air con usage.

[david21]

After 25 years of motoring i just recently bought my first ever brand new car (a wee treat to myself) now i've had cars in the past with air con but i remember reading somewhere that the air con should be used to lubricate the hoses in the compressor to stop them cracking and drying out,but how often should this be done........i think it was something like 10 min's but cant remember if thats per day/week or month.......?

[TWR]

Just use it to keep the system working Dave.

[Connemmara]

when I got my brand new car last year the salesman told me that when you use air conditioning - you use petrol.

[stewey]

That is correct:the use of AC increases fuel consumption.

[SlackAlice]

Use mine about 10mins once a week, unless it's bloody hot.

[bazwillrun]

i was told around 15 mins once a week, my petrol usage increases by approx 10% when the air con is on

[woofgang]

one thing aircon is excellent for is making window condensation clearing more efficient. This is worth paying the extra fuel for when you have two big wet dogs.

[Hopkirk]

I haven't noticed any difference in petrol consumption when the A/C is on.

What I have noticed though, is if you only use it part time, a terrible pong comes from the ventilation after a while.

[mjwman]

Mine is permanantly on as it is a climate control system. It turns off at 5c to pevent freezing. It uses no petrol as my Octavia is a diesel!
I get about 45mgg around town.

[chas2008]

extra fuel is minmium, it just talks it bit more power from the engine to run the pump, when you turn the aircon on especially when idling you can hear the engine note change as it struggles a bit, obviously the smaller the engine the more noticeable it is.