How many liters of fuel does a car consume when running the air conditioner for one hour?
2 Answers
Running the car's air conditioner for one hour consumes approximately 2 to 3 liters of fuel. Below is a related introduction to car air conditioning: Air conditioning layout: Different types of air conditioning systems have varying layouts. Currently, most passenger cars widely adopt an integrated heating and cooling air conditioning system. Its layout involves assembling components such as the evaporator, heater radiator, centrifugal blower, and control mechanism together, referred to as the air conditioning unit assembly. Air conditioning components: Modern air conditioning systems consist of a refrigeration system, heating system, ventilation and air purification devices, and a control system. Car air conditioning generally includes components such as the compressor, electronically controlled clutch, condenser, evaporator, expansion valve, receiver-drier, pipelines, condenser fan, vacuum solenoid valve, idle speed controller, and control system. Car air conditioning is divided into high-pressure and low-pressure lines. The high-pressure side includes the compressor output side, high-pressure lines, condenser, receiver-drier, and liquid lines; the low-pressure side includes the evaporator, accumulator, return lines, compressor input side, and compressor oil sump.
Last time I went on a long trip, I specifically tested the fuel consumption with the AC on. For an average family car, running the AC for one hour consumes roughly 1 to 2 liters of fuel. The exact amount depends on the engine displacement—my 1.6L car saw a 15% increase in fuel consumption in city driving with the AC on, working out to about 1.3 liters per hour. On the highway, it’s slightly better due to higher engine efficiency. For a large-displacement SUV, with its more powerful compressor, idling with the AC can reach up to 3 liters per hour. By the way, prolonged idling with the AC on can lead to carbon buildup, which isn’t great for the engine.
