As gas prices continue setting record highs, many drivers are cutting back on certain conveniences—like vehicle air conditioning. Thankfully, there are easy ways to get the comfort of air conditioning without emptying your pockets. The mechanics at Chapel Hill Tire are here with insight on how to affordably run your air conditioning.
How Much Gas Does a Car’s Air Conditioner Use?
Switching on your car’s air conditioning system will use some gas. There are estimates that the air conditioning system will lower mileage by about 3 MPG. However, it is more likely that the cost of running your car’s air conditioner will depend on your vehicle’s age, make, model, and driving speed—as well as external factors like the outside temperature. However, one of the most important factors to consider is your car’s HVAC health.
Proper Freon Levels
When your car is low on refrigerant, your compressor will need to work harder to produce cool air, leading to a greater toll on your fuel efficiency and your wallet. Ensuring that your air conditioner is evenly charged with freon can help you affordably run your car’s AC system.
However, your air conditioner circulates refrigerant in a sealed system, meaning that it should not need refrigerant recharged regularly throughout the lifespan of your vehicle. In most cases, low AC refrigerant is the sign of a leak or break somewhere in your system.
Low AC vs. High AC: Which Settings are Best for Gas Mileage?
There are two air conditioner settings to consider in your vehicle: the temperature and the speed settings. Each of these settings affects your gas mileage in different ways. Let’s take a closer look:
- Nastavení teploty: Lower AC temperatures will require more gas than moderate temperature settings, so consider setting your car’s AC temperature as high as comfortably possible to save gas.
- Nastavení rychlosti: Truthfully, once you turn your air conditioner on and set the temperature, it does not matter how high you run it. Your air conditioning compressor uses gas to run your system. However, the motor that controls how high or low your AC system runs is often powered by the alternator. In other words, running your air conditioning on full blast will use just as much gas as running it on its lowest settings.
As such, it is best to use the most moderate comfortable temperature setting on the highest speed for maximum comfort and savings.
Other Ways to Stay Cool and Save at the Pump
Combining these insights with other fuel-saving methods can help you stay cool while saving money at the pump. Easy tips and tricks include:
- Low tire pressure will gravely impact your fuel economy. You can save at the pump with free tire pressure refills.
- Use your air conditioner to stay cool at high speeds and roll down your windows at lower speeds.
- Park in a covered garage, shady spot, or use sun shades to keep your cabin comfortable while parked.
- Make sure you keep up with all the maintenance and routine services that help your car run efficiently.
Chapel Hill Tire Car AC Service in the Triangle
If you need an air conditioner recharge or repair, the experts at Chapel Hill Tire are here for you! We proudly serve our customers through 9 locations across Apex, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Durham. Our local mechanics also commonly support nearby communities, including Knightdale, Cary, Pittsboro, Wake Forest, Hillsborough, Morrisville, and beyond. We invite you to make an appointment, browse our coupons, or give us a call to get started today!
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Look up how fuel efficient the car you’re thinking of buying is and you’ll see a number given in units of MPG. But what exactly is MPG? Here’s everything you need to know.
Od redakčního týmu Cazoo
What does MPG mean?
MPG is the unit of measure for a car’s fuel economy (also known as ‘fuel consumption’). It stands for Miles Per Gallon. MPG numbers tell you how many miles a car can go on a gallon of fuel.
A car listed as getting 45.6mpg can go 45.6 miles on a gallon of fuel. A car that can do 99.9mpg can go 99.9 miles on a gallon of fuel. It really is that simple.
At Cazoo, we use the ‘official’ average MPG figures published by a car’s manufacturer. Other information sources may use different figures having carried out their own tests.
How is MPG measured?
The procedures for measuring a car’s fuel economy have changed many times over the years. The current one is called WLTP — Worldwide harmonised Light-duty vehicle Testing Procedure. All cars sold in the UK after 1 September 2019 had their fuel economy tested this way. (The previous test procedure was different – we’ll come on to that in a moment.)
WLTP is conducted in a laboratory, but it’s designed to reflect real-world driving. The cars are ‘driven’ on a rolling road — essentially a treadmill for cars. Every car is driven in exactly the same way through a series of acceleration runs, braking events and cruising at different speeds. Sounds simple enough but it’s actually mind-bogglingly complex.
The tests are designed to mimic driving on every type of road, including city streets and motorways. The amount of fuel used is measured and a fairly simple calculation reveals the car’s MPG.
Přihlaste se k odběru exkluzivních nabídek a rad
Dostávejte pravidelné tipy na nákup auta, rady ohledně prodeje a další věci přímo do vaší schránky.
What’s the difference between NEDC and WLTP?
The previous fuel economy test used across Europe was called the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). While it was a level playing field since all cars faced the same test, most car owners found that their cars got nowhere near the ‘official’ MPG.
The WLTP numbers are lower (and more realistic). That’s why older examples of certain cars appear to be more economical than more recent examples. The car didn’t change, but the test did.
It’s a potentially confusing situation and it can be difficult to find out whether your car’s MPG figures were produced by NEDC or WLTP. If your car was launched after 2017, it was subject to WLTP. All cars sold after 1 September 2019 were subject to WLTP.
Why are there several different MPG figures for every car?
Car manufacturers release several different MPG numbers for their cars. These numbers are typically called Urban MPG, Extra-urban MPG and Combined MPG and refer to different driving situations.
Urban MPG tells you how much fuel a car will use on a journey driving around town, while extra-urban MPG tells you much fuel a car will use in a journey that includes a bit of town driving and higher-speed A-roads.
Combined MPG is the average. It tells you how much fuel a car will use in a journey that includes every type of road — town, country, motorway. At Cazoo, we give Combined MPG numbers because it’s the one that most closely relates to the kind of driving most people do.
