free air at filling stations

cepheus

This may be not the most important moneysaving issue with cars, but it is still annoying having to pay 50p just to check the tyre pressures. In my view filling stations should allow free air even if it is added to the cost of fuel (say 0.1p/litre) to encourage people to regularly check their tyre pressures for the purposes of safety as well as improving fuel consumption and prolonging the life of tyres. Perhaps I should have asked Santa for an air gauge/pump!

I was wondering if someone knew of a site that had compiled a list of stations that provided free air?

This might be a good addition to https://secure.petrolprices.com/

To start of perhaps we could provide a list here of stations along the main trunk/motorway network that provide free air?

ariba10

A tyre pressure gauge is cheap enough to buy, as is a small electric pump.

We pay enough for fuel without subsudizing other things.

cepheus

Well say there are 10 million households with cars who buy their own pump at £10 this will cost £ 100 million. There are about 10 000 fuel stations in the UK, so say if they each offer air free and pass on the cost to petrol of say a £1000 system this will cost a total of £10 million. In addition, you get a higher quality gauge and pump at a fuel station. Perhaps in the interests of safety having private pumps and offering free air makes sense. However, you look at the equation, whether in terms of safety, greenhouse gases, tyre bills or fuel bills, it makes sense to offer free air in my opinion.

iolanthe07

you get a higher quality gauge

Actually gauges at filling stations are notoriously inaccurate; there was a scandal about them some years ago. The most accurate are the pen like ones with a rod that extends. My local petrol station took its free air line away after it had been vandalised five times in a fortnight. An accurate gauge and foot pump are cheap enough from Halfords.

steveo3002

supermarkets filling stations tend to be free air , i pump mine up a couple over and then use a gauge to check when im home

Keith

iolanthe07 wrote: »

An accurate gauge and foot pump are cheap enough from eBay

I stopped last week to use one of those automatic pumps, which kindly emptied my tyre of air, so I've bought a tyre guage and cheap pump from ebay!

dzug

cepheus wrote: »

However, you look at the equation, whether in terms of safety, greenhouse gases, tyre bills or fuel bills, it makes sense to offer free air in my opinion.

Not in the view of a filling station operator who is competing like hell on the price of petrol and doen't want extra costs.

basill

Strictly, you should check the pressure when the tyres are cold. They will be warm and your reading inaccurate unless its a very short drive to the petrol station.
Petrol station guages are notoriously inaccurate at the best of times, they get a thrown about and generally mistreated.
As mentioned above the pencil type guages are accurate and inexpensive. Put a pen cap over the end when it is stored to stop muck getting into the mechanism and it will last you a lifetime.

Cheers,

B

iolanthe07

it will last you a lifetime.

I bought mine in 1963 just after I passed my driving test and it is still working OK. The only thing is that it is marked in lbs per square inch!

goldspanners

iolanthe07 wrote: »

it will last you a lifetime.

I bought mine in 1963 just after I passed my driving test and it is still working OK. The only thing is that it is marked in lbs per square inch!

thats because thats what tyre pressure is measured by,PSI.

Altarf

iolanthe07 wrote: »

Actually gauges at filling stations are notoriously inaccurate

Probably in the case in the past with the gauges on the end of the airline where they were generally abused, but not the case now with the digital airlines.

A quick Google turned this up - http://www.iam.org.uk/onestopcms/core/RecordedResource.aspx?resource=%207976C25F-5DDB-4823-AD73-640C63C445BA

TYRE PRESSURE GAUGE SURVEY 2007
The majority of pumps tested were quite new digital units and 80 per cent of the pump gauges that were working were found to be accurate to within 5 per cent at 30 psi. The remainder were all within 7 per cent, apart from two older analogue gauges that were 10 per cent and 13 per cent out.