Energy News

Al's Energy Tips

Natural Gas Prices Are on the Rise

With natural gas prices on the rise, see our natural gas page for more steps you can take now to prepare for those big winter energy bills.

Time to Start Thinking About Those Home Heating Leaks

With heating season around the corner, it’s time to starting looking for and repairing air leaks around windows and doors. Even small air gaps between your doors and the door frame (ditto for windows) can cost you $100 to - $150 in natural gas over the course of the winter.

User Higher Gear

If you have a manual transmission, getting into the highest possible gear without causing engine stall (or that annoying “lugging” noise) saves gasoline.

Ditch the Roof Rack

Roof racks dramatically increase air resistance, especially at high speeds making your car’s engine burn more gasoline. It’s definitely worth the time to take off the ski rack in the middle of the summer, or the luggage rack after coming home from vacation.

Eschew the Drive-Through

Restaurant drive-thrus are a bad national habit and a silly waste of gasoline. Does it really take THAT much effort to park your car and pick up lunch inside? Remember this rule of thumb: just 2 minutes of idling burns enough gas to go about a mile in typical city driving. So, if you spend 5 minutes in the drive-thru 3 times a week, that amounts to 400 miles worth of gasoline a year burned for no good reason. Burn off a few calories instead by getting out of your car.

Ceiling Fans

To cut down on your winter heating bills, install ceiling fans in the rooms you use most to circulate warm air that gathers at the ceiling.

Try Walking

For very short trips — say, the distance you can walk in 20 minutes — driving is a fuel-ish decision. With starting the engine, stop and go accelerations, and restarting the engine to return, you’ll be lucky to get 20 mpg in even a Prius. Other cars will do far worse. So consider a walk to lunch, for light shopping or other errands.

Use Air Conditioning on the Higway

At highway speeds, aerodynamic drag is increased considerably by having the windows rolled down. If it is hot on the highway, roll up the windows and use your AC instead. You’ll be more comfortable and use less gasoline. In the city on short trips, try to avoid the AC by opening the windows.

Don't Waste Too Much Energy Bargain-Hunting for Gas

With gasoline at over $4 per gallon, driving across town to the lowest priced station for a fillup may seem like a good idea. But it isn’t. If you use a half-gallon to save $2 on a 20 gallon fill-up you’ve not only saved nothing on gasoline, you’ve just worn down parts in your engine and brakes, not to mention the lost time. Best to fill up while on other trips, like on the way home from work.

Wind Robs You of Mileage

On the highway, most of the energy your car expends is to overcome air resistance because you are essentially driving into high speed headwind. Air resistance increases far faster than a linear rate. At 45 mph, even in the best-designed cars resistance really takes off. A rule to remember: every 5 mph increase over 55 mph in speed is like paying about 20 cents more per gallon of gas for most cars (and much more for trucks and SUVs). Drive at 75 mph if you must, but at 60 mph if you can.

Your Auto's Air Conditioner

Reader M. Gilmore wants to know how much gasoline her car uses if she is in park with the car idling with the AC on (say, while waiting for someone) on a hot summer day. The answer depends a bit on the size of the engine, but a typical sedan will use about 1/5 to 1/4 or so of a gallon of gasoline per hour while idling, assuming it's in reasonably good tune. Turning on the AC adds only a small amount of additional load onto the already running engine. So, at today's prices of around $4 per gallon, idling for 20 minutes will use about 1/12 of a gallon or 33 cents worth of gas and put about 2 pounds of CO2 into the air.

Junk in the Trunk

Did you know that excess weight in your vehicle - like old junk in your trunk - can make a difference in your effective driving cost of about 10 cents per gallon? Remove every pound of unnecessary material you can. You may be surprised at what you're carrying around. Burning gasoline to make camping equipment used once a year hurtle down the road is silly.

Drive Easy

The single most effective gas saving strategy in city driving (besides not getting in your car in the first place) is to avoid quick accelerations and stops. When accelerating from a stop, never press the accelerator more than half-way down and try to anticipate the next stop. If you have to brake to slow down quickly, you are merely converting gasoline to heat. It's much better to coast part of the way. Estimated savings in city driving: about 10 percent to 12 percent, or about 50 cents per gallon!

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