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Gas-Saving Myths
By JLP | May 14, 2008
CNN/Money takes a look at six gas-saving myths. One that stuck out to me is number 5: To A/C or not A/C. Although it may be possible to save money by not running the AC, it is a miserable ride and driving with your windows down will ruin your headliner. I know this from experience as the first two cars I owned had air conditioning problems and everywhere I went, I had to have the windows down. There’s nothing quite like vinyl seats and hot, hot weather! LOL! Not only that, as the article mentions, rolling down the windows is a huge aerodynamic drag.
For the other five myths, check out Money’s gas-saving myths. With gas prices as high as they are it’s as important to know what NOT to do as it is to know what to do.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:04 am
The A/C in my clunker went out a year and a half ago and I’m too cheap to have it fixed. So, I just drive early in the morning (before the temperature gets annoying), or not at all.
Being retired has its benefits.
Yours,
Bozo
PS: If I really, really, need to go somewhere in the hot part of the day, I swap cars with my wife. Her A/C works.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:29 am
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp
I am not sure if any of you have seen the email that goes around sometimes with gas saving tips, but here it is on snopes.
I have been shocked to see this email go around at work, where there are plenty of engineers who should know better, all in the petroleum industry to boot!
You are right, no A/C in Houston is not acceptable. I would have to move up north, or at least away from the humidity unless I want to arrive everywhere covered in sweat!
May 15th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I live in Memphis and AC isn’t an option on the car. I’d buy a car with working air conditioning over one with a working engine! In fact in 2002 we had a wind storm that knocked out power in most of the city for weeks. I would get in my car and ride around with the air cond. on just to cool off - I would do that today if our power went out - prices be damned.
I also have a car the requires premium fuel (not recommends, “requires” - according to the manual). Others say you can burn mid-test or regular with no problems. But I’m just not willing to take the advice of a person on the internet or CNN, for that matter, over what my car manufacturer recommends. Now if my car company sold gas as well I might be skeptical, but they don’t. So I’m running premium in my car that “requires” premium. Besides if you can’t afford to put premium in an luxury car - then you probably can’t afford the luxury car to begin with. Get a nice car that burns regular instead.
I always keep a clean air filter and properly inflated tires. Whether or not it improves gas mileage I don’t know or care - I just want a properly maintained car for safety reasons.
Let’s face it…many of us are learning that cars are luxuries in our world. It’s a luxury many of us are willing to sacrifice to have, but it is a luxury. And many of us, myself included, have more car than we need - that is a true luxury. I could get by on a 10 year old Honda…but I don’t want to.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Check this out:
http://mythbusters-wiki.discovery.com/page/Keeping+the+Car+Cool?t=anon
The mythbusters (I’m a geek, I know) did this exact same test. Nevermind test 1, the computer test. Look at Test 2b. They ran identical cars on 5 gallons of gas, one with windows up-A/C on, the other with windows down-A/C off. Guess what happened…
The car with the windows down went 30!!! laps longer than that the one with A/C on.
Myth Busted! CNN busted!
May 15th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
The best gas saving tip that works with 100% certainty is to just shave some miles off your weekly routine.
I was talking to my dad just last week and he said it was amazing how just changing some of his driving habits has easily offset what he’s paying at the pump now compared to a few months ago. He would drive a mile or two out of his way each morning to grab a coffee, and would go to the grocery store a few times a week since it wasn’t far from home, but those add up.
3 additional miles each day for coffee = 15 miles each work week.
Going from 3 trips to the store 4 miles away to just 1 trip saves 16 round trip miles a week.
Just those two activities, while they seem tiny on a daily basis amounts to around 30 miles per week. At $4/gal and getting around 21 mpg city, that is almost a $6/week savings.
Again, seems like a small amount, but if you fill up your 12 gallon tank once a week, with today’s prices that is $48. When gas prices were $3.40/gal, that is just shy of 41 dollars. A net result of paying about 1 dollar more a week for gas when it feels like you’re paying 7 more. Just making a few smart choices and shaving a few miles here and there, it can add up to significant savings. Combine smart driving and trip planning with the other gas saving tips mentioned here and elsewhere, and you’ll keep more money in your pocket.
Of course, these are all things people should have been doing all along, and it is a shame that it takes something like a rapid increase in gas prices to stop people from taking things for granted and to exercise some discretion.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
The mythbusters are entertaining, however this particular test was done horribly. Even on the page you linked to if you read it all they state several of the problems.
There are just way too many issues there for either test to be valid at all. I would still go with the CNN article, that at higher speeds you will see the advantage of A/C over windows down. Drag on most vehicles starts to become significant percentage of car efficiency closer to 50mph.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
@Philip,
I agree… after doing a little more research, the mythbusters actually did revisit this test and confirmed it, at 45mph. At 55 mph, A/C won out due to drag. Sooo, driving around town, if you can bear it, roll down your windows. On the highway, use A/C.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
One thing that I didn’t notice was what difference it makes if you drive with the A/C on low. Most people don’t drive around with the A/C blasting on high. Surely, that would make a difference.
Like I said, although driving around with the windows down might save gas, it will ruin your headliner.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Another myth is that putting down or removing the tailgate on a pickup truck will improve aerodynamics and gas mileage. What actually happens with the tailgate closed is a stationary air bubble forms in the bed of the truck, allowing air to pass over it with little drag. If you drop the tailgate or remove it, you actually have worse aerodynamics. I’m not sure what effect tonneau covers have.
As far as A/C goes…I will be comfortable in my vehicle (and in my house) regardless of the cost. It’s worth an mpg or so to stay cool. I spent a summer with no A/C in my truck, with a 160 mile round-trip commute every day. I don’t like to say “never,” but…never again. And low or high A/C is pretty much all the same to most cars. The compressor is either on or off, the temp setting controls how much outside air is mixed in. On Max A/C, outside air is cut off completely.
Running the fan on higher speeds would affect mileage because drawing more current requires a higher RPM for the alternator, but the effect on mileage would be so slight it would be darn near impossible to measure.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I suffered through my first three hot summers in Los Angeles before I found out that AC doesn’t guzzle gas. I remember all the times I was trying to be “sensible,” sitting in traffic with the windows down to conserve gas.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Tip # 2 (change your air filter) really surprised me. I’ve changed mine religiously every 3-6 months for probably 10 years. Of course, I drive older cars, so hopefully it made a difference in my situation.