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The average power drawn by the AC compressor is proportional to how much cooling you draw from the system. The compressor is clutched on and off to maintain the high side pressure. The compressor clutch is directly controlled by a pressure switch.
The compressor is sucking a lot of power when it is running, while the mileage hit is proportional to the percent of time it is running.
The more air you push through the system, the more the compressor runs. The slower the heater blower speed, the less cooling and less average power to the compressor. If the slowest setting on the heater blower is more cooling than you need, then add a resistor to slow the blower even more.
Look for ways to use less cooling. Sun shades when parked to keep the interior cooler. Interior as warm as you can comfortably tolerate. And pull the compressor fuse when running the defroster.
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06 Canyon: The vacuum gauge plus wheel covers helped increase summer 2015 mileage to 38.5 MPG, while summer 2016 mileage was 38.6 MPG without the wheel covers. Drove 33,021 miles 2016-2018 at 35.00 MPG.
22 Maverick: Summer 2022 burned 62.74 gallons in 3145.1 miles for 50.1 MPG. Winter 2023-2024 - 2416.7 miles, 58.66 gallons for 41 MPG.
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