11 Innovative ways to reduce Fuel Expenses

Saving fuel is necessary not only to save money but to reduce pollution. Here are few important tips to see how we can save fuel and be more happier as we reduce our spending and remain calm while driving. Recently I came across an article in Living in Bengaluru handbook and I should admit I have taken quite a lot of advices from there. Here is a quick info on reducing Your car's/bike's fuel consumption. 

1. Fuel at night or early morning: This is a phenomenon we often do not realise. We refuel petrol/diesel when the tank gets to the reserve. Oil expands with the rise in temperature. This expansion causes lesser energy generation, if fueled in hot time of the day. The fuel will burn faster than what you imagine. Best time to fuel the car is early in the morning or later at night.

2. Fill fuel when half tank empty: One of the most important tips is to fill up when your petrol/ diesel tank is HALF FULL. There is a scientific reason to why you must do this. The more petrol/ diesel you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol/ diesel evaporate faster when in contact with air. Nowadays petrol/diesel storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol/ diesel and the atmosphere, so it minimises the evaporation.

3. Avoid full throttle while filling fuel: There are three modes in how you can fuel in a petrol pump. Low, medium and high. If you are using high throttle (i.e filling fast, pressing the lever down fully), it can easily evaporate. So try to fill at a slower speed when you are in a self service station, or instruct the bunk attendant. 

4. Don't fuel when the fuel filling tanker is filling the underground storage: It is important to notice this as when the tankers fill fuel at the fuel station all the dirt that is settled at the bottom gets disturbed and if you are fueling at the same time it can get into your vehicle tank along with fuel - it can affect your engine.

5. Regular checking of tyre pressure: Tyre pressure must be checked once every two weeks. It helps to reduce the drag while driving thus increasing your mileage. There is a label in your car just when you open the driver seat which tells you the tyre pressure.

I normally keep 1 psi above what is recommended while driving in city, it gives me better mileage. But when you are driving on highway, please keep the tyre pressure as recommended by the manufacturer because the tyre warms up on rotation. If you have greater air pressure, when the temperature rises, it can expand thus putting more pressure on the tyre. It can explode if it is a tube tyre or get punctured faster.

6. Clear of unwanted items from the car. We normally forget or get lazy to clear off the items and keep accumulating things unless we are falling short of space in the boot. It is important that you remove all the unwanted items whenever you are starting to move around. Every extra kilo of weight will need additional fuel, decreasing the mileage.

7. Replace spark plugs: once every 5 years, you must replace the spark plugs, use a better quality spark plug not the ordinary one which comes with the stock car. It improves your fuel combustion thus giving more mileage and it improves your Air condition performance.

8. Service your car at regular intervals: During car service, always get three things replaced - oil, oil filter & air filter. If you can find a reliable mechanic then you can do it at low cost. Only 100-200 rupee if you buy the oil, oil filter & air filter.

9. Run Your Vehicle in Correct Gear: This is the most important point to remember when driving Your car. Usually this is the guideline I follow about the correct gear, the car should be in when driving. For Speeds 0 to 10 kmph, Use Gear 1. For Speeds 10 to 20 kmph, use Gear 2. For speeds 20 to 40 kmph, use Gear 3. For speeds 40 to 60 kmph, use Gear 4. Above 60 kmph, use Gear 5. If you are driving in higher gears than recommended for a particular speed, the engine pumps in more fuel to keep the engine running and hence wastage of fuel.

10. Avoid Parking Your vehicle in the sun for long: This is an obvious point to be remembered. Parking in the sun or for a long time leads to drying up of the fuel in the tank.

11. Avoid Gear shifts and Speed variances: A car consumes most gas as it accelerates. It's simply a law of physics (force equals mass times acceleration). A moving car doesn't require much gasoline to keep moving (due to the inherent inertia). In real life this means, in order to improve your mileage you need to keep the ride smooth.