Ac Fan

[Uditha88]

Let me quote this from: http://www.caranswer.info/other/Does-using...---Other-C.html

Does using the fan instead of the a/c in your car still burn more fuel?

"Technically yes. But a lot less than using A/C. Anything you use in the vehicle will burn more fuel from the radio, to your cigarette lighter,

to your A/C.

Anything that is driven by electronics needs to get its power from somewhere, the alternator,

and when you load up the alternator, it draws more power from the engine."

please help to understand this.

Many Thanks

[harshansenadhir]

  Uditha88 said:

Let me quote this from: http://www.caranswer.info/other/Does-using...---Other-C.html

Does using the fan instead of the a/c in your car still burn more fuel?

"Technically yes. But a lot less than using A/C. Anything you use in the vehicle will burn more fuel from the radio, to your cigarette lighter,

to your A/C.

Anything that is driven by electronics needs to get its power from somewhere, the alternator,

and when you load up the alternator, it draws more power from the engine."

please help to understand this.

Many Thanks

this quote says it all. The moment you start any electronic component, it draws current from the battery, and that has to be filled by the alternator/dynamo which runs by the engine. As per newton's theory, of every action has a reaction or in simple terms, energy is not created but converted, this drawing current from alternator means energy in fuel has to be converted to electricity. Which means, some amount (may be a fraction may be as much as 10 bhp) of energy is used in generating electricity and not running the vehicle. Which means fuel consumption increases at least by a fraction.

to test this, start the car, let it warm up to operating temperature where idle speed stabilizes, switch of all components. Switch on head lights and high beams. You'll feel a sudden load up on the engine. That's due to the additional load created by the current drawing by the head lights.

[Supra_Natural]

  Uditha88 said:

Let me quote this from: http://www.caranswer.info/other/Does-using...---Other-C.html

Does using the fan instead of the a/c in your car still burn more fuel?

"Technically yes. But a lot less than using A/C. Anything you use in the vehicle will burn more fuel from the radio, to your cigarette lighter,

to your A/C.

Anything that is driven by electronics needs to get its power from somewhere, the alternator,

and when you load up the alternator, it draws more power from the engine."

please help to understand this.

Many Thanks

What seems to be the question? That answer seems to be pretty well phrased and simple. What more do you need to know?

[Uditha88]

  Supra_Natural said:

What seems to be the question? That answer seems to be pretty well phrased and simple. What more do you need to know?

Well thnx for ur response,

1. If I use only Fan when driving in traffic, instead of AC, will it consume less fuel or nothing than I use AC?

2. Is it a good Idea to use fan only(if comfortable enough) for fuel saving?

[GearHead]

  Uditha88 said:

Well thnx for ur response,

1. If I use only Fan when driving in traffic, instead of AC, will it consume less fuel or nothing than I use AC?

2. Is it a good Idea to use fan only(if comfortable enough) for fuel saving?

1. It would consume less fuel or basically nothing if you just use the fan. It is the AC compressor that puts stress on the engine.

2. I don’t see anything wrong in that if it is comfortable enough for you.

Edited April 26, 2010 by GearHead

[maikk99]

  GearHead said:

1. It would consume less fuel or basically nothing if you just use the fan. It is the AC compressor that puts stress on the engine.

2. I don’t see anything wrong in that if it is comfortable enough for you.

I have heard lot of A/C guys are telling that if you do not use your AC frequently that you are likely to dust in the A/C system which will eventually lead to A/C Gas leakages and shorten Cooler life- Dont know how much is true though

Also With all Due respect to HarshaSenadhir let me add the following line

The bottom line is that for all the electronics to work there should be electrical current which is nothing other than the movement of electrons. For the electrons to be in motion they should be in the so called " valance band" and to jump to the valance band you need some form of energy. As per Newtonian physics ( which is applicable to our general world since we dont engage in activities close to the speed of light) energy cannot be destroyed or created but it can be transferred to another form. In your car case when an electronic device is powered it get the electrical energy from the Alternator ( or Dianamo) and alternator get it electricity generated from the energy of motion by the attached pully which in most cases is delivered to the pully by the transmission Belt and the source of that is the motion of the engine. Engine get the energy from burning the fuel ( which leads you to consume more fuel) and ultimately petroleum ( fuel) get the energy from the our SUN by the process of transferring to the raw ,petroleum for thousand of years. In other terms you are using the energy of the Sun to on your electronic device

Also note that in the transformation phase ( i.e from sun energy to the petroleum to engine etc..) there is a much wastage and efficiencies are not that good

P:S : I did not mention the above to show off myself and humbly put the above to show ( or probably ) remind the fundamentals . Im sure every one inluding Harsha knows this stuff ( may be better than me) and just put so that any one can analyze these wonders of the nature

cheers

Mike

[GearHead]

  maikk99 said:

I have heard lot of A/C guys are telling that if you do not use your AC frequently that you are likely to dust in the A/C system which will eventually lead to A/C Gas leakages and shorten Cooler life- Dont know how much is true though

cheers

Mike

Yes, they do have a point there. It is the price that you have to pay in the long run for a short term benefit. Since you are the owner of the car it is really upto you to decide which route you're gonna take.

[harshansenadhir]

  maikk99 said:

I have heard lot of A/C guys are telling that if you do not use your AC frequently that you are likely to dust in the A/C system which will eventually lead to A/C Gas leakages and shorten Cooler life- Dont know how much is true though

they have a point, if you use the fan with air recirculation off ( takes outside air into the system) if you don't use the system there's no way the cooler matrix (core) collects dust, in fact cold/wet cooler collects dust when in operation than when it's switched off. Having said that, A/C has to be switched on for a while at least once a week or so to help A/C compressor and to circulate lubricant (added to the refregirant). This is not an issue for us, simply we do switch on the A/C before we change into 1st gear or D for that matter. . But in countries where A/C is only used during summer, they turn it on for a while once a week or so.