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Cars and Traffic / Air conditioning in the car...
Cars and Traffic
Air conditioning in the car...
Automobile air conditioning, which a short while ago was still considered a luxury, is becoming almost everyday for all types of car! But what are the real advantages, and what is the impact on our environment regarding pollution and climate change?
Effects you should know about
Air conditioning in the car makes it more comfortable and more importantly, safer : a cooler driver is more vigilant, and the system provides dry air which very quickly demists the windows.
But it also means more fuel consumption, more atmospheric pollution and more greenhouse gas. Let’s take a closer look to find out more...
More fuel consumption and more pollution
When the air conditioning is on, the fuel consumption of your vehicle considerably increases:
- • in cities this is an average of 31% more petrol consumption or 35% more for diesel cars;
- • on other roads increased consumption is about 16% for petrol vehicles and 20% for diesel cars;
- • over a year, air-conditioned vehicles use approximately 5% more fuel than those which are not.
The use of air conditioning also leads to increased CO2 emissions pollution (CO and NOx for petrol engines, NOx and particles for diesel engines).
(CO: carbonic oxide - NOx: nitric oxide - CO2: carbonic dioxide, carbonic acid gas)
Air conditioning which is well maintained…
You should have your air and pollen filters changed following the manufacturer’s instructions, but watch out for untimely interventions by laymen. While your air conditioning is blowing cold, it is pointless to have it revised, or to have it refilled with liquid refrigerants.
Be careful of what becomes of your automobile air conditioning system at the end of its life: liquid refrigerants must be collected. They must not escape into the atmosphere as these gases have a huge impact on the greenhouse effect!
…and properly used
- 1- Park in the shade when possible..
- 2- Open the windows to let the heat out from the vehicle interior before turning on the air conditioning, but drive with the windows closed when it is on!
- 3- Limit the temperature to the recommended 4 or 5°C less than the outside temperature.
- 4- Do not point the air jets into your face to avoid a soar throat.
- 5- Turn off automatic air conditioning when it is not too hot. If not, it will be continuously working as soon as the interior temperature exceeds the recommended temperature.
- 6- In very hot weather use the “air recycling” button for manual air conditioning, to use the fresh air again from the vehicle interior and thus reduce energy used by the system.
- 7- In winter, you should sometimes turn on the air conditioning, to keep the fly wheel of the compressor in working order.
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