"How long will my battery run it?" is the first question most people ask before going off-grid. The good news: the Starlink Mini is far more efficient than many people expect. We've been fitting dual battery systems for years, and here's how to work it out.
How much power the Mini uses
- Light use with a clear sky: around 20W
- Harder work: obstructions, heat and heavy streaming push it higher, towards 40W
- Start-up: up to about 60W for a short time
To be safe, we plan on a 30W average. If your setup does better than that, you're in front. Running all day (24 hours) at 30W uses about 0.72kWh.
Work it out yourself
- Battery size in watt-hours: amp-hours × 12.8. A 100Ah battery is about 1,280Wh.
- Usable energy: lithium (LiFePO4) about 90%. AGM or lead acid only about 50%, or you'll shorten its life.
- Allow for conversion losses: a step-up adaptor is about 90% efficient.
- Divide by 30W for a safe average.
Typical runtimes (Starlink Mini only, 30W average)
| Battery | Usable energy | Approx. runtime |
|---|---|---|
| 100Ah lithium | about 1,150Wh | about 35 hours |
| 200Ah lithium | about 2,300Wh | about 70 hours |
| 100Ah AGM | about 640Wh | about 19 hours |
| 500Wh power station | about 425Wh | about 13 hours |
| 18V 5Ah power tool battery | about 70Wh | about 2 hours |
Real-world runtime is shorter when the fridge, lights and phone chargers share the same battery. Try your own setup in the Runtime Calculator.
Make your battery go further
- Run it on DC, not through an inverter. Going 12V → 240V → DC wastes 15–25% of your battery as heat.
- Turn off Snow Melt in the Starlink app (Settings > Starlink > Snow Melt). It's for snowy climates and just wastes power here.
- Give it a clear view of the sky. Obstructions make the dish work harder and use more power.
- Turn it off when you don't need it, such as overnight, or use the sleep schedule in the app.
- Top up while you drive with a DC-DC charger, and at camp with solar.
Need more capacity?
We supply and fit full dual battery systems: lithium batteries, DC-DC chargers, solar and Anderson outlets. See batteries, DC-DC chargers and solar, or call us on 07 4632 9990 to talk through a setup for your vehicle.