The short answer: yes, but it is a poor use of a battery. A standard space heater draws 1,500W, which a Jackery HomePower 3000 can supply easily, but it will empty the battery in about two hours on high. A heated blanket, by contrast, runs for more than a day on the same charge.
The HomePower 3600 Plus adds hours and expands, and the Solar Generator 5000 Plus gives the longest run. The point of the sums below is to show where the watts are best spent when the power is out and it is cold.
What heaters actually draw
These are typical ranges. The label on your heater, or its manual, gives the real figure.
| Heater | Typical running draw | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electric blanket or heated throw | 40 to 100W | Warms you, not the room |
| Heated mattress pad | 60 to 150W | Pre-warms a bed |
| Small ceramic heater, low setting | 500 to 750W | Cycles on a thermostat |
| Standard space heater, high | 1,500W | The common US limit for a 120V outlet |
| Oil-filled radiator, high | 1,000 to 1,500W | Slow to warm, holds heat after it cycles off |
| Infrared panel or quartz heater | 400 to 1,500W | Heats people directly |
| Furnace blower and controls (gas furnace) | 300 to 700W | The better use of battery power |
Space heaters turn electricity into heat at close to 100 percent efficiency, so every 1,500W of draw really is 1,500W of heat, the same as 5,120 BTU an hour. That is a small heater by furnace standards, and it only warms a single room.
How long it runs
The table assumes the heater runs constantly on the battery alone, with no sun. It ignores conversion losses, so real runtimes are about 10 to 15 percent shorter.
| Heat source | Draw | HomePower 3000 (3,072Wh) | HomePower 3600 Plus (3,584Wh) | 5000 Plus (5,040Wh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric blanket | about 75W | about 41 hours | about 48 hours | about 67 hours |
| Small ceramic heater, low | about 700W | about 4.4 hours | about 5.1 hours | about 7.2 hours |
| Oil-filled radiator | about 1,000W | about 3.1 hours | about 3.6 hours | about 5 hours |
| Space heater, high | 1,500W | about 2.0 hours | about 2.4 hours | about 3.4 hours |
A heater with a thermostat does not run flat out. In a small, shut bedroom it may run half the time once the room is warm, which roughly doubles the figures in the last three rows. Even so, a full night of heating (eight hours) at an average of 750W is about 6,000Wh, more than any single home battery here holds.
Better ways to spend the same power
- Warm the bed. Run a heated blanket or mattress pad, with a hot-water bottle and a sleeping bag rated for the cold. A few hundred watt-hours buys a night of warmth.
- Heat one small room. Choose the room with the fewest windows, close the door and hang a blanket over the draughtiest window. A small heater in a small room cycles off often.
- Use the heater in bursts. Run it for 30 minutes before bed and again in the morning, instead of through the night.
- Run the furnace instead. If you have a gas furnace, the blower and controls need only 300 to 700W, so the battery can run them for most of a day. It warms the whole house for a fraction of what an electric heater would use. Our guide on running a furnace on a solar generator shows the numbers.
- Insulate before you plug in. Towels under doors, plastic over single-pane windows and closed curtains hold heat that the battery would otherwise have to replace.
- Recharge on clear days. A cold, clear winter day still gives a set of panels some 500 to 1,000Wh, which is an extra night of blanket power. Our guide to how many panels charge a HomePower 3000 has the charge-time sums.
Safety with any heater on a battery
A battery produces no exhaust, which makes it far safer than a gas, propane or kerosene heater indoors, where carbon monoxide kills people every winter after storms. The risks that remain are the ordinary ones:
- Plug the heater straight into the battery, or use a short, heavy-gauge cord. Thin extension cords overheat at 1,500W.
- Keep it at least three feet from bedding, curtains and furniture, and on a flat, hard surface.
- Choose a heater with tip-over and overheat shut-off, and never leave it running unattended or while you sleep on a high setting.
- Do not run a heater from a battery that is already warm or covered, and keep the battery itself clear of the heater’s airflow.
Battery generator or gas generator?
A gas generator can run a space heater for as long as it has fuel, which is its strength in a long winter outage. But it must run outdoors, away from windows, because of carbon monoxide, it is loud, and fuel can be hard to find after a storm.
A solar generator is silent, sits in the room, has no exhaust and recharges from the sun. Its limit is hours of heater time, which is why it suits low-watt warmth, a furnace fan and short heater bursts better than all-night room heating. Our solar generator versus gas generator page covers the trade-offs in full.
Check the current price of the HomePower 3600 Plus at Jackery
Which unit to buy
For blankets, a furnace fan and a short heater burst, the HomePower 3000 is enough, and it ships with panels so the next day’s charge is covered.
For a small heater for several hours a night, the HomePower 3600 Plus is the better fit: more battery, the same output and room to expand. For a heater plus a furnace, a fridge and the rest of the list, the 5000 Plus is where to start. Our sizing guide shows how to add heating to the rest of your list, and the home backup buying guide lays each unit out against it.
Jackery's full lineup and current prices
Keep reading: Best solar generators for home backup · Can a solar generator run a furnace? · Can a solar generator run an air conditioner? · How long will a solar generator run a refrigerator? · Minnesota outage guide · North Dakota outage guide · Can a solar generator run a washer, dryer or electric stove?