QUESTION:
Do car heaters usage drain your gas tank?
ANSWER:
Yes, it does reduce gas mileage but only a small amount.
SOURCES:
Energy Information Administration, fueleconomy.gov, Cars.com, AAA-Mid Atlantic
PROCESS:
It's like the cold weather just won't leave us alone this March-- and most of us are still cranking up the heat as soon as we get in the car. So Verify viewer Lynda Mack wanted to know when we turn up the heat is it guzzling down our gas?
To get answers we first went to experts at the Energy Information Administration who said, “Typically, both using heat and air conditioning will reduce fuel economy and cause vehicles to use more gasoline than with both turned off. Air conditioning system is worse on fuel economy than the heating system because it requires more power to run. It is important to know that using the defroster in winter actually uses both the heating and the air conditioning at the same time!”
Fuel economy.com explains that a disadvantage with gas efficiency during cold weather driving is that winter grades of gasoline can have slightly less energy per gallon than summer gas blends do.
And when those summer days roll around, using the a/c reduces gas mileage by more than 3 miles per gallon, according to Consumer Reports.
As an alternative to using the car heater, experts from cars.com suggest, for only about 30 bucks, using a block heater that can help prep your vehicle during those bitter cold temps and possibly save you some fuel.
"It's an electric heating element that gets installed into a hole in the engine block and sits in the liquid coolant. When you plug it in, it circulates and warms the entire engine,” explains Cars.com Executive Editor, Joe Wiesenfelder.
And don't be a lead foot behind the wheel- we went to car experts at Jiffy Lube that say slowing down and driving 55 instead of 75 on highways can improve your gas mileage up to 15 miles per gallon.
So we can verify, YES, using your car heater is hurting your gas mileage but not by too much. Experts at AAA Mid-Atlantic told WUSA9 researcher the affect is too small to calculate in dollars and cents.
Unlike the air conditioning that places an additional load on the engine, the heater fan pulls from the engine's heat as it works which is then recirculated back into the vehicle.
