is the wrong job for a battery

A heater turns every watt into heat, which is exactly why it drains a battery so fast: one hour of a 1,000 W panel is 1 kWh, about the whole usable energy of a 1,024 Wh station. Compare that with a fridge-freezer, which averages about 34 W.

The government's Prepare advice for keeping warm in a power cut is low-tech: blankets and layered clothing, doors to unused rooms closed, curtains drawn. An electric blanket at about 80 W for a double (EDF) keeps a person warm for a fraction of the energy.

Don't swap it for a fuel-burning heater indoors

Gas, paraffin and petrol appliances make carbon monoxide. The NHS lists portable generators among its causes and warns never to use a barbecue or camping stove indoors. If you do have a fuel-burning appliance, the NHS advises a carbon monoxide alarm in each room that has one.

Before you rely on it

  • Heaters with a thermostat cycle on and off, so a heater that has warmed a small room uses less than its full rating per hour; the battery still goes quickly.
  • If a heater's draw exceeds the station's continuous output, the station cuts out to protect itself: nothing dangerous, but no heat.
  • Large home-backup stations (4,000 Wh and up) can run a heater for an hour or two; that is a whole-home battery decision, not a portable one.

Which station we'd pick

Smallest on our UK list for this job

Jackery Explorer 2000 v2

2,042 Wh and 2,200 W continuous: about 1.5 h at 1,000 W. One hour of a 1,000 W panel heater, the smallest heater in the comparison.

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Want to add other appliances? The power-cut calculator does the sums for your whole home, and the full list of 14 stations has every UK figure.

Questions

Can a portable power station run a 2kW heater?

Only one with at least 2,000 W continuous output, and then not for long: by our sums a 2,042 Wh station runs a 2,000 W heater for under an hour, and a 1,024 Wh one for about 23 minutes.

What is the best way to keep warm in a power cut without heating?

The government's Prepare advice: blankets and layered clothing, close doors to unused rooms and draw the curtains. An electric blanket on a power station uses a fraction of the energy of a heater.

Other appliances

Guides (5)

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of these pages, read on the date shown. If a maker changes its page, its page wins.

See all 9 sources