When do you idle?

Waiting for passengers? Stopping at railroad crossings? Waiting to park? Running quick errands? Sitting in drive-through lanes? Stopping to talk to an acquaintance or friend? Warming your vehicle up in winter? Or cooling it down in summer?

We’ve all done it. We’ve idled. But is it smart?

Overall, Americans idle away 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $78.2 billion.

Every moment you spend idling your car’s engine means needlessly wasting gas, as well as rougher wear on your vehicle. Idling for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than is needed for startup.

Basically, idling – as the word implies – gets us nowhere.

Not only does excessive idling waste fuel and money, but it also generates needless greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contributes to global warming.

And global warming threatens the survival of thousands of plants and animals –species we may someday need to rely on for new medicines, advances in agriculture, and all sorts of other necessities.

Here’s some interesting statistics from Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE): “If drivers of light-duty vehicles avoided idling by just three minutes a day, over the year Canadians would collectively save 630 million litres of fuel and 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and $630 million in fuel costs (assuming a fuel cost of $1.00/L).”

According to “Costly Myths,” a paper just published in the journal Energy Policy, Americans idle the engines of their personal car, truck or SUV an average of 16 minutes per day — only half of which involves being stuck in traffic. The remainder is split roughly evenly between “warming up” the engine and waiting to pick up a passenger.

“The CO2 emissions associated with idling accounts for roughly 1.6 percent of the total U.S. (greenhouse gas) emissions,” conclude the researchers, led by psychologist Amanda Carrico of Vanderbilt University. According to their calculations, sitting in place while the engine is running cumulatively wastes more than 10 billion gallons of gasoline each year.

According to Natural Resources Canada:

Any more than ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than is required to restart the engine. However, the break-even time to offset any potential incremental maintenance costs to the starter or battery is under 60 seconds. So, as a guideline, if you’re stopped for more than 60 seconds – except in traffic – turn off the engine. You’ll save on fuel, money and green house gas emissions.

For the average vehicle with a 3-litre engine, every 10 minutes of idling costs over one quarter of a litre (over 1 cup) in wasted fuel. Keep in mind that every litre of gasoline you use produces about 2.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

According to a Canadian survey, warming up a vehicle in winter and cooling it down in summer are the most common reasons drivers give for idling.

But, contrary to popular belief, excessive idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to warm it up is to drive it, especially with today’s computer-controlled engines.

Warming up the vehicle means more than warming the engine. The tires, transmission, wheel bearings and other moving parts also need to be warmed up for the vehicle to perform well. Most of these parts don’t begin to warm up until you drive the vehicle.

For those Americans who live in regions that get extremely cold in winter, like Maine, Minnesota and the North West, as well as our Canadian neighbors, you can help reduce the impact of cold starts – and reduce idling times – by using a block heater on cold winter days. This device warms the coolant, which in turn warms the engine block and lubricants. The engine will start more easily and reach its proper operating temperature faster.

You don’t need to leave a block heater plugged in overnight. That eats up too much energy. To warm the engine, two hours is more than enough. In fact, you can use an automatic timer to switch on the block heater two hours before you leave. At -20°C, block heaters can improve overall fuel economy by as much as 10 percent. For a single short trip at -25°C your fuel savings could be in the order of 25 percent.

But, enough about cold weather! It’s April.

And the good news is: Drivers idle about 40 percent less in summer.

And, everyone who idles – no matter the time of year, can benefit from a tune up. A poorly-tuned engine uses up to 15 percent more energy when idling than a well-tuned engine. Keeping your vehicle properly maintained according to the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance schedule is a key to fuel efficiency and reduced GHG emissions.

However, it’s to everyone’s economic advantage not to idle at all.

Plus, there’s the good neighbor aspect of cutting your idle time down to nothing. You can do your part to reduce greenhouse gases which are detrimental to everyone on the planet.

A good way to celebrate Earth Day April 22, 2010, is to become more conscious of when you are idling. And, just stop doing it! You’ll save money and help save the planet as well!

For more facts about idling statistics in the US, visit:
http://www.miller-mccune.com/blogs/news-blog/american-idling-ecological-engine-running-3771/

For more facts about idling statistics in Canada, visit:
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/idling/facts.cfm?attr=8

For 10 Easy Tips on how to save energy, visit:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/going-green/latest/green-tips-10-easiest?link=rel&dom=yah_green&tpc=Green&src=syn&con=art&mag=tdg