3 Simple Ways to Save Fuel and Money Now
Filed Under: green automotive technology on January 7, 2011
by Aaron Turpen, AboutAlternativeCars
Doing a search on the Internet for “how to save fuel” or something similar brings up a lot of websites trying to show you how to save money with your car. Usually through “eco-measures” or “green” solutions. Most of the time, these are sales junk trying to get you to buy a gadget or sacrifice a major portion of your lifestyle – or spend a lot of money on a car you don’t really need. Few of them show you real, serious ways you can save money on gasoline with the car you have, right now – no matter what kind of car it is.
I’m going to show you that right now. Here are three simple, low-cost, do-it-yourself ways you can save money on the gas you use in your car. You can start using these today and you won’t have to send me a dime to start saving with them. They’re virtually free.
Fuel Saver #1 – Drop the Weight
Nearly everyone’s car could benefit from a weight loss program. Most people could shed at least 100 pounds from their car’s payload with just a few minutes of work. That’s just getting started, though. There are other things that can be trimmed to do even more. All together, this weight loss regimen could mean $245 in your pocket from fuel savings every year.
Every 100 pounds of weight in your car translates to about 1% fuel efficiency loss. Many of us treat our cars like the storage closet we wish we had in our house. All of that stuff adds up. Most of us also have roadside assistance coverage included in our policy, which means if you blow a tire, someone will come with a spare and replace it for you.
That spare tire you carry in the city? Don’t need it and that’s 35-40 pounds you’re likely saving by not having it in the trunk. The toolbox, extra coats, and all that other stuff can easily become 100 pounds of weight you can shed. Just look around, you’ll see it in there.
Now take it a step further. Do you use air conditioning often? Roll down the windows, even when going 40mph, 50mph, or faster? When you’re in the city, driving around surface streets, you can roll the windows down and avoid the A/C. On the highway? Not the same. Once over 35mph or so, your car actually loses more efficiency to the air turmoil from windows being down than it will from using the A/C. So keep them rolled up and use the fan.
Speaking of aerodynamics, two more things in that regard that many people ignore are roof racks and winter snow. The roof rack on your car, even when empty, adds considerable drag. Take it off when it’s not in use. Heavy snows last night? Don’t just clear the windshield and call it good. Clear all of the snow off your car. With a good bit of snow at 5 pounds a square foot, that could easily become a hundreds pounds of the white stuff on top of your car. Add to that the extra wind drag with all that up there and you’re looking at some real mile per gallon killers. So take the time and get it off.
Fuel Saver #2 – Tires
Your tires do a lot for (or against) your car’s efficiency on the road. Good miles per gallon can easily be made or broken thanks to the rubber on the road. Sure, you can spend the money getting low rolling resistance (LRR) tires, but there’s more to it than that. Your tires could possibly save you $480 a year in gasoline costs.
The size of your tire is its most important factor in terms of miles per gallon saved or lost. Although the skinny “profile” tires are popular, they can be real MPG slayers. Every inch reduced from the tire’s height (including the wheel) can mean 2 miles per gallon lost. Add to that the width of the tire (often fatter on profiles), which is another 2 miles per gallon for every half inch added to road contact, and you’re seeing some seriously detrimental MPG destruction. So stick with the tire sizes recommended for your ride.
How about those LRR tires we talked about? If you purchase a new car, it likely comes with these from the factory. Car makers like including energy-saving tires because they add to the car’s overall better MPG numbers for that window sticker. So if your car has them and you’re looking for new tires, get them again. If your car doesn’t have them, you could see a few dollars in fuel savings every year by getting them – usually at least enough to pay the tire’s cost difference in that first year.
Finally, and very importantly since most people overlook this, comes tire inflation. Whatever tires you have on your vehicle, they must be filled to factory specs. This is usually 32-35 psi, but check the information on your tire’s sidewall to be sure.
Every month, on average, a tire loses about a pound of air pressure. For every 10 degrees of temperature drop, it loses another pound. Most cars are averaging about 3 pounds too light in their tires. That 3 pounds is 1% fuel efficiency loss. After that, though, each pound adds up much more quickly, so a car with 6 pounds of loss could mean 3-4% in fuel efficiency. Check your tires often and keep them filled!
Fuel Saver #3 – When You Fill the Tank
Believe it or not, if you use some good timing (thanks to your know how, which you’re about to gain), you can save $250 or more every year. This is the easiest too, since all it requires is that you know when to fill the gas tank and when to wait.
Here’s the gist of it: there are certain days of the week when gas sells cheaper than others and there are certain times of day when you get more gasoline for your buck. Why? Economics and science.
If you watch the signs at your local gas station every day for a couple of weeks, you’ll notice that gas prices are usually slightly lower on Wednesday and Thursday than they are on any other day of the week. Why? Demand. On the weekends, most people fill their tanks for the family trips and errand running most of us do on our days off. On Monday, many have depleted (maybe they forgot to fill on Saturday) and need a refill and Tuesday sees those holdovers from Monday. Wednesday and Thursday are traditionally the slowest days at a gas station. So they often play “price war,” lowering prices to look better than their rival across the street.
Now add to that one more factoid and you can put them both together for real savings. Gasoline is sold by volume. A gallon is a gallon, right? Yes and no. Gasoline’s energy density changes with temperature (as does its weight). It increases in energy density by about 0.69% per ten degree reduction (Fahrenheit). So buying in the morning when gas has had the night to cool down means more gas for your buck. Your warm vehicle re-inflates, as it were, the gasoline when it’s in your car. This doesn’t mean much at each fill up, but it does mean a lot of savings over a year’s time. It’s estimated that Americans spend $1.5 billion every summer as a “hot fuel” premium because of this. Now you can avoid some of that!
All together, these activities you’ve read about in this article give you ways to save up to $250 a year in fuel costs. These are simple, easy to do things that won’t cost you anything but the time you spent reading this article. These are just the tip of the iceberg, though. There are at least ten ways you can seriously impact your fuel budget, saving over a thousand bucks every single year. It’s all about what you know.
[...] your Ride – Before you hit the road, use these eco-tips to save money on gas that you have to put into your car. These are real ways you can save money on gasoline with the car [...]