Does Air Conditioning Drain Petrol?

18 July 2017, 15:07

Whether the air conditioning drained petrol was an ongoing argument between this husband and wife. Luckily, we had a Professor of Robotics call in to settle the dispute.

Question

Does having the air conditioning on in the car use more petrol?

Helen, Sheffield

Answer

Name: Professor Martin

Qualifications: Professor of Robotics at the University of Middlesex

Answer: It takes quite a lot of power to compress the coolant fluid in the air conditioning, you have a big, heavy compressor and an electric clutch to engage it. This therefore uses up more energy. There is a 2% increase in the use of fuel when you turn on the air conditioning.