Wednesday, May 03, 2006

With Gas Prices Approaching $7 per gallon, Peggy's Back This Week With Some Tips to Conserve Highly-Refined Dinosaur Juice

Hello Again!!

This week, the obvious choice for tips is gas conservation and $$ savings.

First, I highly recommend this website to help you find the cheapest gas in your area:

www.gasbuddy.com

Gas Buddy also has great tips for fuel savings such as, Avoid High Speeds, Do Not Accelerate or Brake Hard, Keep Tires Properly Inflated and MORE!!

In addition, and with some help from about.com, here are some additional tips for you.

1. Stay within posted speed limits. The faster you drive the more fuel you use.

2. Use overdrive gears. Overdrive gears improve the fuel economy of your car during highway driving.

3. Use cruise control. Using cruise control on highway trips can help you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, reduce your fuel consumption.

4. Anticipate driving situations. If you anticipate traffic conditions and don't tailgate, you can avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration, and improve your fuel economy by 5 to 10 percent.

5. Avoid unnecessary idling. Turn off the engine if you anticipate a lengthy wait. No matter how efficient your car is, unnecessary idling wastes fuel, costs you money, and pollutes the air.

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

7. Remove excess weight from the trunk. Avoid carrying unneeded items, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in the trunk reduces a typical car's fuel economy by one to two percent.

8. Keep your engine tuned. Studies have shown that a poorly-tuned engine can increase fuel consumption by as much as 10 to 20 percent depending on a car's condition.

9. Keep your tires properly inflated and aligned. Underinflated tires cause fuel consumption to increase by six percent.

10. Change your oil. Clean oil reduces wear caused by friction between moving parts and removes harmful substances from the engine.

11. Check & replace air filters regularly. Your car's air filter keeps impurities in the air from damaging internal engine components. Clogged filters can cause up to a 10% increase in fuel consumption.

12. Buy only the octane level gas you need. Remember, the higher the octane, the higher the price. Check your owner's manual to determine the right octane level for your car.

13. Own a fuel efficient vehicle. The difference between a car that gets 20 MPG and one that gets 30 MPG amounts to $1,500 over 5 years.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool, thanks Peggy. Do you know how to get the student loan consolidation people to stop calling my wife?

(divorce is not an option)

Anonymous said...

another great post from the better half. Although USA people deserve this to wake up to how the rest of the world deals with gas. Plus 1500 is really just 300 a year, witch I could be spending on cigarettes.

Anonymous said...

$7 dollars a gallon? Did you guys move to London?

blankfist said...

It's twelve bucks a gallon in LA.