As I understood it, the question was about energy efficiency, not
whether you are running up to the limit of your alternator, or how long
your battery will last with the lights on and the engine not running.

Let's say that a Vanagon gets, say, 17mpg at 50mph. One hour of driving
uses 3 gallons of gasoline, which packs 115,000 btu/gallon. So 345,000
btu/hour of energy needed to drive that 50 miles, which is equivalent to
over 100,000 Watts.

So, how important is the difference between 160 or 300 Watts of power
going to the headlights when compared to 100,000 watts moving the van?

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR

On 11/13/2007 1:47 PM Kai Mei wrote:

> Well, you only have so many amps in your alternator, and your battery...
>
> This is more light on the road, and less heat. Say your running down the
> road with 300 w of low beam and fogs...
>
> You could conceivably be doing better with 100w low and 60w HID.
>
> On Nov 13, 2007, at 3:17 PM, Michael Elliott wrote:
>
>>
>> On 11/13/2007 9:11 AM Kai Mei wrote:
>>
>>
>>> $349 might be better that the Square H4's... Gotta be more efficient
>>> energy wise.
>>
>> I gotta ask: how much impact would the energy efficiency of the bulbs
>> have on overall fuel consumption? Close to zero is my guess.
>>
>> --
>> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
>> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>> KG6RCR
>>
>