Energy-Saving Driving and Car Maintenance Tips

Driving Tips

• Idling gets you 0 miles per gallon. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed. Anything more simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.

• Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration, and hard braking) wastes gas. It can lower your highway gas mileage 33% and city mileage 5%.

• Avoid high speeds. Above 60 mph, gas mileage drops rapidly. The US Department of Energy's fuel economy Web site www.fueleconomy.gov shows how driving speed affects gas mileage.

• When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces wear.

• Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas.

• Use air conditioning only when necessary.

• Clear out your car; extra weight decreases gas mileage.

• Reduce drag by placing items inside the car or trunk rather than on roof racks. A roof rack or carrier provides additional cargo space and may allow you to buy a smaller car. However, a loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel economy by 5%.

• Check into telecommuting, carpooling, and public transit to cut mileage and car maintenance costs.

Car Maintenance Tips

• Use the grade of motor oil recommended by your car's manufacturer. Using a different motor oil can lower your gasoline mileage by 1% to 2%

• Keep tires properly inflated and aligned to improve your gasoline mileage by around 3.3%.

• Get regular engine tune-ups and car maintenance checks to avoid fuel economy problems due to worn spark plugs, dragging brakes, low transmission fluid, or transmission problems.

• Replace clogged air filters to improve gas mileage by as much as 10%and protect your engine.

• Combine errands into one trip. Several short trips, each one taken from a cold start, can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.

• Long-Term Savings Tip: When replacing your vehicle, consider buying a highly fuel-efficient vehicle. A fuel-efficient vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or an alternative fuel vehicle could save you a lot at the gas pump and help the environment.

Excerpted from U.S. Department of Energy, "Energy Saver$: Tips on Saving Energy & Money at Home," (Washington: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2006).

For more energy-saving tips, see Energy-Saving Tips.

Published and distributed in furtherance of Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the Land Grant University of the state of Maine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Cooperative Extension and other agencies of the U.S.D.A. provide equal opportunities in programs and employment.

Call 800-287-0274 or TDD 800-287-8957 (in Maine), or 207-581-3188, for information on publications and program offerings from University of Maine Cooperative Extension, or visit www.umext.maine.edu.                                                                                               2008

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