Pump Gas Better

If you’re like a typical American person who drives a car, you’ve probably already wondered if there ever will be relief on gas prices. With the economy the way it is now, we’re all trying to discover ways to minimize our spending costs. Sure we can cut down on our driving habits, but we can cut down only so much, especially when we have to go to work everyday. There are roughly 2.3 cars per household, and with over 110 million households in the United States, that equates to about 250 million cars that are being driven on our roads every day. Now, that’s a lot of cars and a lot of gas!! Image the positive effect it would have on the environment if we all learned to drive our cars in a more efficient way. It turns out that every gallon of gas that’s burned by our cars emits about 20 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere and eliminates the same amount of breathable oxygen! So, I did a little research and found 4 easy ways to save gas simply by changing the way we pump gas in our cars. Not only do we save money, but also has a positive impact on the environment.

1. Buy gas only in the morning (the coolest hours)

Believe it or not, buying gas early in the morning will save money. Applying basic science, we know for fact that the gas is most dense when the temperature is low. When the temperature gets warmer, the gasoline expands. So, if you buy in the afternoon or in the evening, then your gallon is not exactly a gallon. By pumping gas during the coolest hours of the day when the ground temperature is cooler, you will actually get more gas for the money. The difference is very little, but it still helps.

2. Pump gas on low speed

When you are filling up at a gas station, it is recommended to not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle at the fast setting. Most gas stations have three trigger settings: low, middle, and high. Pumping gas on a low speed minimizes the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All the hoses at the gas stations have a vapor return so if you pump at the fast speed, then some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. What this means is that the gas vapor that have already been metered will be sucked up and back into the gas station’s underground storage tank. In the end, you are paying money for something that you do not get, thus you are getting less gas for your money.

3. Do not pump when the inventory is low at a gas station

I hate it when I’m at a gas station and the pump is so slow! Time seems to go by much slower when you’re standing there waiting and waiting for it to finish pumping. I just end up being on my iPhone trying to keep entertained. Other times, I take this time to clean the car and throw away any trash that accumulated since my past fill-up. I always wonder to myself that having a recycle bin at the pumps would be a good idea since so many people are throwing away trash while pumping gas. Anyway, I digress. This gives me another reason not to pump when the inventory is low. Do not fill up your gas tank if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the underground storage tank when you stop to buy gas. When the gas station storage tank gets filled by the truck, the gasoline is being stirred up and agitated. So, if you get gas from this gas station storage tank, the gas that is being pump into your vehicle will contain some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

4. Fill up when your gas tank is half full or half empty

Another important tip is to fill up your tank when your gas tank is half full or half empty, whatever you prefer to call it. Most people don’t realize that the more gas you have in your gas tank the less air it occupies the empty space. If there are more air in your gas tank, then it gives more opportunities for the gas to evaporate. When you can minimize the air inside the gas tank, you are also minimizing the gas evaporation. Therefore, you are saving gas when your gas tank is constantly filled.

These tips will not save you enough money to become a millionaire overnight, nor will it save the entire environment all at once. But these are little steps that we can take to help save the environment, one gallon at a time. If you have some other gas saving tips, please let me know!