Is it true that if you have the air conditioner of a car turned off it saves you fuel?

probably will waste about 1-3mpg

only if you have the windows closed…the drag created when they are open off sets the energy used to run the ac..

Not really. Scroll for the same question here on answers.

Depends on the car, in some cases.

For some it lowers the mileage and for others it doesn’t really affect it.

I think the older vehicles did that but not the new ones try it out try half a tank with ac on and fill her up and drive wit it on and compare

i used to think that, but i’m taking physics this year, and this very question appeard in class. my teacher said that yes it does, but if you leave your window open, you’ll lose fuel as well because the wind blowing to your back window is slowing down your car, and making you use more gas than needed. but yeah, turning off your ac will save fuel.

-physics is very helpful, lol…-

When you turn on your air conditioner, the compressor must be engaged which adds an extra burden to your engine which requires it to work harder, burning more fuel and thus lowering your miles per gallon.

The difference could be between 5% to 10% depending on the size of the motor of the car. The air conditioner draws its power from the engine of the car via a belt to turn its compressor. This definitely would put a small amount of drag on the motor, in turn, causing a slight increase in fuel consumption. This drag in power can be felt when you overtake other cars. The car may appear slower when overtaking when you have the air conditioner on.

I have a Yukon.. when you use the onboard computer it shows the gas milage drop at 60mph from 21 to 18 mpg if i use the aircon. If i open the window it remains at 21 mpg if i dont use aircon. So in my case the aircon does cause increased gas useage. But dont tell OBAMA or we will face cap and trade when we use the aircon!!