How long will a power station run a CPAP?

The useful number is nights, not watt-hours. Below is that number for all 26 models in the database, at three realistic settings — because the humidifier and the inverter between them decide most of the answer.

40 W machine only

85 W humidifier + heated tube

8 h per night assumed

~15% lost to the inverter on AC

What a CPAP actually draws

A full-size machine at a typical pressure of 7–12 cmH₂O draws 30–60W with the humidifier off. Turn on the heated humidifier and the heated tube and that climbs to 70–100W, because both are heating elements and a heating element does not get efficient. Travel machines like the AirMini sit at 5–20W, but they have no traditional humidifier to feed.

Pressure matters less than people expect, and leaks matter more: a mask leaking badly makes the blower work harder all night. The figures below use 40W for a machine with the humidifier off and 85W with it on — the middle of each published range.

Check your own brick. The power supply's label gives you the ceiling, not the average — an AirSense 10 ships with a 90W supply but averages around 53W in use. The number you want is on the machine's manual page, or on a plug-in meter if you have one.

Nights of backup, all 26 models

Nights of 8 hours. The DC column assumes a 12V cord straight from the station's car socket; the AC columns go through the inverter.

Model	Capacity	No humidifier, 12V DC	No humidifier, AC outlet	Humidifier + heated tube, AC
EcoFlow RIVER 3	245 Wh	0.7	0.6	0.3
EcoFlow RIVER 2	256 Wh	0.7	0.6	0.3
Bluetti EB3A	268 Wh	0.7	0.7	0.3
Anker SOLIX C300	288 Wh	0.8	0.7	0.3
Jackery Explorer 300	293 Wh	0.8	0.7	0.3
Goal Zero Yeti 500X	505 Wh	1.4	1.3	0.6
EcoFlow RIVER 2 Max	512 Wh	1.5	1.3	0.6
Bluetti EB70S	716 Wh	2.1	1.9	0.8
EcoFlow RIVER 2 Pro	768 Wh	2.2	2.0	0.9
Bluetti AC70	768 Wh	2.2	2.0	0.9
EcoFlow DELTA 2	1,024 Wh	3.0	2.7	1.2
EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus	1,024 Wh	3.0	2.7	1.2
DJI Power 1000	1,024 Wh	3.0	2.7	1.2
Anker SOLIX C1000	1,056 Wh	3.1	2.8	1.3
Jackery Explorer 1000 v2	1,070 Wh	3.1	2.8	1.3
Bluetti AC180	1,152 Wh	3.4	3.0	1.4
Goal Zero Yeti 1500X	1,516 Wh	4.5	4.0	1.8
Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus	2,042 Wh	6.0	5.4	2.5
EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max	2,048 Wh	6.0	5.4	2.5
Bluetti AC200L	2,048 Wh	6.0	5.4	2.5
Anker SOLIX F2000 (767)	2,048 Wh	6.0	5.4	2.5
Bluetti Elite 200 V2	2,073 Wh	6.1	5.5	2.5
Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro	3,024 Wh	8.9	8.0	3.7
EcoFlow DELTA Pro	3,600 Wh	10	9.5	4.5
Anker SOLIX F3800	3,840 Wh	11	10	4.8
EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3	4,096 Wh	12	10	5.1

What size you actually need

Read this as a floor, not a recommendation: it is the smallest pack in the database that clears each threshold, with nothing left over for a phone, a lamp or a cold night.

If you want	Smallest model that covers it	Capacity
One night, humidifier on	EcoFlow DELTA 2	1,024 Wh
Two nights, humidifier on	Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus	2,042 Wh
Three nights, humidifier on	Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro	3,024 Wh
Two nights, humidifier off	EcoFlow RIVER 2 Pro	768 Wh
Four nights, humidifier off	Goal Zero Yeti 1500X	1,516 Wh

Cheapest way to clear one full night with the humidifier running: the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 at $799 launch price ($0.75/Wh), which is not the same model as the smallest one that clears it.

Four things that shorten the night

The humidifier

It is the single biggest variable on this page. Switching it off roughly doubles every number in the last column of the table above.

The inverter, and the station's own idle draw

Running through the AC outlet costs about 15% before the machine sees a watt. On top of that the station itself runs its inverter, display and fans all night; on most units that is a few watts, which over eight hours quietly removes another 20–60Wh from a pack you have already budgeted. The DC column avoids both.

The low-load cutoff

A CPAP is a small load. Several stations interpret "small" as "nothing plugged in" and shut the AC outlet down after a timeout. This is a settings problem, not a capacity problem, and it is the most common way a plan that worked on paper fails at 2am.

Cold

LiFePO4 packs deliver less at low temperatures and most refuse to charge below freezing. For a machine you rely on in a cold room or a van in winter, treat the table above as an optimistic figure.

If the machine stays plugged in at home

For grid outages the useful feature is UPS passthrough: the station sits between the wall and the machine and takes over when the power drops. 14 models here switch in 20 ms or less — EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus (10 ms), EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 (10 ms), EcoFlow RIVER 3 (20 ms), Bluetti EB3A (20 ms), Anker SOLIX C300 (20 ms), among others.

How we calculated this

Capacity × efficiency ÷ watts ÷ 8 hours. Efficiency is 85% through the AC inverter and 95% on the DC socket, and the capacity is the manufacturer's rated figure, which is measured at the cells rather than at the outlet. Every number here is therefore an estimate built from published specifications, not something we measured with a meter on a real machine — where a figure would need a measurement to be honest, we say so rather than round it up.

FAQ

Can any portable power station run a CPAP?

Output is almost never the limit — a full-size machine draws 30–60W without the humidifier, which the smallest unit in this database handles. Capacity is the limit, and so is the low-load cutoff: some stations switch the AC outlet off when they see a draw this small, so check whether yours has an "always on" or "DC/AC timeout" setting before you rely on it.

Does the humidifier really cost that much battery?

It is a heater, so yes. Running a full-size machine with the heated humidifier and heated tube roughly doubles the draw, from about 40W to about 85W, which cuts the nights on a given pack by more than half. A hose cover and switching the humidifier off for the outage nights is the cheapest capacity upgrade there is.

Is it better to plug the machine into AC or use a 12V DC cord?

DC, when your machine supports it. The AC outlet runs through the inverter and loses roughly 15% of the pack before the machine sees it; a DC cord skips that stage. On the same battery that is typically an extra half-night of use, and it also sidesteps the low-load AC cutoff.

Do I need a pure sine wave inverter for a CPAP?

Every station in this database has a pure sine wave inverter, so on these units the question does not arise. It matters with cheap modified-sine inverters, where the waveform can make the blower motor run hot and noisy.

Will the power station keep the machine running if the grid drops mid-night?

Only if it has UPS passthrough, where the pack sits between the wall and the machine and takes over in milliseconds. 14 models here switch over in 20 ms or less, which is fast enough that the machine never notices the gap.

Draw ranges compiled from CPAP manufacturer and retailer documentation (source). Station specifications come from each manufacturer's own documentation — see the database and methodology. This page is about power, not therapy: settings are between you and your clinician.