A/C Usage and Impact on FE

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

Originally Posted by i-DSi

Watch out what your laughing with. Japanese cars start the cooling fan up even under these circumstances:
- automatic AC on

My car doesn't do that one any more; the second cooling fan (the AC one) is rolling around in my back seat

[add|ct]

Originally Posted by Dr. Jerryrigger

My car doesn't do that one any more; the second cooling fan (the AC one) is rolling around in my back seat

Nice work.

[shatto]

Originally Posted by add|ct

I'm hoping my AC won't be as much of a 'drag'; no pun intended, now that my new drive belts are on. No more squealing pulley! Though, it may have been belt slippage all along. Still, the car feels much smoother now w/ AC on, especially when under engine load.

If the belt statrs to squeeeek....
Do Not use belt dressing.
Do not replace the belt.
Your tensioner idler arm is wore-out and that throws the pully out of alignment, making it squeak.

[add|ct]

Originally Posted by shatto

If the belt statrs to squeeeek....
Do Not use belt dressing.
Do not replace the belt.
Your tensioner idler arm is wore-out and that throws the pully out of alignment, making it squeak.

Yeah, with how tight that through bolt was on the idler pulley no wonder why it was squealing so bad.

[XenuVX]

As an experiment I decided to see what the difference was in mpg if I used the AC liberally but only on the freeway for one trip, and did not use the AC at all for another trip.

With AC: 335.5 miles at 43.63mpg
Without AC: 304.3 miles at 47.62mpg

Despite there being a 30 mile difference between the two fill ups the routes I drove to achieve these results were very similar.

That is almost a 4mpg or 9% difference and it would be an even larger discrepancy if I had used the AC for city driving.

Since other people in this thread have reported a 5-6mpg drop it seems that:

Using the AC in a Civic VX causes a 9-14% drop in fuel efficiency.

[shatto]

Originally Posted by XenuVX

As an experiment I decided to see what the difference was in mpg if I used the AC liberally but only on the freeway for one trip, and did not use the AC at all for another trip.

With AC: 335.5 miles at 43.63mpg
Without AC: 304.3 miles at 47.62mpg

Despite there being a 30 mile difference between the two fill ups the routes I drove to achieve these results were very similar.

That is almost a 4mpg or 9% difference and it would be an even larger discrepancy if I had used the AC for city driving.

Since other people in this thread have reported a 5-6mpg drop it seems that:

Using the AC in a Civic VX causes a 9-14% drop in fuel efficiency.

An intangable to seriously think about;
Noise, such as wind and vehicle road noise coming in open windows, damages ears and usually results in the perminant noise called Tinnitis.
Factor that into the cost of a little more fuel and the increased comfort of the A/C.

Quiz:
How many of you from Phoenix drive with the windows open?

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by XenuVX

As an experiment I decided to see what the difference was in mpg if I used the AC liberally but only on the freeway for one trip, and did not use the AC at all for another trip.

Windows open, or closed?

[XenuVX]

Windows sometimes open while driving in the city. Always closed on the freeway. Just used the fan on the freeway.

[XenuVX]

Originally Posted by shatto

An intangable to seriously think about;
Noise, such as wind and vehicle road noise coming in open windows, damages ears and usually results in the perminant noise called Tinnitis.
Factor that into the cost of a little more fuel and the increased comfort of the A/C.

Quiz:
How many of you from Phoenix drive with the windows open?

I'm not recommending people drive with the windows down on the freeway. In fact I would gladly take a 6mpg hit when it is 100 degrees out. I just really wanted to have some concept of how much it costs to run the AC in my car.

[imzjustplayin]

Originally Posted by shatto

An intangable to seriously think about;
Noise, such as wind and vehicle road noise coming in open windows, damages ears and usually results in the perminant noise called Tinnitis.
Factor that into the cost of a little more fuel and the increased comfort of the A/C.

Quiz:
How many of you from Phoenix drive with the windows open?

Solution?

Wear ear plugs.. Funny thing about ear plugs is that there is a frequency range in which they're most effective, and I've found they tend to be most effective for things like computer fans and whatnot. So maybe using them on the highway would work because it wouldn't filter sirens too well but it would work well for road noise.