Fuel Efficiency and Seat Heaters

Power/Fuel
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21

In exact opposite from this, but related to the known drag of alternator load.

The super avid ( rabid ? ) hyper-miler will turn OFF absolutely everything electical to maximize mpg by reducing the alternator drag to as close to zero as they think possible.
Even going as far as;

  • removing light bulbs that aren’t 100% legaly neccessary. ( high brake lamp has 3 bulbs ? take 2 out ! after all, 1 is “legal” ) Brake lights, 1 each. NO interior lights ( hey, the lower the battery is when you start it, the longer the alternator will have a load. )
  • Use the turn signal ONCE to change lanes.
  • Turn OFF the signal if already in the left turn lane. That’s redundant information.
  • no radio
  • no a/c, and if the belt routing can be altered…no a/c belt.

The alternator’s electrical load is real , but you gotta be a real tree hugger to even think about that .091 gph for extra electrical usage.

Moral ?
Don’t even worry about it.

Sure did draw some conversation though.

22

Nice catch. The best place to have an extra zero is at the beginning because it screws everything up evenly. I think it’s called the Distributive Property of DOH!

23

It sure did.

But I admit that I did find the question of how much gasoline does it take to generate the amount of heat in a seat heater interesting from an academic standpoint. I’m too lazy to look up the numbers and do the math, and thank others for doing it for me.