Do you really waste more gas if you have the A/C on in the car??

Question

thanks

Answer 1

the a/c unit works off the fuel pump so its gonna use a bit more fuel some people claim it takes off as much as 8 mpg but i use my a/c a lot and it doesnt seem to use that much i have the tripped mileage after filling up with a/c on and off and there is a minimal  3 miles difference definitely worth putting up with to keep cool ps may i say you might want to keep your eye on your speedo the legal limit on a dual carriage way is 70 mph not 80 that will also save you even more fuel for the a/c unit take off those concrete boots and put some slippers on

Answer 2

yes but if you have the windows down the force your car exerts to go against the wind will use the same amount of gas as you would use with the AC on unless your going slow or not too fast then i would put the windows down instead of using the AC.

Answer 3

I seen it on top gear that if you drive your car just under 60mph and dont have the radio on or the air con on then you get more miles to the gallon. Av tryed it and it does work but to notice the diffrence it takes a couple of days or a long drive. BUT ITS BORING driving with no music.

Answer 4

It depends. Travelling at low speeds. eg under 30 miles and hour- you will use lots more fuel from a/c than having your windows down.

However when you reach highway speeds, having the windows open causes drag and wates more fuel than A/c.

but to answer your question, yes Air con does use lots of gas.

Answer 5

No.  In today's modern cars the AC unit is so high efficiency that you will *not* notice any excess fuel usage from running it.  Only in old or degraded cars will running the AC cause more usage and that is because the AC unit is, well, old or degraded and shouldn't be used anyway.

EDIT: To the Wanker that gave me the thumbs down....In two separate studies conducted in 2005, the automotive Web site Edmunds.com and Consumer Reports compared the fuel economy of both a sedan and an SUV at highway speeds with and without air conditioning and how open windows affected gas usage.

What they found was NO significant difference in fuel economy in either sedan or SUV under EITHER condition.

You will waste more gas by ignoring maintenance issues like clean filters, timely oil changes, and proper tire pressure than you will by running the AC. Oh yeah, and driving 80MPH anywhere is going to waste more gas than all the other factors listed above combined.

Answer 6

I thought the a/c guzzled your gas! Maybe its different in newer cars.