How accurate are official MPG figures?
All official MPG numbers should only be taken as a guide. The fuel economy you’ll get from your car depends on how you drive. As such, you may never get anywhere close to the official MPG numbers, or you could exceed them. In general, the WLTP combined figure should be reasonably close to what you’ll get if your driving habits and style are average.
There are caveats, though. Official MPG numbers for plug-in hybrid cars are often very optimistic. You may see official MPG numbers in the hundreds for such cars but you’re unlikely to get near that in the real world. The discrepancy is because real-world fuel economy is dependent entirely on whether you keep the battery fully charged and how you drive.
How do I calculate my car’s MPG?
Every car has a trip computer that displays the current and long-term MPG. You can reset the trip computer if you want to record a new set of numbers.
The trip computer is a good guide, but it’s not always 100% accurate. If you want to find out exactly what MPG your car is giving, you’ll need to calculate it yourself. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to do.
Fill your car’s fuel tank until the pump clicks off. Take note of the mileage showing on the odometer and/or reset the mileage to zero on the trip computer.
Next time you fill your car’s fuel tank (again, until the pump clicks off), note the amount of fuel that’s gone in. This will be in litres, so divide it by 4.546 to get the number of gallons. Note the mileage on the odometer, or the mileage readout on the trip computer. Divide those miles by the gallons and you’ll have your car’s MPG.
52.8 litres ÷ 4.546 = 11.615 gallons
368 miles ÷ 11.615 gallons = 31.683mpg
What does L/100KM mean?
L/100KM is another unit of measurement for a car’s fuel economy. It stands for Litres per 100 Kilometres. It’s used across Europe and in other countries on the metric system. The KM/L unit — Kilometres per Litre — is occasionally used, as well. You can work out MPG from L/100KM simply by dividing 282.5 by the L/100KM figure.
Mohu zlepšit MPG svého auta?
A good place to start is by making sure your car is as aerodynamic as possible. Open windows and roof racks, for instance, block the air flowing around the car. The engine has to work a bit harder to push the car along, which worsens fuel economy.
Keeping the tyres pumped up to the correct pressure is vital, too. A tyre with low pressure squashes out, creating a larger ‘contact patch’ with the road. That creates more friction than normal which the engine has to work harder to overcome, worsening fuel economy.
It’s worth noting that the bigger a car’s wheels, the worse its fuel economy will be. A high-spec car with 20-inch wheels may look great, but its fuel economy is often several MPG worse than a lower-spec model with 17-inch wheels because the engine has to work harder to turn the larger wheels.
Your car’s electrical equipment uses power generated by the engine. The more of that equipment you have turned on, the harder the engine has to work, so the worse your fuel economy will be. The air con, in particular, can have a big effect. Keeping unnecessary equipment turned off will improve fuel economy.
But by far the best thing you can do to make sure your car does as many MPG as possible is to have it serviced regularly. If your car’s engine isn’t fit and healthy, it simply won’t be able to give you its best MPG.
Can how I drive affect my car’s MPG?
How you drive can have a big impact on your car’s fuel economy, especially if your car has a manual gearbox.
Revving the engine hard and changing gear at high revs worsens fuel economy. The faster the engine revs, the more fuel it uses.
Likewise, using too few revs and changing gear too early can worsen fuel economy. That’s because the engine has to work harder to accelerate the car. If you’re a cyclist, you may have experienced how difficult it is to get going if your bike is in a high gear. The principle applies to cars, as well.
Every engine has a ‘sweet spot’ where it gives the best balance of performance and fuel economy. That spot is different in every engine, but you should be able to find it fairly easily. Cars with automatic gearboxes are designed to work within their sweet spot at all times.
Most modern cars have an ‘eco’ driving mode you can select at any time. It changes how the engine works to optimise fuel economy.
What cars give the best MPG?
In general, the smaller the car, the better its fuel economy will be. But that doesn’t mean larger cars can’t be fuel efficient.
A lot of larger cars, especially diesels and hybrids, return excellent fuel economy, as much 60MPG or more. If we take 45MPG as a reasonable measure of good fuel economy, you’ll be able to find any type of car that gives you that and still suits your other needs.
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Cazoo Ltd je jmenovaným zástupcem společnosti ITC Compliance Limited (ITC), která je autorizována a regulována úřadem Financial Conduct Authority (referenční číslo firmy ITC je 313486). Mezi povolené činnosti patří uzavírání smluv o regulovaném pronájmu, poradenství a sjednávání všeobecných pojistných smluv jako zprostředkovatel a jednání jako zprostředkovatel úvěrů, nikoli věřitel. Finance jsou dostupné pouze pro obyvatele Spojeného království ve věku 18 a více let, v závislosti na stavu. Můžeme vám představit omezený počet poskytovatelů úvěrů na financování nákupu vašeho vozu. Za naše služby spotřebitelského úvěru neúčtujeme poplatky, ale pokud s nimi uzavřete smlouvu, můžeme od těchto poskytovatelů úvěrů nebo našich makléřů obdržet platbu nebo jiné výhody. Platba nebo výhoda, kterou obdržíme, se liší podle věřitele a typu produktu a je založena na pevném poplatku nebo pevném procentu z částky, kterou si půjčíte. Nemá to vliv na nabízenou sazbu.*Průměrná úspora 640 GBP vychází z naší denní prodejní ceny v hotovosti ve srovnání s katalogovou cenou podobných ojetých vozů (pokud jde o model, počet najetých kilometrů a stáří) na významném automobilovém srovnávači ve Spojeném království. Tyto údaje pocházejí z října až prosince 2023 a jsou přesné k lednu 2024. Použité průměrné ceny Cazoo mohou zahrnovat propagační akce.© 2024 Cazoo Ltd. Všechna práva vyhrazena
