The short answer: yes. A laptop, monitor and router together use about 130W, so a Jackery HomePower 3000 with 3,072Wh of battery runs a full home office for about 24 hours of work, or three normal days. If you only run a laptop and a router, that stretches to nearly five days.
The HomePower 3600 Plus and the Solar Generator 5000 Plus stretch it further. The part most outage guides skip is that power is only half of working through a blackout: you also need an internet connection. We cover that below.
What a home office actually draws
An office is a gentle load compared with a fridge compressor or a space heater. These are typical figures; check the label or charger on your own gear.
| Device | Typical draw |
|---|---|
| Laptop (working) | 45 to 65W |
| External monitor | 25 to 40W each |
| Modem and router | 15 to 25W together |
| Desk lamp (LED) | 8 to 12W |
| Phone charging | 10 to 20W |
| Desktop computer under load | 150 to 300W |
| Small desk fan | 20 to 40W |
Add up what you would really keep on. A laptop, one monitor, the router and a lamp come to roughly 130W. A desktop with two monitors, the router and a lamp is nearer 350W.
How many working days it runs
The table assumes an eight-hour workday and counts the battery alone, with no solar. It ignores conversion losses, so real runtimes are roughly 10 to 15 percent shorter.
| Set-up | Draw | Energy per 8-hour day | HomePower 3000 (3,072Wh) | HomePower 3600 Plus (3,584Wh) | 5000 Plus (5,040Wh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laptop and router | about 80W | about 640Wh | about 4.8 days | about 5.6 days | about 7.9 days |
| Laptop, monitor, router, lamp | about 130W | about 1,040Wh | about 3 days | about 3.4 days | about 4.8 days |
| Desktop, two monitors, router, lamp | about 350W | about 2,800Wh | about 1.1 days | about 1.3 days | about 1.8 days |
The lesson is that a laptop-based office is cheap to keep alive and a desktop is not. If an outage looks long and your work allows it, working from a laptop instead of the desktop triples the days you get.
Check the current price of the HomePower 3000 at Jackery (panels included)
The internet problem
A battery can keep your router lit, but a lit router is not the same as a working connection. Whether you stay online depends on what your provider does in an outage.
- Cable and fiber run through equipment in your neighborhood. Much of it has short battery backups, and a local outage usually leaves you connected for a while. A widespread outage can take the lot down.
- Fixed wireless and satellite need only your own power and a clear view, so they tend to keep working as long as your battery does.
- Your phone is the dependable fallback. Mobile towers have battery and generator backup, though they get crowded in big events.
So plan for two routes: the router on the battery, and your phone’s hotspot as a spare. Check beforehand that your mobile plan allows tethering and how much data it includes, because a day of video calls uses a lot.
What else the unit can run beside the office
An office leaves most of a big battery free, which is why the same unit that keeps you working also keeps the house going. On a HomePower 3000, a laptop-based day costs about 1,040Wh and leaves roughly 2,000Wh for:
- A fridge, at 1,000 to 1,500Wh a day. Our fridge runtime guide works it through.
- Phones, a tablet and lights, around 300 to 500Wh a day.
- A CPAP overnight, about 300 to 500Wh. See our CPAP guide.
If you want the whole list running for a week, the sizing guide shows how to add it up.
Solar recharge between outages
Panels help most when an outage drags on. A bright day returns 1,500 to 2,000Wh with a typical panel set, which covers a full day of laptop-based office work and then some. Our guide to how many panels charge a HomePower 3000 shows the charge-time sums. In a winter storm under heavy cloud, expect much less, and lean on the battery.
Plugging in sensibly
- Plug the router and computer into the unit, not into the wall. Keep the connection short and tidy.
- Do not hang a surge strip off a surge strip. One quality strip from the unit is enough for an office.
- Put the unit where it can breathe, on a desk or the floor beside it, not under blankets or in a closed cabinet.
- Save your work first. Switching from the wall to the battery should be seamless, but do not trust an unsaved document to a power change.
Battery generator, small UPS, or gas generator?
A small UPS is the box under a desk that keeps a computer alive for a few minutes. It is the right tool for saving work, not for working through a blackout.
A gas generator can run an office for as long as you have fuel, but it is loud, it needs to stand outside because of carbon monoxide, and it makes your video calls unpleasant. Our solar generator versus gas generator page covers the trade-offs.
A solar generator is quiet, sits in the room, and keeps a laptop-based office running for days. For most remote workers who want to keep earning through a storm, it is the best fit.
Which unit to buy
For a laptop-based office plus a fridge and phones, the HomePower 3000 is the right size. It outlasts a typical outage and includes panels for a longer one.
Step up to the 3600 Plus or the 5000 Plus if you run a desktop, if you want the office and a freezer through a week of ice storm, or if you live somewhere outages run long. Our home backup buying guide lays each unit out against the same list.
Jackery's full lineup and current prices
Keep reading: Best solar generators for home backup · How to size a solar generator for home backup · Can a solar generator run a chest freezer? · Can a solar generator power a whole house?