Debate: Batteries vs alternator to power HHO cell

[Helz_McFugly]

for short trips like to work and back every day (150 miles round trip or 3 hours total) only recharged once a day

would it be less strain on your car to run your HHO on your alternator OR the weight of having a few batteries, maybe Deep Cycle Marine Battery's (40 lbs each) in your car to run your HHO. I would think 4 would be enough for 3 hours but Ide like to hear someone with a better electical background do the math on this one.

another thing to factor in. you will be paying for the elct. on your elct. bill to charge those batteries so how many killowatts does it take to charge 4 batteries.

[Roland Jacques]

What would be the point?

You would be robing "Peter to pay Paul". they're on the same team.


You mite as will buy some gasoline put it in a can. then while you are driving slowly pour in your air intake. Presto better MPG

Phil, your rubbing off on me LOL (thank you)

[Helz_McFugly]

true true.

I guess the question would be is it cheaper to charge 150 lbs of batteries at home on your AC current and only lose very little MPGs because of the weight.?
or have the HHO system drawing off your alternator and having the loss there?
or is the difference between the two enough to worry about? I mean we could only be talking about a few cent in savings one way or the other but the batteries are about $75 each. lol thanks for helping me answer myself.

[Roland Jacques]

true true.

I guess the question would be is it cheaper to charge 150 lbs of batteries at home on your AC current and only lose very little MPGs because of the weight.?
or have the HHO system drawing off your alternator and having the loss there?
or is the difference between the two enough to worry about? I mean we could only be talking about a few cent in savings one way or the other but the batteries are about $75 each. lol thanks for helping me answer myself.

Yep, I love those moments, i have them all the time.

You could do the math, im fairly curtian what your outcome would be.

[IM2L844]

I use 2 batteries, connected in parallel in my trunk. Each one has a reserve capacity of 160 minutes. With a 25 amp load that gives me about 4 hours of run time before I need to recharge. That works out to about 300 highway miles at 75 miles per hour, but I rarely get close to going that far at one time. Usually, just 60 minutes a day and it gets parked in a secure location, so a 50 watt solar panel keeps it charged. This set up, for over a year and a half has consistently given me another 7 MPG gain over using my vehicle's electrical system to run my electrolyzer.

The batteries cost me $60 each and the solar panel cost me $179, but I do a lot of camping and they whole system is easy to disconnect, remove and set up for a remote power source. I've used it a few times for power outages as well.

[Roland Jacques]

I use 2 batteries, connected in parallel in my trunk. Each one has a reserve capacity of 160 minutes. With a 25 amp load that gives me about 4 hours of run time before I need to recharge. That works out to about 300 highway miles at 75 miles per hour, but I rarely get close to going that far at one time. Usually, just 60 minutes a day and it gets parked in a secure location, so a 50 watt solar panel keeps it charged. This set up, for over a year and a half has consistently given me another 7 MPG gain over using my vehicle's electrical system to run my electrolyzer.

The batteries cost me $60 each and the solar panel cost me $179, but I do a lot of camping and they whole system is easy to disconnect, remove and set up for a remote power source. I've used it a few times for power outages as well.

Good idea, I would not have thought it would equal that much MPGs

What kind of car is it?

What were your MPG's? No hho, hho, & hho plus battery & solar panel

[Philldpapill]

Ok, here's some math that I THINK you wanted Helz...

We'll assume your car only uses about 40hp going down the road, and gets 30MPG(no HHO or anything -just stock). 1hp = 746W, so if you use 40hp for one hour, that is 29.84kWh. My electricity in Texas is about $0.12/kWh, so that would equate to $3.58 in electricity usage. Gase prices around here are about $2.25/gal. Assuming you're charging is 100% efficient, then it would cost you nearly 60% MORE in electrical energy, rather than using chemical energy(gasoline).

That is comparing strictly a gasoline powered car, to an electric vehicle that requires the same power requirements, which should be accurate. In reality, your charging of the batteries might be about 80% efficient, so it would actually be even MORE costly to run on electricity.

I know your question wasn't exactly pertaining to this comparison, but I hope that gives an idea of the feasibility of it. However, I think you were asking if it is better to just put the strain on the engine, rather than the batteries. I think the answer to your debate, would be a question - "What are you trying to do? Save money?"

If you are just trying to save money, then I'd say use the alternator with just a minimal battery bank so that it can even out the load on the alternator if you have some peak demand. Hauling a battery bank around doesn't really affect your mileage TOO much, but the added cost and complexity might end up biting you in the end.

[biggy boy]

What if the batteries are free and the hydro is free? (work)

[biggy boy]

Wouldn't you need to calculate how many gallons per hour of gas, your vehicle uses with and with out the added batteries to properly calculate the saving. Then compare the gallons per hour saving to the cost of charging
the batteries back up.

Example: say you save I don't know maybe 1 or two gallons per hour.
times the price of gallon of gas. lets use 2 gallons x 2.25= $4.50 an hour saved by using extra batteries. This is hypothetical here!!

Then figure out how much it cost to charge up those extra batteries.
find out how many hours you can drive on that charge.
then you could compare which one method is better.

[Roland Jacques]

Wouldn't you need to calculate how many gallons per hour of gas, your vehicle uses with and with out the added batteries to properly calculate the saving. Then compare the gallons per hour saving to the cost of charging
the batteries back up.

Example: say you save I don't know maybe 1 or two gallons per hour.
times the price of gallon of gas. lets use 2 gallons x 2.25= $4.50 an hour saved by using extra batteries. This is hypothetical here!!

Then figure out how much it cost to charge up those extra batteries.
find out how many hours you can drive on that charge.
then you could compare which one method is better.

Maybe if IM2L844 gives us his real numbers we can figure it out from that perceptive also.


No hho, mpg
hho, mpg
hho plus battery & solar panel mpg