ORIGINAL: Phlip
Stevel182 said it for me on page one of this thread. I've got nothing against EP, it just doesn't hold any attraction for me.
One other thing I'd like to see .... and it would take a bit of math ... is, in the elaborate cost comparisons some of you do to show how much more EP costs, try to take in to account the price of the electricity you use to charge your batteries. The energy you use to fly has to come from someplace. Somebody is paying the electric bill. It's probably not much, I think I pay about $0.17 per kWh, but how many kW does a lipo battery charger draw? And how long do you leave it plugged in?
Just curious ...
Phil
(edit for spelling)
With a .60 size electric, using 4.5 amp hour six cell lipos, a 10 minute flight uses about 2.8 amp hours of charge from the battery. Multiply that times 22.2 volts and that comes out to about 62 watt hours or .062 kilowatt hours. at 17 cents per kilowatt hour, that comes out to 1.054 cents. If the charging equipment is only 50% efficient, that's still only 2 cents per flight.
My TP lipo charger draws about 10 amps from a 12 volt battery when it is delivering 4.5 amps to a 24 volt lipo so power out is almost equal to power in, a fact verified by the charger staying fairly cool. Driving home with the headlights on instead of off probably makes a bigger difference in your cars gas mileage.
The point is, power cost is trivial when flying electric whether you get the energy from the utility company or your car's alternator. When flying large electrics, I recommend a wall charger if your flying field has outlets so you don't find yourself with a dead car battery at the end of the day.