Quote:
Originally Posted by ksa8907
If the goal is extending the duration of leaving your alternator off, perhaps money spent on providing additional energy would be better?
It's one of those situations where you've created a "solution" that requires more solutions.
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My goal is to reduce the overall power use for slightly improved MPG when the alternator is on and more range/less battery drain when it is off. Not running the fans when they aren't needed would go a long way towards saving battery power. I'm not particularly concerned about running my battery dead as I have an Optima Yellowtop and I don't usually drive far enough from home for that to be a concern, but using less of the battery's capacity will save a few cents on my power bill and should help to prolong its life, which is a big consideration when a comparable replacement AGM deep cycle battery is nearly $300. My battery is going on 8 years old and I hope to not have to replace it for a while.
Adding a secondary battery would also add significant weight and take up more space in my trunk, so reducing power consumption is a better solution than adding more batteries even ignoring cost.