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Topic: Air conditioning

BleedingHeart
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3292

posted 07 August 2003 06:11 PM

Can anybody tell me whether having the air conditioner on in your car affects gas mileage. I always assumed it ran off the alternator but someone told me it can reduce your mileage by 25%

From: Kickin' and a gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer | Registered: Nov 2002 | IP: Logged

HeywoodFloyd
token right-wing mascot
Babbler # 4226

posted 07 August 2003 06:14 PM

It affects mine (2002 Aztek) but not by much. Maybe 25kms in 560.

I use it whenever the temp goes above 24c. Right now, that is a lot.

From: Edmonton: This place sucks | Registered: Jun 2003 | IP: Logged

Cougyr
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3336

posted 07 August 2003 06:31 PM

Anything that uses energy will affect gas mileage. Remember, the battery has to be recharged.

From: over the mountain | Registered: Nov 2002 | IP: Logged

BleedingHeart
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3292

posted 08 August 2003 01:26 PM

quote:
Anything that uses energy will affect gas mileage. Remember, the battery has to be recharged

My understanding from high school physics is that the motor as it runs turns the alternator which produces current which recharges the battery and powers the lights dashboard etc. I would assume that at 2000-3000 rpm, that this would generate more power than is needed.

If you were idling I can see it draining the battery but I wouldn't think it would make the motor rotate faster which is what burns gas.

From: Kickin' and a gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer | Registered: Nov 2002 | IP: Logged

LocoMoto
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4120

posted 08 August 2003 01:34 PM

It's been a long time since high school physics for me, but aren't we talking about converting mechanical energy to electrical energy? And wouldn't an increase in electrical energy consumption for A/C require more mechanical energy from the engine to produce it (with the battery as go-between) and therefore more gas? Or am I way off base?

From: North Carolina | Registered: May 2003 | IP: Logged

DrConway
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 490

posted 08 August 2003 04:42 PM

It's actually common wisdom that running the A/C will kill your mileage, precisely because of what LocoMoto said. To keep the alternator running at some set frequency to keep the battery charged, et cetera, the motor has to run at higher RPMs to power everything if the A/C is turned on.

In point of fact, along many highways through the desert in the southern US there are concrete barrels full of water for people whose radiators have had the unfortunate tendency to boil over because of some chump running the A/C while going uphill, which on even moderate inclines can boost the heat output to the point where the radiator can't circulate the heat away fast enough, and the fluid boils.

Bad mojo.

HeywoodFloyd: An Aztek?! I'm going to have to wear special eye protectors that blank it out of my vision if I ever see you.

From: You shall not side with the great against the powerless. | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged

Willowdale Wizard
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3674

posted 08 August 2003 04:44 PM

i've always favoured 4W60 airconditioning.

From: england (hometown of toronto) | Registered: Jan 2003 | IP: Logged

HeywoodFloyd
token right-wing mascot
Babbler # 4226

posted 08 August 2003 05:13 PM

I was going to get a Honda Element but they weren't in the market when I was.

My Aztek is an awseome car.

From: Edmonton: This place sucks | Registered: Jun 2003 | IP: Logged

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