Why the Wattage Sticker on Your Appliance Doesn't Match What You Read Online
An appliance's nameplate typically lists its maximum rated power draw — often close to a worst-case or startup figure — while most published wattage charts (including this database) list typical running watts under normal operating conditions, which for a cycling appliance like a refrigerator or air conditioner is usually meaningfully lower than the nameplate's maximum figure; both numbers are correct, they're just answering different questions.
This mismatch is a genuinely common source of confusion when someone checks their appliance's label after already using an online wattage chart.
What a nameplate rating is actually designed to guarantee
A nameplate is primarily a safety and electrical-code rating — it needs to cover the appliance's absolute maximum possible draw so a circuit or cord rated for that number is guaranteed never to be undersized, which is why it commonly sits well above the wattage the appliance draws during typical, everyday operation.
Why typical running watts is the more useful number for sizing backup power
For estimating power station runtime or required capacity, typical running watts (what the appliance actually draws most of the time, as covered in the duty-cycle guide for compressor-based appliances) gives a far more realistic planning figure than the nameplate's conservative maximum — which is why this database, like most power-station sizing guides, reports typical running watts rather than nameplate ratings.