Sous-vide immersion circulator — blackout Wh honesty
Continuous hours-long draw — heater + pump keep cycling to hold bath temp. Mid stations can work for short cooks; multi-hour steaks drain Wh fast. Cross-link: Instant Pot · slow cooker · induction.
Continuous hours-long draw honesty
- Nameplate vs average. Many immersion circulators label 800–1,200 W class. Once at temp, average often falls (hundreds of watts) as the heater cycles — still continuous duty for hours.
- Short cooks on mid stations. A 45–90 min bath (eggs, thin fish) can fit a 1 kWh-class box if continuous W clears. A 4–12 h steak is a Wh problem, not a surge problem.
- Vs Instant Pot: pressure cookers spike hard on heat-up then cycle — see Instant Pot honesty. Sous-vide is gentler peak, longer average duty.
- Vs slow cooker: crockpots often average ~100–250 W and win for all-day meals on mid stations — slow cooker. Sous-vide usually draws more while circulating.
- Vs induction: open induction hobs are often 1,200–1,800 W continuous — harder continuous gate than a bathing circulator — induction. Reheat cousin: microwave.
- Multi-day outages: don’t burn expand packs on a 10 h bath — see expandable / multi-day.
Specs from manufacturer pages (checked Oct 2026). Runtime figures are estimates. Follow appliance food-safety manuals — not cooking advice.
Bath Wh estimates
Hours ≈ (rated Wh × 0.85) ÷ average circulator watts once at temp.
Heat-up ~800–1,200 W
Hold avg ~300–600 W
4–12 h bath
Comparison: sous-vide-duty honesty
Filter by short-cook fit vs long-bath Wh.
| Model | Wh · continuous AC | Est. short vs long bath | Sous-vide honesty | Approx. USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus Lose | 286 Wh · 600 W | Heat-up often fails; Wh too thin. | Skip continuous circulator — use Instant Pot / cold meals. | ~$180–300 |
| Anker SOLIX C300 | 288 Wh · 300 W | Continuous out of class. | Same — mid stations need ≥ heat-up watts. | ~$200–280 |
| Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Short | 1,070 Wh · 1,500 W | ~1.5–3 h hold class (est.) | Mid stations can work for short cooks if label clears; long baths empty the box. | ~$499–589 |
| BLUETTI Elite 100 V2 | 1,024 Wh · 1,800 W | ~1.5–3 h hold class (est.) | Better continuous headroom than small boxes; Wh still gates multi-hour steaks. | ~$380–500 |
| Anker SOLIX C1000 Expand | 1,056 Wh → 2,112 Wh · 1,800 W | ~2× with expand (est.) | Expand helps long baths — but prefer multi-day for fridge/lights first. | ~$400–600 |
| EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus | 1,024 Wh · 1,800 W class | ~1.5–3 h solo · expand | Same Wh math as Elite/Jackery mid; expand/solar for longer holds. | ~$600–900+ |
| BLUETTI AC200L Longer | 2,048 Wh · 2,400 W class | ~3–6 h hold class (est.) | Best Wh in this set for a longer bath — still often lose to Instant Pot / slow cooker priority. | ~$800–1,100 |
QuietWatt is independent. Cross-link: Instant Pot · slow cooker · induction · microwave · expandable / multi-day. Estimates only.
Where to buy (affiliate placeholders)
Tracked affiliate links will replace these placeholders once QuietWatt is enrolled in each program. Until then, use the official product URLs in the table above.
Placeholder anchors: #aff-ecoflow, #aff-bluetti,
#aff-anker, #aff-jackery, #aff-amazon.