Saturday, March 08, 2008

Getting the Best Bang for Your Buck at the Pump

  1. Only fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening...your gallon is not exactly a gallon.
  2. Avoid toping off the tank. Do not fill the gas tank past the first "click" of the fuel nozzle if it has an automatic shut-off. You often loose that extra gas you put it due to slosh over.
  3. Pump your gas at the slower speed. It takes longer but the faster the gas moves the more it evaporates. The more it evaporates the less gas you get into your tank.
  4. Fill up your car when it’s half full. When there is more air taking up space in your tank the gas can evaporate faster. So keeping the tank more full will reduce the amount of gas you lose due to evaporation.


Resources: Tips 1 and 2 come from the Utah Geological Survey site. Tips 3 and 4 come from some random guy who claims to have worked in the oil business for years (so take ‘em with a grain of salt).

Also if you are interested in buying gasoline from companies that don’t get their oil from the Middle East the US Department of Energy shows that on their web site.

Here’s a cheat sheet if you don’t want to look at the full list.

Comments:
Also, Conoco/Phillip 66 is on the less than 1/3 imported from the Persian Gulf...
 
I've heard this stuff before. It all makes sense, but my guess is the savings are miniscule at best. Want to experiment? Fill up an empty tank early on a summer morning, then drive a 300 miles and check your mileage. Wait until around 4 or 5:00 when the day is at its hottest. Fill up the tank and drive back. Check the mileage again. All other things being equal, the difference will be highly negligible is my guess.

And, just for fun (I learned this on Jeopardy): The #1 importer of oil into the U.S. is Canada followed by, depending on the month, either Mexico or Saudi Arabia.

Which leaves me to wonder, why don't Canada and Mexico have thousands of billionaire princes living in huge castles like the Saudis do?
 
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