Winter Driving-Get Going and Warm it Up

February 8, 2010

Here’s my winter morning routine: Hat, coat, scarf – run outside…. start the car. Run back inside; have another cup of coffee while the car warms up. Sound familiar? I’ve been doing this for years. I learned it from my mom, who many years ago, would go out and warm my car up before I left for school. If you don’t have your car in a garage, it’s pretty darn chilling to hop in that little igloo on wheels. Way back when, I was taught that it was really better for the car to idle a bit to warm it up before jetting off into the arctic morning. Well, seems that while I thought I was doing my car a favor (not to mention my own warm self), I’ve been wasting lots, and lots of energy.

According to The Little Green Book, the best way to warm up your vehicle it to actually drive it. According to the authors, 30 seconds of idling is really all you need before you’re ready to drive. Your car uses 0.2 gallongs of fuel when idling. That’s enough gas for me to travel the 5 miles it takes to get to work. Not only are you wasting fuel, but, when you let your car idle you’re producing carbon dioxide, close to 20 pounds during that 10 minutes of toasty warm-up time. I really don’t know anything about the inner workings of a car. I just want it to go.  But these guys claim that idling only warms your engine, not the other parts of the car that need to be warmed up.

So as nice as it is to slide across that warm leather seat on a winter morning, I’ll have to learn to layer more and idle less. I guess I’ll have that extra cup of coffee to go!

Filed under: Saving Energy,Uncategorized

Tags: energy conservation, Lifestyle, reduce waste