Does using air conditioning in your car waste the petrol?

Answer 1

Oh Yes! It can increase petrol consumption by 30 per cent in an older more innefficient system.

Answer 2

It uses more petrol (gasoline for Americans) than it would if you turned it off. But do not listen to people who say DRIVE FASTER or ROLL DOWN THE WINDOWS, that uses extra petrol as well. At higher speeds, the efficiency of the car's engine goes down, wasting fuel, and also, opening the windows reduces the aeordynamic properties of the car, increasing drag and therefore using more fuel. Really, there is no significant difference to any of these methods. The only real improvement would be to roll up the windows, drive slow, turn off the AC and arrive dripping with sweat.

Answer 3

Yes it does, as mentioned before the engine must drive the air conditioners compressor. Use air conditioning only when you need it. Air conditioning can add up to 5% to your fuel consumption but remember that at higher speeds an open window can create 20 – 30 % more drag which will increase fuel consumption far more. Use air conditioning at high speed and open windows at low speeds. If the car has been parked in the sun with the windows shut, open the windows first to allow the hot air to escape before turning on the air conditioning.

Answer 4

It depends on your definition of "waste".
It uses fuel to power the pump for the air-con system, but it is debatable whether this is a waste or a valid use.

At low speeds the fuel used by the air-con will be greater than the fuel used by the extra aerodynamic drag of having windows and/or sunroof opened. However drag increases with the square of the speed while the air-con uses roughly the same amount of fuel at all speeds, so at higher speeds (above 50mph) the increased drag of open windows and/or sunroof will use more fuel than the air-con. Of course keeping the windows shut and the air-con off is the most efficient, but may be very uncomfortable on a hot day.

Answer 5

Absolutely NOT! On the television program "Mythbusters" they tested the mileage differences with: a) all windows up, no airconditioning, b) all windows down, no air conditioning and c) all windows up with air conditioning on full blast. The difference between a and c was negligable, the worst was b due to the drag created, but it still only lowered the mileage by a couple percentage points. The biggest waste of fuel is under inflated tires, fast starts from a stop, and a poorly tuned engine.

Answer 6

It depends on whether you think that keeping cool in the car is a waste of petrol or not.
Using the aircon will use more petrol (as much as 5%) as it engages a pump to circulate the coolant that provides the cold air.

Answer 7

Yes it does but not as much as people make out
Car electrics impose an extra load on the engine, making it work harder and burn more fuel. Air conditioning can increase fuel consumption by up to ten percent in stop-go traffic. At motorway speeds, air conditioning increases fuel consumption by three to four per cent. Flow-through ventilation reduces the need to drive with air conditioning on or with windows open, both of which consume more fuel. A sun roof can reduce the need for air conditioning, but when the roof is open at motorway speeds, wind resistance is increased and greater fuel consumption will result.

Answer 8

It certainly uses petrol, whether it wastes it or not depends on your need to be comfortable. Switching on AC means the engine is now driving the AC compressor so power is used from the engine. Extra power used means extra petrol used. The same condition applies when you switch on lights, heaters, radio etc.
If you ever rode a bike with a dynamo to power the lights, you may remember that when you flipped the dynamo drive wheel onto the tyre rim, the bike felt a bit harder to peddle, therefore you used more power.

Answer 9

Yes it does but only a little because when you were taught to drive didn't anyone tell you that if you were on the red light to turn of the air con and radio because it wastes petrol!

Answer 10

sure, utilising the air does waste petrol. in spite of the incontrovertible fact that, I watched on the information style application final week that driving including your homestead windows down makes use of extra petrol. whilst the homestead windows are down, wind will come into the motor vehicle and reason a drag--which desires extra petrol to pass because of the fact in a feeling the motor vehicle is heavier.