How much gas am I wasting if I let my car run until all of the snow is melted off of it?

Question

Today when I was at the gas station a lady filled up her hummer then she drove up to the station and left her hummer running while she payed for her gas.

Answer 1

Check your RPMs, if your car has such a gage.  If your idle speed is 40% of your normal operating speed, then that is about what you are consuming while idling - 40% of going down the highway in the same amount of time (roughly).

Answer 2

Dude, that's such a small amount of gas to be worried about.  That doesn't have anything to do with running it until all of the snow melts off either.

Answer 3

So Big Deal, she payed for the gas to keep it running. Global Warming is not real so it doesn't matter

Answer 4

It might use a little more gas to leave it running than to turn it off and restart, but it could easily cause more pollution. Leaving it running long enough to let the snow melt off would take forever unless you mean just the windshield and rear window. Save the time and gas and scrape it off. And try brushing it off the hood, car top and trunk, too. I hate driving down the freeway and having a 30 pound chunk of frozen snow slide off the car in front of me, right into my path.