Tips for reducing fuel usage
Kari Lewis, MSU Extension - Glacier County 

This morning as I drove by the gas station, it looked like fuel prices had gone up $0.20 from just yesterday, ouch!  As we watch prices for seemingly everything rise, it’s easy to feel like there’s nothing we can do.  However, I think it’s important to focus on what we CAN control.  Today, I put together a few ideas for reducing fuel usage. 

First, consider taking advantage of free transportation.  Locally, we have the Northern Transit Interlocal bus service which is a partnership of Toole County Transit, Glacier County Transit, and Pondera County Transit.  This free service provides rides from Shelby, Sunburst, Sweet Grass, Shelby, Conrad, Browning, and Valier to Great Falls, Kalispell, and locations in between.  There is more information on their website, northern.rural-transit.com, or by calling 406-873-2207. 

Secondly, for the kids in school, this might be the time for them to start riding the bus again, if they aren’t already!  I’m always amazed at how often we’ll see two or three members of the same family each driving separately to and from school or town.  With a little coordination, some ride sharing could likely happen.

Next, map out your trips strategically – Keep a running list of what is needed where so when you do go out, you can make sure to hit as many stops as possible, in the correct order.  Rather than a trip to Great Falls or Kalispell to ‘stock up,’ I’d encourage you to watch the sales locally and shop here to support our local businesses. 

Lastly, discuss as a family what activities are most important this coming summer.  Will spring mean you carpool to baseball games with another family?  Or will you skip the baseball season to instead do summer golf or swim team?  Changes will likely have to be made, and it’s best to involve everyone in those discussions to prioritize family activities. 

When it comes to saving on fuel:

·         Make sure to properly maintenance your vehicle.  Dirty air filters, old spark plugs, or low fluid levels can lead to poor fuel economy.

·         Check your tire pressures regularly – a single tire underinflated by 2 PSI increases fuel consumption by 1%.

·         Slow down - According to FuelEconomy.gov, there’s an average 14 percent decrease in fuel efficiency from 60 to 70 mph and an additional 15.4 percent decrease when going from 70 to 80 mph.  At higher speeds, the vehicle is not only working harder to achieve the extra speed, but it also has to combat additional wind resistance.

·         Avoid over-revving your car – A study published by SAE International found that “aggressive behavior behind the wheel can lower gas mileage in light-duty vehicles by about 10 to 40 percent in stop-and-go traffic and roughly 15 to 30 percent at highway speeds. This can equate to losing about $0.25 to $1 per gallon.”

·         Eliminate any unnecessary weight in your vehicle – As I thought about my car, I don’t think I’ll be unloading the muck boots and coveralls from the trunk yet, but if there’s extra tools in the back of the pickup, maybe that could be unloaded to reduce the weight. 

Again, I’d encourage you to focus on what you CAN control, and maybe choose one or two of today’s tips to put into practice. 

Idling Your Car...Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Jesse Fulbright, MSU Liberty County Extension

I entered into an interesting conversation yesterday with someone at church about whether it was necessary to warm your vehicle up or not in the cold weather.  While I find it nice to get into a warmer car in the cold months of the year, the question that I really have to ask myself and perhaps you need to ask too is, “Is it helping the engine in my car?”  The answer is, probably not.

The basis for this thinking extends to when car engines relied on carburetors.  Before 1980, carburetors were the heart that kept car engines pumping.  Therefore, if your gasoline was too cold, your car wouldn't run rich, it would simply stall out.  In those days, it was important to get the carburetor warm before driving.  From the 1980s on, however, electronic fuel injection took over and is still what powers today's car engines.  The key difference is that fuel injection comes with a sensor that feeds the cylinders the right air-fuel mixture to generate a combustion event.  Does this happen right away?  Not exactly.  As I said, engines with fuel injection have sensors that compensate for the cold by pumping more gasoline into the mixture.  The engine continues to run rich in this way until it heats up to about 40 degrees.  By idling for longer periods of times you're putting extra fuel into the combustion chamber to make it burn and some of it can get onto the cylinder walls according to the experts.  Gas can wash oil off the walls if you run it in those cold idle conditions for an extended period of time 

Driving your car is the fastest way to warm the engine up to 40 degrees so it switches back to a normal fuel to air ratio.  Even though warm air generated by the radiator will flow into the cabin after a few minutes, idling does surprisingly little to warm the actual engine.

Both the EPA and energy.gov say a car should not idle for more than 30 seconds at a time.  Not only is it more environmentally friendly, but also cost-effective.  Idling for 30 seconds uses more fuel than restarting the car. 

Photo courtesy of Country Living

Of course, hopping into your car and gunning it will put unnecessary strain on your engine.  It takes 5 to 15 minutes for your engine to warm up while driving, so take it nice and easy for the first part of your drive.

So, my advice for myself and everyone is to put on those gloves, take a minute to scrape the frost off the windows and take a few extra minutes to drive at a prudent speed to your destination.