The numbers
| Per day | 3.0–8.0 kWh |
|---|---|
| While running | 500–1,000 W (8,000–12,000 BTU) |
| Starting surge (plan for) | up to about 2,000 W |
Heat is the enemy: it runs hardest exactly when the sun is strongest, which helps solar keep up.
Tip: Cool one room, not the house, during an outage.
Answer a few taps in a guide and every page like this shows the numbers for your own setup. Start
Running it on solar
At typical use (about 5.5 kWh a day), it takes about 9 400-watt panels to keep up through a dark winter, plus batteries for the nights.
Sized for a dark winter. Set your location · Size a whole system
How long a battery runs it
On its own, at typical use:
On a power station you have
Questions people ask
How long will a power station run a window air conditioner?
A 2 kWh power station runs it for about 7 hours on its own, at typical use. Bigger batteries scale up from there.
How much solar does a window air conditioner need?
About 2750 W of panels covers it in a typical US winter month, on its own.
Power it for good
Want it running through outages, or off-grid for good? The guides size everything around what you run.
Typical ranges for planning, from US Department of Energy appliance estimates, nameplate ratings and owner measurements. Your model's label or a plug-in meter gives your exact number. More: How much power do you use?