Does Heating or Air Conditioning Consume More Fuel?
1 Answers
Relatively speaking, using air conditioning consumes more fuel as the engine needs to drive the compressor, increasing the load. Car Air Conditioning Consumes More Fuel: Using the car's air conditioning in summer to cool the air consumes more fuel. When the car's air conditioning is turned on for cooling, the compressor is activated first, which increases the engine's load. If the idle speed is too low, the air conditioning will automatically adjust the engine's RPM to meet its needs. Therefore, running the air conditioning at low idle speed is ineffective and does not save fuel. In other words, turning on the car's air conditioning for cooling increases fuel consumption. Heating Does Not Consume Fuel: When the fan is turned off and set to external circulation, using the heating not only does not consume fuel but is also an environmentally friendly practice. This is because the heat for the heating system comes from the engine's excess work during operation. If the heating is not used, this energy is dissipated into the atmosphere through the cooling system, including the radiator and coolant circulation.