Winter tip: don’t allow your car to idle

While we all prefer to enter a cozy car in the winter, consider these negative effects:

• To avoid wear and tear to your engine, aim to warm the engine as quickly as possible. Idling does not warm the engine as quickly as driving, so idling can degrade your engine more quickly.
• You waste gas – and waste money – when you idle. Leaving your car’s engine running for just two minutes is the same as driving your car for a mile. This is significant when gas prices are high! According to the US Department of Energy, our nation wastes approximately 3 billion gallons of gas annually from idling personal vehicles.
• Fuel burned in idling releases particulates (which cause pollution and, in turn, contribute to conditions such as asthma) and approximately 1 pound per gallon of carbon (which increases the amount of carbon trapped in our atmosphere).