Though we’ve had a relatively warm winter so far, there are still those cold mornings that make you want to warm your vehicle up before hitting the road. Many of us have this skewed impression that not allowing the car to warm up before driving will do some form of mystery damage. Of course, warming the vehicle’s cabin briefly for personal comfort in the bitter cold makes sense, but putting a warm coat and scarf on might make more sense while you wait for the heat to start working. When talking about the actual mechanics of your vehicle, idling is a completely unnecessary activity that simply wastes gas and puts additional exhaust into the environment. Make sure you think about this before you turn your car on and let it sit for 10 minutes before heading to work.
According to the “Anti-Idling Primer,” 5 minutes of idling per day for a year burns 10-20 gallons of gas and emits 220-440 lbs of Carbon Dioxide, depending on the size of your engine (see chart below). Modern vehicles, due to their efficient fuel injectors, only need approximately 30 seconds to get the oil circulating before it’s good to go. In fact, driving warms the vehicle much more quickly than idling. So you’ll actually achieve ideal engine temperatures more quickly by getting on your way than you will by sitting in the driveway waiting for the temperature gauge to go up. By recognizing the inefficiency of idling, you can save yourself a significant amount of gas, money, and time.
The same concept holds true when talking about idling vs. re-starting your vehicle. Many people idle during quick errands, or waiting outside a friend’s house, assuming it’ll burn more gas to stop and restart their car than to idle for a few minutes. A general rule of thumb, from the Environmental Defense Fund, is that 10 seconds of idling burns about the same amount of gas as starting the engine. So unless that idle outside your friend’s house is 10 seconds or less, it’s much more practical to turn the engine off and restart when you’re ready to go. It’s better for your vehicle, your bank account and the environment!
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