How much petrol is used by Airconditioning in cars?

Question

Does anyone know how much fuel consumption increases by when using air conditioning in a car?

And before anyone says zero - think again - it may be electrical but the only energy source in the car (over time) is fuel - this has to charge the battery. Also, if you turn the aircon on, you can usually see a drop in revs.

Answer 1

The AC adds about 3/5% to fuel consumed when on. All lights on add a similar amount. Heater on adds about 3%. If lights and AC are on together then the extra gets to 5/7%. With windows open on a hot day and no AC the extra drag can add 6% to the fuel consumed so AC in the long run is more economical.

Answer 2

Depends very much on the car, could be 5% - 10%. There was some research done that showed that below about 30mph it was cheaper to have the windows open, above that speed the extra drag of open windows meant the aircon was better. I believe it was done at MIRA but I don't recall when.

Answer 3

When i took my Air conditioning course i was told that with the air conditioning system running on your car it will actually use less fuel than if you where to drive your car with the windows down all the time .
My Citroen C3 does about 45 miles to gallon with the Air con on.

Answer 4

I was told when I bought my car that about 5 mpg is average.
What I do is put the aircon on for a few minutes then press the recirculation button - this provides cool air for some time.

Answer 5

I doubt that anyone will be able to give you an accurate figure for all cars - it will depend on the model and other factors such as the engine type, age etc. You should also remember that driving at speed with the window down will affect the drag and aerodynamics of your car and will ultimately lead to poorer fuel effeciency

Answer 6

The air conditioning at 50%.
Fuel consumption up by at least 10%.

Answer 7

Anything that requires energy from the engine will affect the fuel consumption.The electrical system is an example.The alternator becomes harder to turn when it is furnishing current to the battery.Using the headlights,radio,fans,glass heaters,etc consumes a measurable amount of fuel.

Answer 8

It's not zero, but it isnt much. It depends on how hard you are pushing the car at the time, as the energy to power the compressor is taken from the Flywheel. If you are pushing the car hard it will have to work much harder, around town or driving slower, it probably has the energy to spare

Answer 9

Cruse administration is the huge one, it is going to use extra gas then in case you do no longer make use of it. as a results of fact the aircon pump is being run off of a belt pushed by means of the engine, it rather is desperate up as an outdoors componant, the sole tyes it has to the engine is that its run by means of a belt that the engine drives. comparable is going for once you're charging a cellular telephone or digital camera. the place the skill is coming from that's charging it rather is coming from the Alternator. it rather is likewise belt pushed and its substantial objective in life is to maintain the battery at a relentless state of charge. as a results of fact it is likewise belt pushed, no extra suitable gas would be used. Cruse administration is different in spite of the incontrovertible fact that. it is going to consistently have the throttle applyed, whether its basically minimum, this might reason you extra in gas because it rather is consistently making use of gas, rather of drifting, like what we do.

Answer 10

When running it would reduce your economy by about halve a mile a gallon , takes about 10lb per square inch to turn a running air conditioner pump