Q: Heater On = Low Gas Mileage?

Hello, everyone.

This might be a rather dumb question, but well, here it is anyway.

I know for sure the gas mileage drops if I turn on the air conditioner, but is it true for the heater as well? Some say that's not the case for the heater, because the engine doesn't work any harder even if I turn on the heater; the heat comes from the engine, which is already quite hot. Please enlighten me. Thanks. __ sol

Reply to
solamour
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Turning on the heater fan takes energy from the battery which makes the alternator work harder to keep the battery charged but I can't believe anyone would notice the difference, it would probably cost less than .1 miles/gallon.

The heat in the heater does come from the engine and it's basically free, it's heat the radiator would have to get rid of if the heater wasn't on so only the heater fan costs to run and that's too small a loss of mileage to notice.

There's also the difficulty in trying to shift gears while writing email on your laptop while talking on your cell phone while getting directions from your GPS while your teeth are chattering so use the heater and we'll all be a little safer!

Reply to
XS11E

In fact, when the heater blower is running, the radiator fan shouldn't be needed as often, so there might be an offset, or even be a net saving. But you're right, the numbers are far too small to matter.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

Generally no, but if you have the heater on full during the warmup cycle, it can mean the car runs rich for half a mile or so further. This is a minimal effect because the Miata heater matrix always has coolant flowing through it (some cars have a water tap to turn the heat on and off), but if you increase the heat loss from the matrix by turning the fan on, it will take slightly longer for the coolant to get up to operating temperature.

Reply to
Zog The Undeniable

Now I think we've finally split the human hair ;-)

Cheers, Chris

99BBB
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

No, it's significant. Over the life of the car we could be talking about enough gas saved or used that, at today's prices could be the down payment on a Big Mac.....

Reply to
XS11E

Reply to
Chuck

The last time I ate at McDonalds was at least 20 years ago, and it was horrid then. Has it actually gotten worse? I almost pulled into one a while back and then remembered a former co-worker's breakfast muffin with the gray eggs. I prefer that my food be made by myself, someone I trust, or a professional, no sure thing but better odds. I don't avoid fast food entirely, but I try.

The things that my teenage friends and their co-workers at Sonic did also factored in. I never did work any form of food service myself.

Don't ever be rude or piss them off when placing an order, they had a habit of running the hamburger bun on the toilet rim for asshole customers, and I saw this happen because they also used to let dirty teenager non-employees like my younger self in the food preparation area.

Lugie burgers enhancements were for the ones with extra bad attitude, and a claim of "special sauce" was made for one person that was the worst, but that one was never verified.

Makes you want to run right out and order one for lunch today, eh?

Pat

Reply to
pws

...and now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Reply to
Remove This

Why would that be necessary?

Right. They just happened to have a toilet in the food prep area? Or they carried one bun out of the food prep area, into the men's room, and back again?

Sure. Pretty tough to do, since at the vast majority of Mickey D's, the food assembly line is in plain view, and the components are taken from visible hot storage "drawers." So you can watch your burger being assembled after you order.

Let us know when you get out of those teen years, kiddo.

-- Larry (not a defender of MD, but bullshit is bullshit.)

Reply to
pltrgyst

I live in the UK where petroleum spirit is 87p a litre, or about $6.32 per US gallon. Make that two or three Big Macs.

Reply to
Zog The Undeniable

It isn't necessary to be rude, so why would you do it with your response unless it is to get this type of reaction? It isn't necessary for you to tell me that what I said is bullshit or for me to tell you to go f*ck yourself for saying that I am telling lies, but it happens.

I am glad that you lived my life for me so you know what is true or not. This is a drive-in establishment, if you eat anywhere at the location but in your car it is on a few benches out front. The workers had a toilet inside, it was not for customer use and probably still is not considering where it is or was located, they may have renovated the building inside since 1988.

Since you are omniscient on what has and has not happened in my life, I must have been hallucinating along with the people working there when I saw it occur. I hate that.

This was Sonic, not McDonalds. The customers in their cars never saw their food being made, they spoke into a microphone and had their food brought out.

Just checking, do you understand how the drive-through or drive-up and park to eat fast food system works? It doesn't sound like you do, but I am not going to make the ASSumptions that you have made.

There was no indoor eating or even seating of any kind there for the customer, people rarely went inside to place an order, they used the walk-up buzzer if they wanted to get out of their vehicle. The tiny percentage of people that went indoors to order from the counter could see some of their food being made, but not much. Getting a hamburger bun to the toilet and back to them unseen by the customer was not difficult to do.

Again, Sonic, not McDonalds, and I was a teen when this happened, (you know, the "younger years" part, make that over 20 years ago), but did not do it myself, I did not even work there. This was not a teen prank on my part, simply something that I witnessed. Wait, you said that I did not see it, so it must not have happened. I wish that I could dictate reality in such a way.

Oh yeah, f*ck off with your kiddo term, and try comprehending when you read. You should be very familiar with the term bullshit since you spew it yourself.

Pat

Reply to
pws

I remember pulling up to a McDonalds here and ordering a Big Mac and shake, and a non-English-as-a-first-language young man explained to me that "we don't have Big Mac's here". They then proceded to get the sandwich wrong, the drink wrong, the prices wrong, the change wrong (too much), so that finally I parked and went inside to talk to the manager. He was unable to understand the situation from three different workers viewpoints and finally just offered me $5 to solve it.

But I was polite thruout! :)

Now that I think about it, that manager could be President...

miker

Reply to
miker

I don't care what there *was* -- I was discussing what is possible now, at Mickey D's. You're the one who advised "don't piss them off" or some such, with the clear implication that what happened at Sonic could happen now at McD's.

Do try to keep up, Patty. I know it's a strain...

-- Larry

Reply to
pltrgyst

Er, no. The cost/savings of running/not running the heater over the life of the car (figuring 200,000 miles, not unreasonable for a Miata) will probably amount to a teaspoon full of gasoline or less and that just isn't going to cover an entire Big Mac, only the down payment. ;-)

Reply to
XS11E

Wow, you call me kiddo and then use the name Patty for me in a derogatory term for the first time I have heard since about the 6th grade.

If you wanted to say, "That can't happen anymore", I might even agree with you, though I wouldn't go so far as to say "can't" on something that is certainly possible under the right conditions.

What you told me was that my story of actual events was bullshit as if you were there. I know that it was true.

It really is simple, who needs to try to keep up? You are no Mensa candidate yourself. Your Patty comment was enough to prove that.

Goodbye Larry, we are both assholes, but you also get that distinction of being a complete hypocrite, which is far worse.

Pat

Reply to
pws

attitude,

My stepson worked at a McD's when he was in high school. They, too, added special enhancements to orders for those who pissed them off. Including dropping the burger, stepping on it, picking it back up, slapping it into a bun and serving it.

Although I don't believe they ever did the toilet rim trick. Or at least he never admitted to it!

Iva & Belle.) '90B Classic Red.) #3 winkin' Miata

Reply to
Iva

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