Does air con really eat your fuel?

pimento

Yes but it is what it is. It's not supposed to be a sporty fast car. I've truly enjoyed driving mine for the past 11 years. I bought a new car today and I'm giving my well loved Ka to my dad to drive around town in because I just can't bear to part with it.

Besides, how many days a year in England is it warm enough to merit air con anyway?

And... the insurance is £104 a year.

cyclonebri1

Zanzibar wrote: »

Ok, so why start with posting the exact opposite? So many just make things up and post them as if they are fact. AHH! Its like a playground here - people offer advice with zero knowledge - it just wastes everyone's time. Rather than answering the original poster half of the posts then try and educate the ignorant repliers.

'Excess power' - good grief.

So to your question YES, it does take more torque (engine turning power) to turn the alternator when its under greater load so it costs fuel. All (ALL) loads cost fuel. There is NO free power.

To quote the self proclaimed 'expert' here:

You are WRONG. If you are a lead engineer you need to think about a refresher course in electrical theory.

Rant over.

Nice one ZZ glad to see someone remains on planet earth

Unfortunately anyone can post anything on here, and some poor sod will believe them

kriss_boy

Throughout winter when I had the aircon on and heated seats my mpg went from 28 to 23!!

cyclonebri1

kriss_boy wrote: »

Throughout winter when I had the aircon on and heated seats my mpg went from 28 to 23!!

I use the heater in the winter, and wear long johns, fuel consumption unaffected.

skiddlydiddly

Zanzibar wrote: »

Ok, so why start with posting the exact opposite? So many just make things up and post them as if they are fact. AHH! Its like a playground here - people offer advice with zero knowledge - it just wastes everyone's time. Rather than answering the original poster half of the posts then try and educate the ignorant repliers.

'Excess power' - good grief.

So to your question YES, it does take more torque (engine turning power) to turn the alternator when its under greater load so it costs fuel. All (ALL) loads cost fuel. There is NO free power.

Because at the time that was my "understanding" of it.As several people seemed adamant I was wrong, I researched it a little.I'm certainly not going to apologise for not researching every post I make and I did point out I am no expert in this.
Obviously I didn't know this in my 1st posts and didn't know I was incorrect.What an utterly silly question.

In answer to the OP yes it does eat your fuel.There, thread answered factually.

Paradigm

skiddlydiddly wrote: »

Because at the time that was my "understanding" of it.As several people seemed adamant I was wrong, I researched it a little.I'm certainly not going to apologise for not researching every post I make and I did point out I am no expert in this.
Obviously I didn't know this in my 1st posts and didn't know I was incorrect.What an utterly silly question.

In answer to the OP yes it does eat your fuel.There, thread answered factually.

Big ups to you mate :T, it's the muppets who don't admit they are wrong that p!ss me off

BTW I didn't have a clue lol

buglawton

Recently tested the air con on a 20 mile journey - Hyundai i30.

1. Made no noticeable difference to power. At idle, revs stay the same as it is switched on/off, no 'kick'.

2. On the fuel consumption meter, over 20 miles, consumption appears to be 0.1 MPG worse than the same 20 miles done with a/c off.

3. Yes it is working - producing cold air.

This is a huge contrast to my last car that was built in 1997 where power went down noticeably when a/c switched on.
As I cannot really believe this test result I am now comparing it with with other owners of the same (petrol) model.

Have things changed so much for more modern cars? I will bet that the air con is not measured as part of the fuel consumption test for VED calculation, so would imagine it's a low priority for manufacturers to have 'economical' air con.

MrsE_2

pimento wrote: »

The manual for my Ka said that I should run the aircon for one hour a week.

I like to use mine in the winter to de-mist the screen, but it really does have the effect of slowing the car down. It's quite noticible.

I only use mine when its hot.

You would freeze in the winter running it for an hour:eek:

johnnyroper

MrsE wrote: »

I only use mine when its hot.

You would freeze in the winter running it for an hour:eek:

the trick is to turn up the temp dial, that way you are running a/c compressor but not blowing in freezing air.
If you do not run it over winter then the seals can dry out and lose the refridgerent from system,they rely on the PAG oil circulating around system to keep good seal

Gloomendoom

MrsE wrote: »

I only use mine when its hot.

You would freeze in the winter running it for an hour:eek:

With a lot of cars, the air con comes on automatically when you select the max demist setting on the heater. It makes for a much more effective demister as the air is dried as well as heated.

I don't believe an hour is really necessary. You just need to run it enough to get keep the system, mainly the pump, lubricated and to stop the electric clutch from seizing.