I heard haveing your A/C on uses up more gas? Is this true?

Question

CAR.(sorry forgot to add that in there)

Answer 1

true

Answer 2

Yes, it is true.

Depending on the car plus the condition and the efficiency of the system, an air conditioning system requires anywhere from 2 to 10 horsepower from the engine to drive it. If you are low on coolant; if the fans are not working properly; or if the air ducts are clogged, then the engine has to run harder and longer to produce only a little effect, and will burn still more gas.

Since part of the normal engine power is going that way, it means you have to press the accelerator harder to get the car up to speed and you press it harder to maintain the speed.

If you have an efficient A/C then it will take less fuel, and if you have the windows open, even a little, it will take more.

Driving without A/C, but with the windows open can actually burn the same amount of fuel because of turbulence and wind-drag on the car, caused by the open windows, plus the noise of air blowing past your ear will definitely damage your hearing if you keep the window open all the time.

Answer 3

Yes.

My Corolla gets 32 mpg city w/out A/C and 30 mpg with A/C.

It takes about 1-2 horsepower to run an auto A/C system -- that power can only come out of the gasoline tank.
.

Answer 4

It does use more gas but not as much as they used to in older cars,,pre 1985. That is because they now use a ccle system so that the compressor clutch is only engaged for as long as neede to cool down to the setting you have,then it cycles on and off as needed.

Answer 5

Yes...because it uses the gas to charge up the batterie that then turns the fan which uses the freeon to cool off the inside of the car..

Answer 6

A tiny bit more, but so little as to be almost unnoticeable. That's because the a/c compressor is almost always turning anyway, so the slight bit of extra power it takes to turn on the a/c makes little dofference in fuel consumption.

Answer 7

yeah, just a tiny bit more though

it takes power to turn the compressor to make that coolness

not that much though

use the AC in Summer if you have it

for your house too, if you are poor or frugal , get a $100 one for one room, its like 500 watts so like 10 cents an hour to run, max

Answer 8

Yes, when you turn on the AC, the compressor engages and puts more strain on the engine. It's not a lot of strain, but I bet you lose 2-5 mpg (worst case).

Answer 9

the monor amout of fuel to run the ac compresser is MUCH les than the wind drag created from open windows @ speeds in excess of 30 MPH

Answer 10

Very True

Answer 11

Compared to not having it on, yes. BUT, driving with the windows open creates enough drag that its about equal to driving with the windows closed and the ac on.