Stop Your Idling

At absolutely no cost, drivers can save between $50 and $150 in fuel costs, plus reduce engine wear, by eliminating their unnecessary vehicle idling.	It's an effortless action - just turn the key.	If all Alberta drivers reduced their idling by five minutes per day, we'd reduce provincial greenhouse gas emissions by more than 225,000 tonnes a year.

What's wrong with idling?

Idling contributes to pollution and greenhouse gases, it wastes fuel and it's not good for your vehicle engine. And it's completely unnecessary. It costs you nothing to eliminate these impacts - on the environment and your wallet - other than making a minor change in your habits.

How does idling contribute to pollution?

While idling may constitute a small portion of an average day's driving, it produces more emissions per minute. That's because an idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature and is thus not completely combusting the fuel. In winter, emissions from an idling vehicle are more than double the level immediately after a "cold start." As well, the catalytic converter - the device that cleans pollutants from the vehicle's exhaust - doesn't function at its peak until it reaches a temperature between 400 and 800 degrees Celsius, best reached by driving the vehicle.

A 2002 U.S. study showed idling diesel buses emit higher concentrations of soot and fine particulate matter than when moving. They thus contribute to poorer air quality around schools and other places where buses typically idle.

How does this impact health?

Studies by Health Canada and community health departments have shown a direct link between contaminants in vehicle emissions and significant respiratory health effects. These studies have concluded that poor air quality and smog - caused in part by vehicle exhaust - are resulting in increased hospital admissions, respiratory illnesses and premature deaths, particularly in urban areas and especially among children and the elderly. Again, idling contributes unnecessarily to this problem.

How much fuel do I waste if I idle my vehicle?

Canadian motorists idle their vehicles an average of 5 to 10 minutes a day, with the heaviest amount occurring in winter. Depending on the vehicle you drive, every 10 minutes of idling consumes between one-tenth and four-tenths of a litre of fuel and produces between .24 and .96 kilograms of CO₂. Thus, for a typical three-litre engine, 10 minutes of idling will consume approximately 0.3 litres of fuel per day. Over the course of a year, that adds up to some 100 litres of fuel, or about $100 at current gasoline prices.

What impact does idling have on my vehicle engine?

Because an idling engine doesn't combust fuel completely, the resulting fuel residues can condense on cylinder walls, where they can contaminate oil and damage parts of the engine. Excessive idling also lets water condense in the exhaust system, leading to corrosion.

Won't turning my engine off and on, instead of idling, use more fuel and shorten the life of the starter and battery?

No. Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than turning off and restarting the engine, which has little impact on engine components such as the battery and starter.

Isn't idling the best way to warm up my car in winter?

No. With today's fuel-injected cars, driving is much more effective than idling for warming up the whole car - including engine oil, transmission, tires, suspension, steering, wheel bearings and catalytic converter - and it does so in half the time. Even in cold weather, it's best to start driving after no more than 30 seconds of idling. Just remember to avoid high speeds and rapid acceleration for the first five kilometres.

Here are a few other things you can do to reduce your idling:

• Turn the engine off after 10 seconds of idling, except in traffic. For example, turn your vehicle off when doing things such as waiting to pick up passengers, waiting in drive-through lineups, stopping to talk to someone, waiting for a freight train to pass, or running in to buy groceries.
• Minimize use of remote-car starters - These devices encourage you to start your car before you're ready to leave, which means wasteful idling.
• Use a block heater to warm up your engine in winter - A block heater, plugged in for no more than two hours (use a timer) will improve fuel efficiency and reduce exhaust fumes.