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4 ways to waste gas money
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I received an email recently about ways to save money on gas and though I have heard of these before I thought I would go through each one and give my opinion
1- Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool
This made sense to me at first, items expands in heat, items contract in cold. But then if you think about it, gas isn’t like a balloon, you may get fewer balloons in a bucket if they are blown up, but if (liquid) gas expands in heat it isn’t something that is measurable enough to save or lose money.
2- If a tanker truck is filling the station’s tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car’s tank.
This is a possibility, however there are two things I think about with this. First, don’t the underground tanks that are filled have filters that would block out non liquid dirt piece and sludge? If not than the gas station would be losing money over time because their tanks would not get cleaned and that would all build up at the bottom (more sludge, less gas put in). Besides, filling up my car isn’t like putting a straw into the ground supply of gas and sucking it up. Second, I have yet to show up at a gas station when they are filling up the ground supply and even if I have seen one, usually they are blocking access to a majority of the pumps so I would just go to a station across the street. (problem solved)
3- Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it’s warm. (I have also heard that if you park your car in a cool area the gas evaporates slower than in the direct sunlight.)
First, if gas evaporates as quickly as this idea makes me think, I wouldn’t be filling up at half full, I would be complaining to the car manufacturer for making a cruddy gas tank that can’t hold the gas it is supposed to carry. And what about those red (or metal) gas tanks that are strapped on the back of Jeeps, those aren’t under the car but out in the open. I smell a rat on this one.
4- If you look at the trigger you’ll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping.
For me the only downside to filling fast is that I can’t stop the nozzle on the exact amount that I want, it always goes over a penny or five. Frankly, when I fill my tank up I just squeeze and lock it, if more vapors than gas are getting into my
tank then it isn’t something that I see as a noticeable reason to change my speed of gas delivery to my car.
update: Snope’s Gas Tips
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Now, 4 ways to save gas money
1- Drive like your driver’s ed teacher taught you.
Don’t slam on the breaks when stopping or slam on the accelerator when leaving the light, drive the speed limit but do hurry to park because there is no ‘perfect spot’ when you are wasting gas driving around the parking lot.
2- Treat the vehicle right
Fill up the tires, get your oil changed and get a regular tune-up
3- Don’t carry a burden
If you carry around a 70lb backpack you will ‘run out of gas’ faster than not carrying it around. The same is true with your vehicle, when the summer is here, take out the sandbags from the trunk.
4- Don’t drive for a day
Seriously, if you can stay home one day out of the week, that is mileage saved and gas money in your pocket.
additional reading:
Finding a Decent Price on Gas
Walking 101 and Cyclist 101 (Satire)
LBYM: Driving habits
13+ Lucky ways to Save on Gas
Popularity: 4% [?]
I spent the better part of a year coming up with the best ways to save on gas before we were consistently paying $3 per gallon. I recounted my takeaways from the experience here.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:48 amI wouldn’t completely discount #1: when I worked for a company that made tank level measuring devices, we constantly got asked if we could make them for gasoline storage tanks, and the answer was constantly “no” because of the temperature issues. I was software, not hardware, so I don’t know the details, other than it’s very significant, especially in above-ground tanks. And I know there have been recent fusses (class-action consumer lawsuits?) about places in northern climates deliberately calibrating pumps during weather favorable to them.
(That said, it isn’t significant enough to me to worry about the temperature when I fill up… so take that for whatever it’s worth. Maybe if the tanks weren’t underground I’d worry.)
I *do* drive past if the tanker’s there, though. Maybe it’s superstition, but hey, it’s the way my father taught me. That counts for something, right?
March 24th, 2008 at 10:06 amTag, you’re it.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:09 amhttp://www.thriftymommy.com/ive-been-been-playing-tag-and-i-didnt-even-know-it/
I’m going to have to agree with Karen in Wichita, don’t necessarily count out No. 1. My SO drives a hybrid and according to him, the geek that he is, it’s actually the gas tank in his that expands and contracts. He gets better gas mileage in the summer because he can put more gas in his car because the heat makes the tank expand. Worse gas mileage in the winter because of the contraction of the tank. Granted that he drives a hybrid but would it be possible that the material that normal gas tanks are made of could expand or contract to some degree making No. 1 an option? Just a thought.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:28 pmFor item 1, variation on gasoline temperature, first, I believe the “gallon” you buy is a temperature referenced gallon (60 F most likely) and the flow meter is corrected to that temperature from the actual temperature of the gasoline. Thus you are really buying pounds of gasoline that won’t change. I am not positive on this issue.
Second, since the station’s tank is usually underground, and the ground temperature won’t vary too much over the day, the temperature of the gasoline won’t vary too much between the morning and afternoon.
If the meter is not corrected for temperature and the gasoline varies with air temperature, the density variation is approximately 3% for a 30 F difference in temperature. At $3/gallon and 20 gallon/tank, you are only talking $2.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:37 pmIf the savings is at most $2 for a tank of gas then I don’t see that the savings is worth it… Sure, I usually get gas after work (after dark) but if I need gas at 3pm, I will get gas then.
March 24th, 2008 at 5:53 pm