Ad hoc networks are non-infrastructure networks consisting of mobile nodes. Since the mobile nodes have limited battery power, it is very important to use energy efficiently in ad hoc networks. In order to maximize the lifetime of an ad hoc network, traffic should be sent via a route that can avoid nodes with low energy while minimizing the total transmission power. In addition, considering that the nodes of ad hoc networks are mobile, on-demand routing protocols are preferred for ad hoc networks. Existing power-aware routing algorithm need to be modified to meet the requirement of energy efficient routing and also this on demand protocol should be addressing mobility issue. In this paper we propose a novel on-demand power aware routing algorithm, DEEAR (Distributed Energy-efficient AODV Routing) protocol. DEEAR prolongs the network lifetime by compromising between minimum energy consumption and fair energy consumption without additional control packets. DEEAR also improves network throughput as well as improvement in data packet delivery ratio.