Abstract: Power-aware routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks minimize the power consumption of devices because of their battery power limitations. However, this may cause some nodes to spend all their energy much faster than the others, causing frequent re-routing and affecting the network stability. On the other hand, node lifetime-based protocols try to keep the network alive for longer duration by minimizing the variance of residual energy among the nodes. These protocols may incur a larger overall power cost penalty, which in turn affects the network lifetime. In this study, we demonstrate the adverse impact of these two types of routing protocols on mobile ad hoc networks and present a routing protocol that tries to find a balance between network’s lifetime and routing cost. Simulation results prove that our scheme offers better path efficiency for the network lifetime and routing cost, a better packet delivery ratio and results in a more stable network.