Can a portable power station run a sump pump?
Yes: every portable power station on this site’s shortlist can run a typical sump pump, because the calculator’s default pump needs only 0.80 kW to run and 1.30 kW to start. The harder limit is energy: a pump and a refrigerator together need about 7.41 kWh of battery for a three-day outage.
Check your pump and refrigerator
What a sump pump asks of a battery
The calculator checks three things: energy (kWh) for the whole outage, continuous output (kW) for everything running, and surge (kW) for the moment a motor starts. Its default sump pump draws 800 W running and 1,300 W at start-up, and runs 1 hour a day. One hour is a default, not a measurement. Each extra hour adds 0.80 kWh a day before losses, so enter the hours your pump really runs.
| Loads | Energy a day (kWh) | Battery needed (kWh) | Continuous (kW) | Surge (kW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sump pump | 0.80 | 2.96 | 0.80 | 1.30 |
| Refrigerator | 1.20 | 4.44 | 0.15 | 1.20 |
| Both | 2.00 | 7.41 | 0.95 | 2.00 |
| Both, pump from its label | 2.35 | 8.70 | 1.30 | 2.35 |
Energy and running watts simply add. Surge does not: the calculator takes the worst single start-up and adds the running watts of everything else. Here the refrigerator starting at 1,200 W while the pump runs at 800 W gives 2.00 kW, not the sum of both start-ups.
Check your pump’s label
Pump labels list amps, not watts. Pentair’s Hydromatic catalog, for example, lists a 1/3 hp, 115 V sump pump at 10 full-load amps. Volts times amps gives 115 × 10 = 1,150 W, well above the 800 W default, so the last table row uses 1,150 W for the pump. That raises the battery to 8.70 kWh and the surge to 2.35 kW. Use your own pump’s label.
Which portable stations cover it
These five portable units meet the pump-and-refrigerator example. They differ in how many expansion batteries they need to reach 7.41 kWh. The installer-only Tesla Powerwall 3 is left out because it is not a portable unit.
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Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus
Meets the example with 1 expansion battery, 7.68 kWh in all.
Base unit $2,399.99. Price checked 2026-10-03.
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EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra
Meets the example with 1 expansion battery, 12.29 kWh in all.
Base unit $4,199. Price checked 2026-10-03.
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EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3
Meets the example with 1 expansion battery, 8.19 kWh in all.
Base unit $2,799. Price checked 2026-10-03.
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Jackery Explorer 5000 Plus
Meets the example with 1 expansion battery, 10.08 kWh in all.
Base unit $3,149. Price checked 2026-10-03.
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Bluetti Apex 300
Meets the example with 2 expansion batteries, 8.29 kWh in all.
Base unit $1,699. Price checked 2026-10-04.
Prices change often. Each was read from the maker’s page on the date shown; confirm it before you buy.
Connecting it
A portable station powers what you plug into it. A pump that is hardwired, or on its own circuit, needs a proper connection, and a licensed electrician should confirm any panel, transfer switch or 240 V work.
Sources and what we left out
- Pentair, Hydromatic sump pumps catalog: the 1/3 hp, 115 V, 10 FLA entry.
- Capacities, outputs and prices, from each maker’s own page: Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus, EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra, EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3, Jackery Explorer 5000 Plus and Bluetti Apex 300.
- The pump’s 800 W, 1,300 W and one hour, and the refrigerator’s figures, are the calculator’s own defaults.
We found no source for how many hours a sump pump runs in a storm, so we left it out and kept the one-hour default. The label example comes from one maker’s catalog, not from every pump.