Feet Off the Gas: Ways To Cut Back On Fuel Consumption In Your Car
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With Earth Day around the corner, now is the perfect time to think about how to cut back on your carbon footprint. To learn how to stay energy efficient in your home during the cool season, check out this article. Meanwhile, your car is also a major source of carbon emissions that need to be reduced. Here are a few tips for cutting it down:
Drive Only When Needed
If your destination is only a few blocks away, consider walking or biking instead. Also, look into what your options are for public transportation when it comes to routine trips like commuting to work. And if driving is your only option and you need to go to multiple destinations in one day, plan your trip so that they’re sorted from farthest to nearest or vice versa from your home to cut down on your mileage -you wouldn’t want to be driving back and forth to places.
Cruising Along
If you’re driving in a place with a lot of hills, use them to do the driving for you! When driving over a hill, keep your foot off the gas and let your car roll down -just keep your foot on the brakes instead to control your speed. And if you’re driving along a highway, consider setting your car on cruise so that it you will drive at a constant speed. That way, you won’t need to accelerate which would’ve affected your fuel usage.
“It’s So Hot!”
Avoid rolling down your windows when driving especially if you’re doing so at a fast speed. After 35 mph, your car will get dragged by wind resistance which will add more work. Instead, keep your windows up and turn on the A/C at a low setting.
Keep Your Car Maintained
Ensure that your car is up to date with its maintenance needs. This includes making sure that all of your tires are properly pumped at their appropriate air pressure; this is especially true when the seasons change. You should also keep your air filters clean so that your engine won’t need to work as hard. Lastly, make sure that your car is cleaned out and that you’re not storing anything heavy that does not need to be in there -otherwise, that will be more weight that your car will have to move.