Quote:
Originally Posted by todayican
Here is how I did the math
Added up all the accessories wattages from another post (Thanks OP)
Assumed all the ones that could be on, were, for 10 hours straight.
I believe I came up with 66a continuous (meaning one would need 66 watt hours to replace with a battery)
so something that could survive a 10 hour day would be 660ah x 12v
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I think your estimation of the power requirements is high, maybe very high. I think Brucepick estimated his Civic drew 10amps for operation. Reducing loads through LEDs and HID headlights and such is also significant (my car has HID headlights and LEDs in almost all the esternal sockets now, and it's a big improvement).
Quote:
Originally Posted by todayican
No for someone taking short trips, like a shorter commute, game on! :-)
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Agreed. My experience suggests a confirmation of this, at least in part (though I use a deep cycle lead acid battery from Odyssey). My commute is 11/12 miles each way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikehallbackhoe
I removed my alternator belt on my crx, and the cold idle went from 2000 rpm , to 2500 rpm. I had to ride the brakes going through town! I put the belt back on. I just bought a 31A yellow top optima battery for my dumptruck, which doesn't get a lot of use. I am going to put the optima in my crx when the weather gets nice, and remove the alternator belt. It won't cost me anything to experiment. the extra power is nice, even without the mpg gains.
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On the freeway, engine-on pulse and glide, I have noticed idle RPMs in the 800s with the alt switched off and in the 700s with the alt switched on. But if you drive accordingly, using the "driving with load" technique with a vacuum gauge for your Civic, you should be able to get significantly better MPG from the belt-off alt delete mod. Thanks for this. Please keep us posted on your experiences. BTW: doesn't this suggest you saw maybe a 25% power gain?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ecomodded
Find lower watt bulbs for your head lights, if you wanted you could mount some bolt on led pods.
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I love the heater/ac fan mod idea you mention. I wonder how difficult it might be to do. For the headlight suggestion, of course, HID systems are available for lots of cars, and I cut wattage by almost 2/3 (to 70watts total for headlights) with a HID system ($70 I think it cost). There are LEDs too. I've seen them, but couldn't find for my car when I was looking. But I think you could get the draw down to 15 or 20 watts with LED headlights. I'd love that.