Conventional and Unconventional Ways to Save Gas Effectively

Here are ways to save on gas without necessarily spending much. These include conventional and the unconventional ones.

Conventional

1. Change oil frequently. Lubrication reduces friction among engine components, thus reduced amount of gas to turn the gears as well as wear and tear.
2. Always drive using high gear. Driving in high gear increases fuel efficiency since lesser engine revolutions are needed to turn the wheels thus achieve greater distance with lesser fuel.
3. Fill-up gas only in early morning or late afternoon/evening when the temperature is cool. Especially in the tropics this is useful. Fuel is denser when cool.
4. Remove excess baggage in your car. Unnecessary weight in your car requires additional gas to start the car running.
5. Clean or change the air filter regularly. When not enough oxygen is delivered to the engine, some of the fuel intake in the engine will not be burned, thus wasted.
6. Plan your itinerary. Planning ahead of the places you will visit will you not only gas but also time.
7. Avoid using the air conditioner when not really needed. In tropical countries, at nighttime the temperature is cool so there's no need to turn the conditioner on. It can save you as much as 40-50% of your gas consumption.
8. Avoid applying the brake too much. Momentum is lost when the brakes are applied. It pays to run your car consistently with the traffic, than speed up then brake at some point next to a slower car in front of you.
9. Avoid rush hour traffic. Going to work at 8 or 9 am when everyone rushes to work will cost you gas on heavy traffic as well as give you undue stress. Either go early or leave late from work to avoid traffic.
10. Fill-up until barely the top of the fuel tank. With increased surface area at the top of the tank, more evaporation will occur.

Unconventional

1. Park your vehicle under a shade as much as possible. It's common sense, but many people ignore the effects of increased fuel evaporation when their car is exposed under the sun.
2. Don't rev your engine unnecessarily such as before switching off. Experts say there's no need to rev the engine before switching it off. This will just waste fuel.
   
3. Switch off engine while waiting for the green light. A study found out that idling while waiting for the green light can cost more fuel than starting off the engine (except diesel). Just make sure the light has just turned red and your starter is in good shape.
4. Monitor your gas consumption. For the sake of management, finding out that your car travels less than before requires a trip to the mechanic. You can save more with a well-tuned up engine than keep using your vehicle which turns up less mile per gallon than usual.
5. Fill-up gas in liters, not in certain cash denominations. A taxi driver mentioned this while I was riding in one of my travels. He does not have a scientific explanation about it but he noticed that when he fills gas in liters, he can see the difference in his gas consumption. My hypothesis is that the gas input rate of gas pumping stations is not consistent. It tends to achieve the maximum volume at the end of the one-liter mark in its metering display. Somewhere between the one liter volume, the amount of input is lesser than displayed.