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MPG Undercover · 06-13-2020, 08:01 PM

One of the foremost ways to get higher MPG is by NOT using your A/C. In fact, as stated here in Ecomodder, if you remove all of the A/C components from your car, you will lose about 50 pounds of weight, and remove some parasitic belt drive losses in the process, which would result in even higher MPG. Although the latter would be ideal, for some of us with wife and kids, that is simply not an option. Therefore, in comes the A/C mod.

As we know, unless you physically turn the A/C off after having turned it on, the A/C will remain on until you turn the car off. Fact is, once the A/C has reduced the humidity and lowered the cabin temperature, it really can stand to be off for a bit, before you turn it back on. Some people are aware of this, and they manually cycle the A/C on and off as they drive, in order to save a little money. That is what I used to do.

My car now has a timer circuit that runs the A/C for 3 minutes, and turns if off for 2 minutes, automatically, as I drive down the road. This timer is connected inline with the "A/C compressor" fuse in the engine fuse box. This is the new "normal" for the A/C in my car. It is a good compromise between keeping my family happy, and not doing complete harm to my MPG.

I used a 12V, 0-15 minute timer, where the ON and OFF triggers are settable to anything that you want, within 15 minutes. Do an Ebay search on:

"Adjustable Infinite Cycle Loop Delay Timer Relay Switch"

One last note: I would recommend that if you do this, you do not tell your wife and kids, because if you do, it would create a bias in their minds, and you would be driven crazy over it.

06-13-2020, 08:01 PM	#61 (permalink)
MPG Undercover EcoModding Lurker Join Date: May 2020 Location: United States Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post	Automatic A/C cycling unit One of the foremost ways to get higher MPG is by NOT using your A/C. In fact, as stated here in Ecomodder, if you remove all of the A/C components from your car, you will lose about 50 pounds of weight, and remove some parasitic belt drive losses in the process, which would result in even higher MPG. Although the latter would be ideal, for some of us with wife and kids, that is simply not an option. Therefore, in comes the A/C mod. As we know, unless you physically turn the A/C off after having turned it on, the A/C will remain on until you turn the car off. Fact is, once the A/C has reduced the humidity and lowered the cabin temperature, it really can stand to be off for a bit, before you turn it back on. Some people are aware of this, and they manually cycle the A/C on and off as they drive, in order to save a little money. That is what I used to do. My car now has a timer circuit that runs the A/C for 3 minutes, and turns if off for 2 minutes, automatically, as I drive down the road. This timer is connected inline with the "A/C compressor" fuse in the engine fuse box. This is the new "normal" for the A/C in my car. It is a good compromise between keeping my family happy, and not doing complete harm to my MPG. I used a 12V, 0-15 minute timer, where the ON and OFF triggers are settable to anything that you want, within 15 minutes. Do an Ebay search on: "Adjustable Infinite Cycle Loop Delay Timer Relay Switch" One last note: I would recommend that if you do this, you do not tell your wife and kids, because if you do, it would create a bias in their minds, and you would be driven crazy over it.