Air Conditioning Increases Fuel Consumption

Wednesday, 19. August 2009

With more cars being fitted with air conditioning it is worth remembering that it comes at a cost. When trundling along the motorway it can cost up to 10% more in fuel usage and sitting in a traffic jam this can rise to 20% so it makes sense not to drive around with the air conditioning on for the sake of it and certainly don’t, as a friend did a few days ago, drive with the air conditioning flat out whilst he had the window open! You know who you are – you doughnut! Oh and another little tip, if you’ve never used the air recirculation switch or only used it when the outside air is smelling like a toilet it is useful to switch on when either quickly cooling down the car or quickly heating it as you are either cooling already cooled air or heating already heated air speeding up the process and reducing fuel usage. Don’t forget to switch it back off as it’s not really healthy although most cars have safety systems to switch it back off after a period of time. By Graham Hill