# Parking lights **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [April 14, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/parking-lights/29128 "2009-04-14T13:26:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dcnelson007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dcnelson007](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dcnelson007)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/parking-lights/29128/1 "2009-04-14T13:26:33Z")
I haven’t been able to find the answer to this anywhere. How long can I safely leave on my parking lights if I have an adequately charged battery? Just an approximation, knowing that there are other factors that might be involved, besides the size of the battery, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/parking-lights/29128/2 "2009-04-14T13:30:44Z")
I say no more then 3-4 hours. But it could kill the battery in 1 hour. There is no ONE answer that will cover ALL vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/parking-lights/29128/3 "2009-04-14T13:38:40Z")
I had a 1950 Chevrolet pick up truck and a little kid from the neighborhood would climb into the cab and pretend that he was driving. The parking lights were on for about 8 hours before I discovered that he had probably turned them on. I turned them off, and tried starting the truck the next day and it did start. This was in the old days with a 6 volt system. ---
**Author:** ![UncleTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9a140/32.png) [@UncleTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/UncleTurbo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/parking-lights/29128/4 "2009-04-14T13:46:28Z")
There is no answer due to all the variables. The size of the battery, number of lights, temperature, and more all affect the answer and differ from car to car. 1 to 2 hours is pretty safe, after that some cars will start and some won’t. The only way to know for your car is to test it. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/parking-lights/29128/5 "2009-04-14T15:52:38Z")
Well, the rule about using your car radio to watch a drive-in movie is that leaving the radio on for the length of a movie uses less power than starting the car once. So I would say about 80-90 minutes should be safe if everything is in working order. You could probably leave them on for several hours if you have LED bulbs.