Air-Con & Fuel Consumption

[doomjeffs]

Just a quick question regarding air-con. Has anybody noticed or kept a check on their fuel economy when using their air-con for sustained periods.

Is the inevitable reduction in fuel economy significant & apparent? or is there only a minor difference?

Cheers

[Jan&tone]

Just a quick question regarding air-con. Has anybody noticed or kept a check on their fuel economy when using their air-con for sustained periods.

Is the inevitable reduction in fuel economy significant & apparent? or is there only a minor difference?

Cheers

Hi there

Frankly in this weather, I'd rather have the air con on and take whatever the hit in consumption is!

[doomjeffs]

Just a quick question regarding air-con. Has anybody noticed or kept a check on their fuel economy when using their air-con for sustained periods.

Is the inevitable reduction in fuel economy significant & apparent? or is there only a minor difference?

Cheers

Hi there

Frankly in this weather, I'd rather have the air con on and take whatever the hit in consumption is!

Oh, I agree. I'm just curious to know if 'the hit' is significantly noticeable.

[-Ub3R-]

I'm not sure on fuel consumption, I doubt you'd see more than 5mpg loss.

I notice that when it's on the car idles at a lower RPM. My clutch is a lot harder to use with it on. The pick-up is very strange. And throttle response is noticeably different.

[doomjeffs]

I'm not sure on fuel consumption, I doubt you'd see more than 5mpg loss.

I notice that when it's on the car idles at a lower RPM. My clutch is a lot harder to use with it on. The pick-up is very strange. And throttle response is noticeably different.

Yes, all those things are expected because I think i'm right in saying that when that A/C is engaged it is powered by the turning of the engine hence the drop in revs & increased fuel consumption. It was quite noticeable on my previous Honda Accord, & was just curious to know if it is likewise with my new Aygo.

[jamesdonn]

I've only had mine for three days and i've done 250 miles with air con on all the time and only used half a tank, which seems good to me. will see how the mileage compares with it off when it gets cooler.

[Bibsy]

I've done the sums on all my cars over the years, including the current Aygo, and broadly speaking at worst it's about 10% greater consumption with AC on. So on an Aygo it's effectively about £3 a tankful if you want to look at it that way.

[Parts-King]

Having the windows down and creating more drag on the car is worse than having the A/C on in my opinion

I think I have read somewhere in a trade mag that the A/C usually loses you 6-8% MPG, having the windows down must create a similar drop in consumption surely???

Kingo

[doomjeffs]

Thankyou all for your replies, & on the strength of these replies I will now use my air-con with !Removed! abandon....ooh err. ;)

[Unklian]

Thankyou all for your replies, & on the strength of these replies I will now use my air-con with !Removed! abandon....ooh err. ;)

Drove back from Belgium yesterday (The hottest day of the year)

to Sheffield.

Had air-con on all the way. About 350 miles.

Don't know what it cost, perhaps an extra fiver at most.

Drove home in comfort instead of

gale force wind with windows down at motorway speeds or

sat in a sauna.

Worth every penny.

Ian.

[piezo]

I haven't noticed any change in MPG with the aircon on, so it's gotta be a minor difference. But I do notice the engine behavior. It's surely not for better.

[Jan van de Wouw]

I have a ScanGauge in my Aygo, which shows me consumption on the fly.

When I have the car on cruise control, set to 50mph, consumption is usually around 4,5 l/100km (=62,7mpg)

Turning on the A/C will increase consumption at the set speed to 4,9 l/100km (=57,6mpg), so it DOES affect

consumption. I also notice the Throttle Position Sensor value go up from 19 to 23 when the compressor kicks in...