Remote start and gas mileage?

[Palmer812]

I sell and install remote starts and have had them on almost every car I have owned but this has never crossed my mind. Is it effecting your gas mileage at all? Good or bad. I know having the car remote started at idle is using some gas but on the other hand the engine is warm and will allow the car to go into overdrive immediately which should save a little gas. What are your conclusions? thanks

[127.0.0.1]

remote starters waste gas.

start the engine cold and start rolling down the road immediately, saves the most gas.
the ecu knows how to handle it.

[CTScott]

I installed a remote starter on mine. The Yaris uses so little fuel at idle that I don't notice a difference in mileage when using it (winter and July/August) vs. not (rest of the year).

[BailOut]

The Yaris uses around 0.2 GPH idling when warm, but 0.35-0.4 GPH when cold. Let's say you use the remote start for 6 minutes each work day morning for a month. This represents 0.04 gallons per day, or 0.88 gallons for the month.

While that may not sound like much consider that you got exactly zero miles per gallon for nearly an entire gallon that month while you car sat out front belching all kinds of emissions into the air for nothing but your personal comfort. It is a waste of a finite resource, and a prime example of how much our desire for convenience can cost the environment.

[ryota]

Originally Posted by BailOut

While that may not sound like much consider that you got exactly zero miles per gallon for nearly an entire gallon that month while you car sat out front belching all kinds of emissions into the air for nothing but your personal comfort. It is a waste of a finite resource, and a prime example of how much our desire for convenience can cost the environment.

shouldn't we go back to horse and buggy then?

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by ryota

shouldn't we go back to horse and buggy then?

No, that'd still be too much desire for convenience ...walk

[BailOut]

ryota,

Please do not exaggerate. Transportation is part of modern life but we must be responsible with it. Just because we all use fuel today doesn't mean that any of us has a right to use more than is necessary to accomplish worthwhile goals.

Aside from the environmental impacts of burning hydrocarbons like gasoline oil is a finite resource that most experts agree will either run out or become unattainably expensive in our lifetime. These things are why fuel efficiency is so important for each of us, and getting zero MPG for an extra gallon a month simply doesn't fit into that picture.

[Palmer812]

BailOut, I understand your point that while idling it does use some gas and you get zero mpg. My question was how much gas is used those 6 minutes idling vs. driving with the engine cold because on the automatic transmission it will not shift into overdrive for about two miles. The road I live on is a 45 mph zone so I am revving higher those 2 miles than I would in overdrive. Not trying to start a war either. I was just curious.

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by BailOut

ryota,

Please do not exaggerate. Transportation is part of modern life but we must be responsible with it. Just because we all use fuel today doesn't mean that any of us has a right to use more than is necessary to accomplish worthwhile goals.

Aside from the environmental impacts of burning hydrocarbons like gasoline oil is a finite resource that most experts agree will either run out or become unattainably expensive in our lifetime. These things are why fuel efficiency is so important for each of us, and getting zero MPG for an extra gallon a month simply doesn't fit into that picture.

Please don't be so serious.

a) If that's true then someday it'll be mandated that everybody will have to drive a certain vehicle and be forced to drive a certain way, and only drive when we're accomplishing worthwhile goals. lol

b) Assuming that everybody thinks like Bailout; they don't.

What's next? Dictate when a person eats and how much, because responsible eating is everbodys duty to save resources?

[Loren]

Ecological points of perspective aside, it can make more of a difference than you might think. I used to live in a cold climate, and it wasn't uncommon for me to run outside, start the car, crank the defroster and leave the car running for 10-15 minutes while I sat in the house. I didn't have a remote starter, but accomplished the same goal of staying warm while getting my windows clear for safe driving to work.

Let's take Brian's idle fuel consumption figures and round them off to something simple like .3 GPH. Cold start and idle for 12 minutes per day, 5 days per week. Let's assume that you drive 400 miles in 2 weeks, so each tank of gas will cover 10 work days. That's 120 minutes of cold-start idle time. 2 hours. .6 gallons of fuel wasted.

How does that relate to your overall economy?

Let's say you're the "average" not-quite-hypermiling Yaris driver who gets about 36 mpg normally. To travel 400 miles without cold-start-idling, you'd use 11.1 gallons at 36.04 mpg. Add this cold start every morning that wastes .6 gallons, and you're effectively using 11.7 gallons to travel the same 400 miles at 34.19 mpg. That's nearly 2 mpg lost, a little over 5%.

Now, it's not going to break most of us, especially in a Yaris. But, you can't deny that it has a very measurable effect on fuel economy.

[Palmer812]

That's the kind of answer I was looking for. thanks. Funny thing is I just traded in a Ford Ranger that got 17mpg 2 weeks ago for my Yaris. When I bought the car fuel mileage was a plus but not why I bought the car. Now that I got the car and fond this website I am now trying to get the best mileage possible. I have had the car exactly 13 days and have only used a little over 1/4 of a tank according to the gauge. I drive 4 miles each way to work. My math shows I should be able to go 7 or 8 weeks between fill ups depending on how much driving I do on my days off.

[Loren]

In your case, cold start (even without prolonged warm-up) is going to be more of an issue because you're going to have A LOT more cold starts per tank.

You'll still get outstanding MPG compared to the Ranger!

[CTScott]

I actually park my Yaris in my garage at night, and I work from home, so my remote starter use is primarily starting the car as I am about to exit a place where I have just run an errand. So, I am typically remote starting it 2-3 times per week for 2-3 minutes, hence the negligible change in fuel economy.

[ryota]

living in NY and being a snow plower for a town dpw, i spend more mornings than i would like to driving slightly less than 15 miles into work at 3am with a few inches of snow on the road. i've done the cold start and make my way with foggy windows and nothing seems to be more dangerous to me. needless to say, i'm sarcastic about wasting little gas while getting zero mpg because more times than not it's about safety for me. i will gladly waste a little bit of gas and put a few more emissions into the air if it means that both i and another car/person will be safe for another day.

also, i bought the yaris for that reason. it is about as close to a horse and buggy as i can get in my price range. if i REALLY didn't care, i would be driving a hummer or some big old truck that gets 2 mpg on the highway.

[Loren]

Yeah, if you can't park in a garage to keep your windows clear, letting the car warm up to clear the windows is definitely a safety issue on those cold, icy mornings.

[talnlnky]

remote start is a luxury item, not a fuel saving tool. Sure idle barely uses gas... but it also barely warms up the car.

[IllusionX]

com'on man... i lose about 100km range when i let it idle 4-5mins a day, twice a day.

makes the difference between doing 80kmh vs 148km on the first 1/8 of the tank... I know it's not going to get me poor, but... i rather be as fuel efficient as possible. lol