I have a serious question about letting my car run overnight.

My father has a medical device (about 50 watts) that needs power all the time.

In the even of a power outage I thought I would plug an extension cord into my cars cigarette lighter using an inverter that puts out 450 watts.

The car is a Oldsmobile suv with a v6 engine. By letting the engine run all night would it be harmful to the car.

.....yes the car is parked outdoors

I know its not good for the environment but in an emergency I may have no choice

Your thoughts ?

 

in theory it should be no issue. You just need to make sure the electrical aspect is ok. Is your property gated ??

 

I heard many NYC taxis never turn off and run 24/7 without issues. Of course it's always been said the most damage you can do to your engine is during start up. Running the car constantly will not be harmful to your vehicle. Cars are meant to be driven and running, not parked and turned off.

 

why not just buy a small generator and a few 5 gallon jugs for fuel? WAY cheaper to run.

 

and way safer too, for everyone/thing involved (car, medical devices, health)

 

It shouldn't harm the engine. You might want to raise the hood at least a little to allow for more ventilation.

 

Several years ago, with a major power outage in our area, generators sold out. I bought a 12V power inverter for the car (plugs into cigarette lighter) to use the car as a low power generator (provided 400 W). It turned out I didn't need it but I was ready, as a last resort, to use my car back then as a "generator overnight to run a small heater. I had a Protege5 at the time.

 

Do you live in an area where your car may not still be there in the morning??

 

This is exactly why the OP should buy one NOW.

 

It's not "healthy" for the car but the damage if any would be minimal and take a very long time.

 

+1 this is way easier to do and safer as well!

P.S. I lived in Naperville for over 20+ years and experienced enough tornados and other natural disasters to tell you living in the midwest you MUST have a generator. We had a basement which requires a sump pump to keep the drainage water from flooding our basement. Once power goes out, within an hour if the pump is not working we'd be in trouble.

 

OP is from Naperville, a very nice area. It's safe over there :-)

 

Here in the land of sunshine our new government deemed it fit to just enjoy the power grid inherited and to rather buy fancy stuff for themselves with the money set aside for extra power stations by the previous government . Long story short, we all keep a generator, also a solar panel plus battery/inverter for when the grid gets overloaded and the lights are put off. Trouble is you cannot make electrical power cheaply with a petrol or diesel engine and running your car to do it will take you to the cleaners. Rather settle for the smaller petrol gen.

 

+2 on getting a generator. If your house is equipped with natural gas or propane, they have Generac generators that will instantly fire up in the event of an outage. It can be wired directly to your home's fuse box.