Do you use up more gas in a parked car left running with the A/C on?

Question

Today on my lunch break, I was sitting in my car in the parking lot at my job listening to an afternoon radio broadcast with the A/C turned on (because it extremely hot around noon) and I thought about how much gas that I was waisting with my car running. I have heard family members say that the A/C in your car uses up gas. I just want to know if its true! Or if you use the cruise control does it uses up most of your gas as well. I'm guilty of doing both (A/C and Cruise) at the same time.

Answer 1

Well, i have not heard about the cruise control one .....it doesnt really take any less or more gas to have the computer keep your car at 70 or you do it manually, the only potential i see with the cruise is that the computer will correct and accelerate or decellerate more than a human would so that may cause a difference...but if you tend to have a heavy right foot, the cruise may save you some gas.....

The AC is a yes for certain....it takes a seperate motor to run the AC on older cars, and the computer for newer cars has to allocate more power to run AC as well...so that is a definate gas user....

If you want to see just how much power your car is losing when you run the ac....head out to the freeway get up to 70(or cruise speed) with the AC OFF....when you hit 70 turn you AC on and you will feel your car slow down signifigantly

Answer 2

Turning on the a/c uses more gas. Using the cruise may save a little more gas. Say you set it for 60 mph. The car's cruise will try to keep the car as close to 60 as possible. A person will drift down to 55 and try to speed back up to 60 (wasting gas) or may go faster then 60 without realizing it.

Answer 3

Any time you are sitting and letting yo car idle is uses and waste gas, on the highway the A/C actually is better than having the windows open, proven on Mythbusters, lastly using the cruise control saves gas

Answer 4

Yes, that is a very widely known fact. Turning on your A/C will cause you to use up more gasoline than if the car was running without it on. It causes more work from the engine and compressor. I roll down my windows when it's not blazing hot! Hope this helps! Best wishes!!!

Answer 5

Using your A/C definately uses more fuel, as the engine works harder to turn the compressor this is noticable by when the compressor kicks in you will notice momentay change in the engine RPM,and when it kicks out again you will notice a change in engine RPM. these change are also noticeable when driving (more so if cruise is not on) as you will notice you have to increase pressure on the accelerator when the a/c kicks in to keep the same speed.