Yes, pellet grills/smokers always need a source of power to run the control panel, auger motor to feed to the pellets into the burnt pot, fan to feed the fire with air.

Now, there is now a growing number of pellet grills/smokers that are being released, which operate on battery power that don't technically need to be 'plugging in' to work. However, the batteries obviously have to be charged.

Currently, it appears these battery pellet grills can operate for between 10 to 15 hours before their batteries need recharging. We've got separate categories in our database for battery pellet grills/smokers.