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My mother swears that if you use vent, it doesnt take any gas, but anything else (defrost, and all that) uses gas. Which is true?? does any of it use gas?

2006-10-27 06:26:17 · 13 answers · asked by Dani 7 in Cars & Transportation Maintenance & Repairs

13 answers

No,

The heater is taking the heat generated in the engine. There is a lot of excess heat generated during combustion. The heat must be dissipated, usually through the radiator at the front of the car. However, there is a mini-radiator inside the passenger compartment (AKA heater core). That heats up the inside of the car by using the heat generated from the engine. Coolant is re-routed through the passenger compartment's heater core when you turn on the heat inside the vehicle. No additional gas would be used with the heater.

However if you use the defrost or A/C both those do use the Air Condition compressor, and you will see a drop in fuel economy.

2006-10-27 06:28:39 · answer #1 · answered by hsueh010 7 · 2 0

Heater no, defrost and A/C yes because it kicks the compressor on. The good news is, consumers Reports has done studies to show real world impact on Gas mileage when using the A/C and found that it only drops fuel economy by 1%. Their recommendation was to use your A/C or whatever you need to stay as comfortable as possible to reduce the risk of an accident.

2006-10-27 06:41:58 · answer #2 · answered by Mike Hunt 5 · 1 0

The heater in your car pulls heat off the engine block. The heater uses no gas. When you use your ac, it is run by a belt which bogs down your engine, using more gas. When you run your defrost, on most vehicles, it automatically turns on the ac because it pulls moisture out of the air.
I hope this helps!

2006-10-27 06:31:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2 0

If you really want to get technical about it, yes the heater uses gas. The engine must be running for the heater to work and the engine uses gas. It's a stretch but it's true.

2006-10-27 07:34:08 · answer #4 · answered by rollinjukebox 4 · 0 0

In the STRICTEST sense, your mom is correct. If there is an accessory (headlights, radio, FAN, etc, in use, it DOES place a load on the alternator, and therefore a load on the engine, and thus reduces the fuel economy.
But this load for these accessories is so insignificant, that it would take something in the order of 1,000 miles, on a test stand, and watching fuel flow down to the gram to actually SEE even a statistical difference. As far as being able to see the loss, there is more fuel loss due to driving WITHOUT the cruise control than with the use of ESSENTIAL accessories.
The only accessory that can REALLY contribute to fuel consumption that can be measured from fill-up to fill-up is the Air Conditioner.

Good Luck

2006-10-27 06:38:39 · answer #5 · answered by Ironhand 6 · 1 0

The heater in most cars works from your engine cooling system. engine coolant is routed from your engine into the passenger area through the heater core which is like another small radiator. Cars that are air cooled have a different system but there are not many of them around.

2006-10-27 07:09:06 · answer #6 · answered by OJ S 1 · 0 0

air con uses more gas because it use the engine to power the pump all others do not but if everthing electrical is on eg light fan sterior it can also use a bit more gas because the alternator (charger) is also running or engine so tecnoically your mum is right but to make a difference in gas in a year my use 20 dollars more but what do want to be happy or over cold or to hot

2006-10-31 01:04:02 · answer #7 · answered by Dane'o 3 · 0 0

basically to keep it short.

your car heats itself with the motor.

you have to turn your car on, which means your using gas, but you can take it both ways.

But you won't WASTE gas using the heater, you're car won't use any more gas while your driving, unlike the air conditioning which does.

2006-10-27 07:44:53 · answer #8 · answered by computer_glitch_uhoh 3 · 0 0

Nope..
Your car heater does not use any gasoline or cause it to be used.
Nor does your vent or defrost...None of it..
Your Air Conditioner causes your engine to use a little
more gasoline....

2006-10-27 06:36:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

NO, your heater does not use gas, it works off the vehicles antifreeze but uses nothing

2006-10-27 06:30:33 · answer #10 · answered by nbr660 6 · 1 1

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