These lightweight charging stations have 120V output and power things like table lamps and fans. They can also charge electronic devices like laptops and phones.
- Explorer 160 — Jackery Portable Power Station — one AC output — 167Wh (Watt hours) — 3.84 pounds — $139
- Explorer 240 — Jackery Portable Power Station — two AC outputs – 240Wh — 6.82 pounds — $219
- Explorer 300 — Jackery Portable Power Station — two AC outputs — 293Wh — 7.1 pounds — $299
- Anker 521 Portable Power Station — two AC output — 256 Wh — 8.2 pounds — $219
- Ecoflow Portable Power Station RIVER 2 — two AC output — 256Wh — 7.7 pounds — $239 — 1 Hour Fast Charging
The Ecoflower brand has fast charging — the River 2 power station can be fully charged in 1 hour.
The Jackery power stations are the most lightweight and durable. These charges would be particularly suitable for camping trips. They are also the highest rated by Wirecutter and This Old House.
What’s a Watt Hour
A Watt Hour is a unit of measurement for power over a period of time (an hour), or in our case, a way of measuring capacity. One Watt hour equals one Watt of average power flow over an hour. One Watt over four hours would be four Watt Hours of power. For example, a 100 Watt light bulb running on 400 Watt Hour battery would last, on paper, 4 hours.
