How Long Will It Run

How long will a Goal Zero Yeti PRO 4000 run LED Christmas tree lights (500 bulbs)?

About 2.3 days — 2 days 7 h typically, from 2 days 4 h in the worst case to 2 days 10 h at best. That assumes LED Christmas tree lights (500 bulbs) pulling 35 W continuously, plus the station's 18 W AC mains socket overhead — 53 W in total out of 2,902 usable watt-hours.

Note how much of that draw is the station rather than the appliance: 34% of the energy goes on keeping the inverter awake. On a load this small, the idle draw matters more than the capacity does.

The numbers

Goal Zero Yeti PRO 4000 · 3,993 Wh · new pack at 20 °C, 10% reserve
SetupAverage drawCautiousTypicalBest case
1 × LED Christmas tree lights (500 bulbs), UK 230 V53 W2 days 4 h2 days 7 h2 days 10 h
2 × LED Christmas tree lights (500 bulbs), UK 230 V88 W31 h 2 min32 h 59 min34 h 55 min
1 × LED Christmas tree lights (500 bulbs), US 120 V53 W2 days 4 h2 days 7 h2 days 10 h
  • 6.8 nights of eight hours, or 2.28 days of continuous running.
  • Usable energy: 2,902 Wh of the 3,993 Wh on the box, after chemistry, inverter losses and the reserve.
  • To keep it going for a full 24 hours you would need about 1,750 Wh of rated capacity — which this station has.
  • Start-up: the LED Christmas tree lights (500 bulbs) asks for 35 W at switch-on against this station's 7,200 W peak — comfortable.

Buy the Goal Zero Yeti PRO 4000

Where to buy

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What changes the answer

If instead…Typical runtimeChange
The pack is two years old2 days 2 h-8%
The pack is five years old43 h 48 min-20%
It is −10 °C outside46 h 32 min-15%
You run it flat, no reserve2 days 13 h+11%
You keep 20% back2 days 1 h-11%

About a sixth of the same tree in old incandescent bulbs, and cool enough to touch.

If you need it to run longer

Nothing in this catalogue runs LED Christmas tree lights (500 bulbs) for twice as long as the Goal Zero Yeti PRO 4000. Either it is already near the top of the range, or this appliance is beyond what portable batteries do well — see the LED Christmas tree lights (500 bulbs) page for the full ranking.

Smaller options that still work

StationWhTypicalWeightIndicative price
Anker SOLIX F38003,8402 days 5 h60 kg£2,999 / $3,499
EcoFlow DELTA Pro3,6002 days 1 h45 kg£2,499 / $2,699
Anker SOLIX F30003,07243 h 47 min41.5 kg£1,899 / $1,999
Pecron E3600LFP3,07243 h 47 min36 kg— / $999