How Often Should I Charge My Car Battery If I Only Drive One A Week
Posted in Car Batteries | Asked on May 27, 2010
Yes I know the alternator recharges the car battery, however I only make short trips to the grocery store and since I live on the internet for my business, The only time I drive anywhere is to the local Kroger and Walmart for groceries which is usually once or twice per week. I bought a new car charger from Walmart that allows me to use a wall outlet to charge my battery when parked in my garage. I am wondering how often I should charge my battery? It has a maintenace mode but I do not want to leave it plugged in all of the time since it makes a buzzing sound and uses about 70 watts and I like to save electricity. Thanks.
There are 7 Answers for "How Often Should I Charge My Car Battery If I Only Drive One A Week"
Charge it only when the you need it the next day
overcharging kills a battery
How far is your weekly trip to the grocery store? If it is 10 miles or more, that should be sufficient to keep charged. If the battery seems like it starts dragging when you start, you might consider plugging it in at that time, or just go for a ride an extra time per week. You need to get out of the house once in a while anyway. Cabin Fever might set in (lol)
You shouldn’t have to charge your battery at all. If you have a battery that is less than 3 years old the battery should hold the charge no matter how long you let the car sit. Because you drive your care “once or twice” a week the battery will definitely be fine.
You should be good to go without a charger as the once a week trip should suffice, however if you are using lights, heater etc then you may need to give it a boost once in a while.
You should be fine with what you are doing. If any trouble starting, then use the charger for a couple of hours and go and have your battery tested. Battery’s don’t last forever, but will keep a charge for quite a long time if functioning properly.
For the most part, if your battery is fairly new, you should not have a problem. However, if the thought of a dead battery still concerns you, you can buy a small trickle charger that will not overcharge the battery. They are designed for batteries that do not get a lot of usage and they will only charge when needed. I bought one at Harbor Freight Tools for about $8.00 They are not designed to recharge a dead battery. They only maintain a fully charged battery.
(retired mechanic)
You didn’t mention the number of miles traveled per trip, number of minutes the engine is on per week, age of battery, brand of battery, number of cold cranking amps and number of months of the warranty period.
Look at a company called: Battery tender. They operate at a very low amperage charge (1-1.5 amps) and float- (charge only when needed) otherwise turns off automatically. Amazon.com has them. These chargers are supposed to be even better than any automatic self-leveling battery charger on the market.
If your charger is a manual unit give it away or sell it to your neighbor. They will not turn off when the battery is charged, may overheat the battery and waste battery acid. They also use electrical energy at the same rate all the time weather the battery is fully charged ot not.