1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Minutes per gallon

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by jyoungprius, Jul 28, 2013.

Page 2 of 2
  1. John H

    John H Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2012
    2,208
    557
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Is there any interest in being able to plug the regular Prius into a wall outlet and run the A/C, radio, and 12V outlet?
     
    #21 John H, Jul 29, 2013
  2. jyoungprius

    jyoungprius Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2005
    70
    40
    0
    Location:
    Azle, TX
    Vehicle:
    2023 Prius
    Model:
    XLE
    Absolutely Not
     
    #22 jyoungprius, Jul 29, 2013
  3. g4_power

    g4_power Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2013
    105
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    I
    If there any place at work you could get free ice? Put some in your car and that should reduce some gas consumption. Once time I came home from vacation, my house was hot because I set the temperature high to save electricity. I got 16 lbs of ice from a store, put it in a big bucket and blew the ice with a fan. It helped cool down the house much faster.
     
    #23 g4_power, Jul 29, 2013
  4. gliderman

    gliderman Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2011
    751
    223
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    The cost of two bags of ice about equals one gallon of gas. One gallon of gas will give you tons more cooling in a Prius.
     
    #24 gliderman, Jul 29, 2013
  5. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2012
    1,388
    351
    0
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    Shhhh, the man is not interested in any alternative besides what he asked about in the original post. Suggesting anything else would just be rude.:eek:
     
    #25 Jonny Zero, Jul 29, 2013
  6. g4_power

    g4_power Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2013
    105
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    I

    That's why I said "free ice"
     
    #26 g4_power, Jul 29, 2013
  7. jyoungprius

    jyoungprius Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2005
    70
    40
    0
    Location:
    Azle, TX
    Vehicle:
    2023 Prius
    Model:
    XLE
    That's funny guys. Yes I can get a glass of free ice each time I go inside to use the restroom. During the hottest part of the day I still leave my Prius on with the A/C in auto, set on 74 degrees. I remove the little key from the fob & lock the doors manually for the few minutes I am gone. Hope that stops someone from stealing my Prius since it is still "ready" to roll.
     
    #27 jyoungprius, Jul 29, 2013
  8. g4_power

    g4_power Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2013
    105
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    I

    bring a bucket instead of a glass ;)
     
    #28 g4_power, Jul 29, 2013
  9. jyoungprius

    jyoungprius Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2005
    70
    40
    0
    Location:
    Azle, TX
    Vehicle:
    2023 Prius
    Model:
    XLE
    For those interested in my study of this issue (minutes per gallon), my recent study shows that I am getting at least 8 hours (around 500 minutes) per gallon of gasoline. This is while parked with outside temperatures in the 90s and 100s & my air conditioner set on "auto" recirculating & 74 degree interior temperature. Also run the radio most of the time and keep my mobile phone charged up with car charger. The engine runs around 20% to 25% of the time. Anyway, this works out to about a pint of gasoline per hour or less than 50 cents worth of gas. Not much to pay for the comfort.
     
    #29 jyoungprius, Aug 9, 2013
    ftl likes this.
  10. drysider

    drysider Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2008
    823
    332
    1
    Location:
    Liberty Lake WA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    You can try a search on the generator threads. Several of them had their cars on for several days during the storms using them with inverters. I remember some discussions of fuel usage.
     
    #30 drysider, Aug 9, 2013
  11. gliderman

    gliderman Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2011
    751
    223
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Yeah, I doubt you could start a regular kitchen fridge with a inverter in a regular Prius without failure.
     
    #31 gliderman, Aug 9, 2013
  12. markabele

    markabele owner of PiP, then Leaf, then Model 3

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    5,084
    1,782
    1
    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    N/A
    Seems like there were some guys that were using mini fridges off their inverters.

    But anyway, back to topic....

    I know you've said several times that you keep it set at 74, but is there anyway you could sacrifice a degree or two? You will find you be using quite a bit less energy just a few degrees higher. To make up for the difference make sure all the vents are pointed right at you. And try turning the fan up one notch. I find 77 is plenty comfy with the vents pointed right at me.

    Also, any shade in that parking lot?
     
    #32 markabele, Aug 10, 2013
  13. jyoungprius

    jyoungprius Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2005
    70
    40
    0
    Location:
    Azle, TX
    Vehicle:
    2023 Prius
    Model:
    XLE
    Markabele, I'll answer the last part of your statement first. Unfortunately there is no shade in this particular parking lot that I guard. I do however set the a/c temp a couple of degrees warmer in the morning before the sun starts to really starts to heat things up. But even yesterday afternoon when the outside temperature was near 100, the engine would run for barely more than 2 minutes & then shut off for 10 minutes or more before the engine started up again. Like I say, less than a gallon of gasoline used to obtain more than eight hours of comfort seems to me to be pretty efficient when you consider that a traditional non-hybrid vehicle would have to use its engine 100% of the time and use several times the amount of gasoline I am using. What is disappointing however, is when someone asks about my gas mileage now, I have to explain why I am averaging only around 25 miles per gallon.
    I like to think of it this way: If I was driving 50 mph & getting 50 mpg, I would be using exactly 1 gallon per hour. While sitting still not going anywhere, I am getting well over 8 hours of comfort for less than 1 gallon of gasoline.
     
    #33 jyoungprius, Aug 11, 2013
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,762
    48,974
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    you can honestly tell them that your gas mileage is great, and whatever it is when you're not idling.
     
    #34 bisco, Aug 11, 2013
  15. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2010
    3,524
    981
    8
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Good idea. This comment is off topic, but some people go even farther with this idea and use dry ice instead. Deadly if used in a small compartment.

    Another comment, if this was a non-hybrid car, what MPG would we be talking about?
     
    #35 Former Member 68813, Aug 11, 2013
  16. markabele

    markabele owner of PiP, then Leaf, then Model 3

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    5,084
    1,782
    1
    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    N/A
    I agree. I would feel no need to include your work idling in what you are getting for gas mileage. Those are very different endeavors.
     
    #36 markabele, Aug 11, 2013
  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,762
    48,974
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    ya, i'd like to see the mpg's of the guy doing it in an f-150.:p
     
    #37 bisco, Aug 11, 2013
  18. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2009
    993
    175
    0
    Location:
    Oceanside NY
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    unfortunately I can attest to that I have a 1000W inverter (2000 surge) tested 650W continuous operation no problem with wires warming up ... but the fridge will not start. The inrush current trips the inverter .... but other stuff much smaller ones can trip the inverter namely old/crappy charger which are badly design and present some big non linearity at start up... So it is possible to make it work but anything with big inductive load such as compressor motor is problematic.

    in one of those thread there are couple of suggestion which would probably work but I do not have the skill (anymore) to do those electronic work...
     
    #38 szgabor, Aug 12, 2013
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 2 of 2