For many of us, the arrival of summer brings a lot more road trips and time spent behind the wheel. We all have different driving habits, but one this is certain, most of us idle much more than needed. Of course it’s nice to keep the A/C running in the summer and heat going in the winter. However, if the inside of the car is at a comfortable temperature, a few minutes without it running shouldn’t change the temperature much. And as soon as it becomes uncomfortable, you can always turn it back on. Even two short minutes will save you the same amount of gas it takes to drive one mile.
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 annually, depending on the size of your engine. By recognizing the inefficiency of idling, you can save yourself a significant amount of gas and money while reducing your negative impact on the environment.
But what about the gas it takes to re-start your engine? 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!
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