Charge in your car?

[Green43]

Anyone get creative and use your vehicle to charge batteries for household items? I keep my portable power pack topped off in my truck that I use to charge phones and run the kids tablets during power outages and I have a AA battery charger running off the power port. Any better ideas?

[GrimJack]

You do understand that you are just transferring the costs from your utility bill to your gas bill, right? You are not getting anything for free; charging your devices places a load on your engine.

The way that you might be saving is that you are keeping those damned 'power vampires' disconnected from your home. Every device in your home that is a DC converter draws power even if it is not charging anything.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

You do understand that you are just transferring the costs from your utility bill to your gas bill, right? You are not getting anything for free; charging your devices places a load on your engine.

The way that you might be saving is that you are keeping those damned 'power vampires' disconnected from your home. Every device in your home that is a DC converter draws power even if it is not charging anything.

Not only that but also engines tend to break down from extensive use. Another way you are definitely not "gaming the system". Your household outlet won't break down from use, your engine will. The difference is most likely extremely negligible, but it's real.

Maybe invest in some sort of solar charger? They do make them.