FACTS ABOUT IDLING
From the Acworth Energy Committee 2008
"An idling car is the most inefficient car on the road—it gets zero MPG." www.makealeap.org
Did you know that 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting your engine? If you turn off your engine at the P.O., or when doing errands, chatting by the roadside, or even waiting in a road work zone, you’ll save money & produce less carbon dioxide (CO2), the leading "greenhouse" gas. (Note: In a diesel car, shutting off your engine actually keeps it warm longer than when left idling.)
WANT SOME MORE IDLING INFO?
Idling is bad for your wallet, your engine, & your health.
YOUR COSTS: If you idle for 10 minutes most days of the week, that’s over 1 gallon of gas (& 20 extra pounds of CO2) you’ve blown into the air this week. At the current rate, you’ll burn over $200/year.
YOUR CAR: Fuel in an idling engine undergoes incomplete combustion, leaving residues on cylinder walls & spark plugs. Build-up means 4-5% decreased fuel efficiency over time, in addition to corrosion of the exhaust system resulting from water condensation. Your car’s performance & maintenance costs will improve if you stop idling. (Note: A car with properly filled tires & a tuned engine is also more efficient.)
YOUR HEALTH: Idling is bad for your health, especially if you are in the car, increasing incidents of asthma, allergies, cancer, & heart & lung diseases, due to the carbon monoxide & other auto pollutants. Your car emits not just CO2 but carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, benzene, & other toxic chemicals.
WHAT ABOUT IDLING TO WARM UP YOUR VEHICLE?
The best way to warm up a modern converter, not to mention your tires, transmission, wheel bearings & other moving parts, is to drive the vehicle at a slow to moderate speed for the first few miles, after only 30 seconds of idling, even on the coldest days. This reduces polluting emissions, wear & tear on the engine parts, & fuel consumption.
We all need to drive, but we can reduce our environmental impact—& improve our fuel efficiency & funds, as well as our health—by carpooling, "saving up" errands for fewer runs, & saying "no" to idling.
