Energy Saving Tips: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

10. Driving and Car Maintenance

Transportation accounts for 66% of U.S. oil use � mainly in the form of gasoline. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to improve gas mileage.

Driving Tips

• Idling gets you 0 miles per gallon. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed. Anything more simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.
   

• Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration, and hard braking) wastes gas. It can lower your highway gas mileage 33% and city mileage 5%.
   

• Avoid high speeds. Above 60 mph, gas mileage drops rapidly. The fueleconomy.gov Web site shows how driving speed affects gas mileage.
   

• When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces wear.
   

• Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gas.
   

• Use air conditioning only when necessary.
   

• Clear out your car; extra weight decreases gas mileage.
   

• Reduce drag by placing items inside the car or trunk rather than on roof racks. A roof rack or carrier provides additional cargo space and may allow you to buy a smaller car. However, a loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel economy by 5%.
   

• Check into telecommuting, carpooling and public transit to cut mileage and car maintenance costs.

Car Maintenance Tips

• Use the grade of motor oil recommended by your car's manufacturer. Using a different motor oil can lower your gasoline mileage by 1%-2%.
   

• Keep tires properly inflated and aligned to improve your gasoline mileage by around 3.3%.
   

• Get regular engine tune-ups and car maintenance checks to avoid fuel economy problems due to worn spark plugs, dragging brakes, low transmission fluid, or transmission problems.
   

• Replace clogged air filters to improve gas mileage by as much as 10% and protect your engine.
   

• Combine errands into one trip. Several short trips, each one taken from a cold start, can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.