Air Conditioner Gas Consumption Myths

-


 

1.     It has been a long-standing belief among drivers that using your automobile air conditioner while driving consumes more gasoline than rolling your windows down. Studies have demonstrated that this is true, but only in some circumstances. However, it can also be more fuel-efficient to use the air conditioner and leave the windows up.The Role of Drag

o    Questions about the effect of air conditioning on gas consumption arise because of the role of drag. Drag is the resistance of an object as it moves through air or water. As the car moves along the road, the friction of the air on the car causes the car to slow. A car with the windows open is less aerodynamic; the air does not flow over the car as smoothly as with all the windows up. This causes an increase in drag and slows the car down. To make up for this slowing, you need to use slightly more fuel to maintain the same speed.

The Role of Air Conditioning

o    Running the air conditioner reduces your car's fuel efficiency because it takes a good deal of energy to run the air conditioner. This energy is diverted from running the car, with the result that keeping the car at the same speed requires slightly more gasoline when the air conditioner is running. A 2005 test by Consumer Reports found that using your air conditioner can reduce your fuel efficiency by as much as 10 percent.
o     

The Effect of Speed

o    Whether running the air conditioner is more or less fuel-efficient than rolling the windows down depends a good deal on the speed at which you are driving. The loss of fuel efficiency from the air conditioner remains constant at all speeds, but the effect of drag increases at higher speeds. For example, at speeds of 40 miles mph or lower, the effect of drag is minimal, so you will generally use more fuel running the air conditioner than rolling the windows down. However, at highway speeds -- speeds above 45 mph -- the effect of drag increases and it might be more fuel efficient to roll the windows up and use the air conditioner. According to Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy.com, driving with the windows down at speeds over 55 mph can decrease you fuel economy by up to 20 percent.

Other Factors

o    Several other factors can affect the role of air conditioning and drag on your car's speed. One is the temperature. In hot climates, you might be more likely to turn the air conditioning up to “high.” This will use more fuel than running the air conditioner on a lower setting. If you have a roof rack or bicycle rack on your car, this will increase drag, making the effect of rolling your windows down less pronounced. The type of car you drive can also have an effect. Some cars have higher aerodynamic drag.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Technology Is Killing Eye Contact

-
Image
    Christen had an alarming wake-up call one day about the toll that technology was taking on her life -- and her family. "I realized several years ago that I had stopped looking in my children's eyes," the HopeLab President and CEO said at a Huffington Post panel at Ad Week on Tuesday . "And it was shocking to me." Christen's "a-ha" moment was an alarming one, but it's more common than you might think -- and it points toward a larger, and often undiscussed, byproduct of excessive screen time. The decline of eye contact is well-documented , and as we spend more and more of our time staring at screens, there's less time left over to look into people's eyes -- including the eyes of the people we care about most. Between staring at computers during the work day and regularly gazing down at our phones, Americans spending more time with their eyes glued to their screens than ever before. According to recent estimates ,
Read more

Was Bobbi Kristina Used for Illuminati Satanic Blood Sacrifice?

-
Image
Bobbi Kristina died on Sunday age 22 six months after she was found face down and unresponsive in the bath-tub of the Roswell, Georgia, home she shared with then boyfriend, Nick Gordon, 25. Gordon is now a person of interest to investigators attempting to piece together the events that led to Bobbi Kristina’s untimely death. But according to TMZ, he has still written to Bobbi Kristina’s father and Pat Houston begging for permission to attend the funeral service. The email states: ‘I loved Krissi with all my heart and I am destroyed that she is gone and I need to say goodbye. ‘Krissi loved me very much and she would want me there’. The chances of him being accepted by the family are, however, slim to none. The Houston family has slapped him with a $10million lawsuit alleging that he abused her and stole her money while she was in a medically induced coma. While Gordon has been a figure of controversy with Bobby Brown banning him first from his daughter’s hospital bedsi
Read more

Rainbow Fm apologize to the Public for bringing false report on Iyabo Obasanjo

-
Image
  Below is the excerpt of the document: "PRESS RELEASE We at Rainbow F.M 94.1 appreciate and respect our audience. Our content is anchored on the principles of fairness, objectivity, Balance and Accur acy. We recognise that this noble practice requires professionalism, and this is the reason we will leave no stone unturned in informing, educating and entertaining you. We are aware of the falsehood that trailed the December 18th, 2013 edition of the Newspaper Headlines and Editorials anchored by Wellington Olaiya, Theophilus Elamah and Dr. Nick Idoko (on the Rainbow Morning Show) We condemn it At NO TIME on the said date did IYABO OBASANJO, daughter of Ex-President Olusegun Obansanjo, visit, call or make any contact on the show, or with any of the presenters. While we acknowledge the efforts of other practitioners in the development process of this country, we appeal to all media organisations to adhere strictly to ALL THE ETHICS of this whole profession. God b
Read more