HHO – Does it really save you money?

What would you say if you didn’t have to buy a new car in order to get the advantages of a hybrid. Time to save money any way you can, even if it takes a small investment for the future. Sounds like a great idea, but will it really be worth it???

You know when you buy a new hybrid vehicle you’ll get the advantage of using electric power for your stop-and-go driving, saving gas. While you will save more money driving a hybrid as the price of oil rises, the current cost of hybrid batteries is still quite a pricy add-on cost for a vehicle. In a HybridCars article, “Beware of Electric Car Costs”, published March 29, 2009, it says that the current cost of hybrid batteries is about $2000 per kilowatt-hour and that “hybrid vehicles versus advanced diesel vehicles become more [cost] efficient at $160 per barrel”. Certainly, subsidized vehicles like the Toyota Prius are leading the hybrid pack, but is buying a new hybrid the only way to ‘save’ money?

What about these “water for gas” units? They sound too good to be true. Are they?

You may have seen advertisements in magazines, noticed ads or articles on the web or even seen a recent TV exposé on the water for gas units that are becoming ever more popular in this cost conscious world. You may not realize that these water conversion units have been around for over 30 years. Up until now, garage enthusiasts have been the sole customer-base for these kits. Do-it-yourself and save money!!! Now, with the focus on high gas prices from late last year it has pushed the automotive do-it-yourself into the mainstream. But do these kits work???

The short answer is – YES. But as in all things too good to be true, it is yes for some kits applied under the right conditions.

Although widely variable in construction, water for gas kits all basically try to do the same thing. These kits use water and electricity from your battery to create hydrogen and oxygen gas through a process called electrolysis. The hydrogen doesn’t burn by itself to make your engine go, but by injecting the hydrogen gas into your engine air intake, it helps the gas or diesel to burn more efficiently so you get better gas mileage on less gas and a cleaner engine. And you also output less harmful emissions! This is called Hydrogen on Demand (HoD) or Hydrogen Fuel Injection (HFI). Sounds great, doesn’t it???

A key factor to consider in assessing HoD is what kind of car you have. What most HoD offers fail to mention is that by injecting hydrogen into your air intake system, it allows your vehicle to run on a leaner fuel mixture than you would without the hydrogen. Gasoline cars in the US that use a Controller Area Network and a Wideband Sensor (O2 sensor) or in the EU that have a Standard Electronic Fuel Management System, will not get the same benefit from these HoD kits because the sensors interpret the lean fuel mixture as a system fault and enrich the gas mixture anyway, limiting or eliminating the possible fuel savings. The same thing happens for diesel vehicles produced since 2008. So, for those of us who have vehicles with O2 sensors, HoD may not be the right thing.

The next thing to consider is the kit itself. Is it a quality-engineered product? What about the company selling the product? It is important to understand Kit components and level of product quality. Knowing that you are dealing with a reputable company that backs its products is important just as in any other products you buy.

Finally, ask yourself if the kit manufacturer provides right-sized kits and the help I need in picking the right kit for my vehicle? Often, this is the case of buy-it-and-try-it, back to do-it-yourself guesswork. There are a few kit manufacturers who do tell it like it is and also provide detailed product information about their pre-assembled kits so you know that you are getting the right amount of hydrogen to enable you to receive that great gas mileage.

Does HoD work and save you money on gas? The answer is yes. Is HoD right for you and your vehicle?  Once you have determined whether you have an O2 sensor or not, you are ready to select from the reputable retailers for quality HoD Kits and start saving money today!