Is it an old wives tale that if you are low on gas you should turn off the AC in your car b/c it burns gas? I don't see how the AC would use up gas. Can anyone explain it?
2007-05-11 16:00:00 · 16 answers · asked by Lola76 5 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
AC uses energy. All the energy in your car comes from gasoline. Therefore, AC uses gasoline.
AC is almost always driven by a belt which is turned by the engine. This puts additional load on the engine, and requires it to use more fuel to maintain a particular speed. (Imagine trying to jog while carrying a backpack full of rocks) That is how AC uses fuel.
If for whatever reason you have some kind of electric air conditioner, it runs off the battery, which is charged by the alternator, which puts a load on the engine, which means it uses gas.
Whether it's more efficient to use AC or to drive with your windows open varies by car and by what speed you're going at (the faster you go, the more having your windows open will decrease your fuel economy).
Driving with your windows up and AC off is always more efficient.
Regardless, the difference isn't more than a few percent.
2007-05-11 18:01:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow. What a bunch of dumb answers!
Your A/C compressor draws power from a belt attached to your engine. The compressor requires the engine to provide additional power, thereby using more fuel.
The additional fuel needed for your A/C is not nearly as much as you use when you do jackrabbit starts from traffic lights, or climb hills, or race your friends. Therefore, it's not a big deal unless you're running on empty already.
2007-05-11 16:20:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Latest school of thought is that at freeway speeds with AC on and windows up you get better gas mileage than with AC off and windows rolled down.
2007-05-11 16:17:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The AC system itself does not use gas.
However, it does put a drag on the engine and that in itself will cause the engine to use more gas.
So, in an indirect sense the AC does use gas.
2007-05-11 16:03:51 · answer #4 · answered by Fordman 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
If it seems which you have not have been given a gasoline leak then replace your sparkling air filter out - not the only for the engine - it rather is for the air that comes into the passenger section. ought to could seem in the instruction manual to discover it.
2016-10-04 22:39:49 · answer #5 · answered by kurihara 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ok well when u flip the a/c switch on it needs a few foot pounds of torque. whitch means it takes gas and power to start up the compressor whitch means u use more gas. lol. i hope that helps :)
2007-05-11 16:06:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
if you run your a/c you subsequently have to power the compressor that runs the system. so it is not a tale, it is a fact that you can increase your gas mileage but turning it off.
2007-05-11 16:03:42 · answer #7 · answered by jandrkeller 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
not directly it doesn't, the engine runs it,and it will make the engine use a little more gas but its not powered directly off of gas,if it was most cars wouldn't get 5 miles to the gallon,if that ,good luck hope this helps.
2007-05-11 16:04:10 · answer #8 · answered by dodge man 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
well to run the A/C (it is a piece of machinery) the belt is driven by the engine which stresses the engine so it has to burn a lot more fuel to compensate for the loss power
2007-05-11 16:03:43 · answer #9 · answered by cars_o_holic 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
its not nesciserly the ac its self but the compresser
2007-05-11 16:05:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