Does using your air conditioner consume more gas than without the AC on?

Question

My bf says no, but I think it does, it just seems like I can see the gas gauge dropping to E. I drive a 01 Chrysler Sebring Coupe...can it just depend on the car?

Answer 1

it uses more when it is on because there is a pump that is engaged when you use the AC. The switch you hit in the car forces the pulley on the AC Pump to engage the pump itself. And it is harder for the motor to turn. Using more gas. When the AC isnt on that pulley just spins freely and doesnt make a drag on the motor and uses less gas... hope this helps

Answer 2

Yes. It's also why your home electricity bill is much higher in the summer. Do you remember when California had the power problems before Arnold? This is why. Well... partly. Think about how hot it is inside your car before you turn the AC on. Let's just pretend you're somewhere really warm like the middle east. So, 140+. Turn the AC on. Think about how cold it is once the AC has been on for a while. <80. 60 degrees of cooling. I don't know how much energy that requires (I'm sure someone here does) but the only way for your car (most likely) to make extra energy is by burning more gas.

Answer 3

ok, here is the reason why he likely said no. Studies have shown that driving with the AC on uses the same amount of fuel as driving with the windows down. The reason being because the windows being down creates an immense amount of extra drag on the car causign it to have ot work a little harder to maintain speed. If you have to choose between the AC or windows down, just use the AC unless it is a nice temp to have a nice breeze from outside and you just want to feel it.

As far as driving with the AC on and driving with it off. As long as the windows are not down, you will save fuel by having the AC off. But if you are needing the AC, you are likely not going to do that. Those are the facts as given by various researchers that have been doing a lot of gas conservation research since the prices of gasoline went up.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Does using your air conditioner consume more gas than without the AC on?
My bf says no, but I think it does, it just seems like I can see the gas gauge dropping to E. I drive a 01 Chrysler Sebring Coupe...can it just depend on the car?

Answer 5

Turning on the A/C causes more stress on your engine, forcing it to work harder to acheive the the same result. By working harder, the engine has to use more fuel. Here is a good little test for you. Make sure the A/C is off. From a dead stop, push the gas hard. it should have great acceleration. Now, turn the A/C on to "max". From a dead stop, do the same thing. It will be a little more sluggish. If you really want to get down and dirty, fill up your gas tank, drive for 100 miles with the A/C off. Fill it back up, and write down the gallons you put in. Take the miles and divide it by the gallons. That will give you the Miles Per Gallon (Mpg). Drive 100 miles with the A/C on. Fill it back up. Do the same thing to figure you Mpg.

Answer 6

Yes it does consume more gas. Usually the air conditioning unit is propelled by the engine, so by turning the air conditioner on, you are in essence also working the motor more, hence using more gas.

Answer 7

Does Ac Use More Gas

Answer 8

Yes

Answer 9

On Mythbusters they tested that question every frugal driver asks: do you use more gas with the A/C off and the windows down, or the windows up and the A/C on? Rolling the windows down creates more drag, but the A/C uses a lot of power from the engine.

They did 2 tests. For test #1 they attached a sensor that measures the flow at the air intake to an SUV's engine and used a computer model that estimated the vehicle's milage. They did 5 laps with A/C off and windows up as a control, 5 laps with windows up and A/C on, and 5 laps with windows down and A/C off. The speed was kept at 55 mph. This test concluded that fuel economy is slightly worse with the windows down.

Then they did what they called the "Average Joe Test." They had two identical SUVs with equal payloads. They put exactly 5 gallons of gas in each one, and drove them both around a track until they were out of gas. Jamie drove with the windows up and A/C on, Adam had the windows down and the A/C off. Due to the risk of a blowout during this longer test (since SUV's weren't meant to be driven around a race track) they drove 45 mph. This time Adam's SUV with the windows down made it 30 laps farther than Jamie's.

Their official conclusion: The computer model was wrong because it assumes ideal conditions, and that it's better to roll the windows down. My problem with that is the tests were performed at two different speeds. I would have liked to see them at least redo the computer model test at 45 mph, but I'd really like to see several tests at different speeds. As I understand it wind resistance increases with as speed increases, so maybe it's better to roll down the windows if you're driving around the city at 45 mph or less, but then roll the up and turn on the A/C when you're cruising down the highway at 65.

Answer 10

Running your air conditioner does cause your vehicle to consume more fuel, but driving with your windows rolled down can be even worse due to the increase of drag on the vehicle. If you are driving slowly, such as around town or in city traffic, then you are better off leaving your windows open, if at all possible. For highway driving, roll up the windows and turn the air conditioning on.