First, you have to look at the things that the manufacturers of these products are boasting. They claim significant increases to fuel efficiency, but have they proven these claims? According to the Environmental Protection Agency (or EPA), they have not. The EPA is responsible for testing and certifying the fuel economy of vehicles, among other tasks. When you go to a car dealership and see on a sticker that a vehicle gets x miles per gallon, that is information obtained by testing done by the EPA.

The EPA also has tested a number of products that are supposed to increase gas mileage, but they have not found any yet do so significantly. That is one reason why you should use caution when shelling out money for these types of products. They may claim to do wonderful things, but if there are no proven results to back up the claims, they are not to be taken without a grain of salt.

It is also important to note that you do not have to buy expensive and costly products to increase your cars fuel efficiency. In fact, there are a nearly endless number of ways to increase gas mileage without spending a dime! For instance, you can make sure that you remove unneeded items from your car, so that you are not driving excess weight around. You can also do something as simple as use the cruise control more often, or avoid using the air conditioner, since it leads to more fuel usage than normal.

Other valuable tips include simply tweaking your driving style. If you can control your speed on the highway and try to coast when you know that you may have to stop shortly, you can see some improvements to your fuel economy. Often, you will notice huge changes by simply staying off the gas a bit when driving on the highway; far bigger changes than you would ever receive from pouring a product in your gas tank!

There are even more very simple tips, such as not leaving your car running when you leave it to go inside a store or gas station, or keeping your tires properly inflated, since not doing so can cost you some of your ideal gas mileage. Again, there is simply no shortage of easy and free ways to increase your vehicles fuel economy!

That is why you really do not need to rely on expensive products to increase your fuel economy. After all, there are so many ways to do so already, that unless you are taking advantage of all of them and still not getting the results you want, why would you pay for a product that supposedly does the same thing?

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Why You Should Avoid Fuel Economy Products is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

Since every gallon counts at todays gas prices, even the simplest improvements to gas mileage can lead to more money in your pockets. Although many products make gaudy claims to improve gas mileage drastically, most (if not all) of these claims are unproven. As usual, the best remedies are usually the simple and somewhat obvious ones. For instance, use your cars already existing features to ease up on your gas usage when you are driving around from place to place.

Cruise control is a great feature for many reasons. It can keep you from having to glance down at your speed all the time, for one thing. This means that you can avoid getting a speeding ticket by merely setting a consistent speed that will not get you pulled over. Using the cruise control feature effectively takes away any chance of you accidentally getting a heavy foot and an unintended speeding ticket as a result.

However, cruise control is also a great way to conserve gas! When you are on the highway, the cruise control can help your car to stay at a consistent speed. This means that you will not be accidentally increasing your speed and making the car periodically work harder. So, you see? Some of the best ways to conserve gasoline are also convenient methods of driving, anyway!

If you have an overdrive option for your car, you should use the overdrive gears whenever possible. Overdrive allows your engine to work much less than it would otherwise. Of course, the less your engine works, the less gasoline you use. In other words, overdrive alone will increase your vehicles fuel efficiency!

While you are at it, keep your eye on your RPM gauge, especially if you drive a manual transmission automobile. After all, any time your car is running in the high end of the RPM range, you are using more engine power than you need to, and thusly, more gas. Make sure that you are not staying in the low gears for too long before shifting, and spend as much time in the comfortable RPM range of higher gears as you can, since you will save yourself some gas in the process. The RPM gauge is another example of an under-utilized feature that, if used correctly, can help you to conserve gas.

While we are talking about features to use, lets also mention a feature that you should stay away from if you are trying to conserve gas: the air conditioning feature. If you turn on your cars air conditioning, your car will end up working much harder than usual, which means your car will consume more gas to fuel that work. The easy translation here is to avoid the air conditioning whenever you can. After all, it may be hot out, but you definitely do not want to have to sweat it out while pumping gas into your empty tank, right?

As you can see, there are many fairly basic features that can help you to keep your car going and away from the gas station. Even though some of these features may only have a small effect on your cars gas usage, if you follow all of the tips, it will add up. Again, with gas prices as high as they are now, even if you can save a gallon or two here and there, that can be a pretty substantial savings for you!

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Using Your Cars Features to Minimize Gas Use is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

Lets face it- the cost of gas is not letting up anytime soon. Though many of us do not really understand what forces are driving the cost up so much or why gas prices have to continue to rise, we do know that it is unlikely that gas will become much more affordable anytime soon. That is precisely why it is up to all of us to reduce our gas usage so that we can enjoy a break from paying big money for fuel at the pump. After all, while we may not be able to control the price of gas, we can certainly control how much gas we use and how often we buy it.

While there are many ways to increase your vehicles fuel efficiency, there simply is no way to beat the value of simply not driving at all. If your car stays parked, it uses no gas whatsoever, after all! That is why you should probably look into transportation whenever possible. Although there may be barriers in your area towards incorporating public transportation into your lifestyle, there may be more options than you would think.

For instance, even if the local bus or subway does not stop anywhere near where you work, that does not mean that you cant occasionally use these methods of transportation to go shopping or to a night out on the town on the weekend. Depending on what activities you decide to engage in on a weekend night, you may be better off with the convenience of public transportation, anyway! You can take a bus downtown, then take a cab home at the end of the night!

Many folks are not satisfied with the areas of travel that are provided by their local public transportation options. However, routes will not expand if people are not taking advantage of public transportation to begin with! The only way to get more coverage is to support the system that is already in place. You can do this, along with speaking with your local officials about expanding the public transportation system, and you may be pleasantly surprised by the results.

While there is no way to force anyone to use public transportation, there has never been a better time than the present to give it a try! In many areas, there is a negative stigma surrounding public transportation, which is unfortunate. After all, public transportation provides a great way to save gas money, all while helping the environment by reducing the number of vehicles on the road (and therefore, the amount of emissions). What could be better than getting to where you need to go at a low price, all while helping to preserve the environment? If gas prices have got you down, give public transportation a try!

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Using Public Transportation to Cut Gas Costs is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

No one can deny that the pace of the average life these days is quite high. There are many things to do, especially if you have a career, a family, or other responsibilities that keep you frantically running around. It would seem to most people that one of the best ways to save a little time is to put the pedal to the metal when they get in the car. This may be true, and it may get you to where you are going a little bit faster, but it may also cost you quite a bit at the gas pump!

Simply put, your car, truck or sport utility vehicle uses more gas when it drives at higher speeds. Most vehicles operate at peak fuel efficiency at around 55 miles per hour. If you are driving at a higher speed than that, you are probably costing yourself quite a bit of fuel efficiency in the process. Using up more fuel means more frequent visits to the gas station. And, of course, more frequent visits to the gas station means less money in your purse or wallet. That is why you should consider slowing down a bit, so that you can stop costing yourself extra money in fuel expenses.

If you are one of the many people who drive at over 70 miles per hour frequently, you are costing yourself quite a bit of money! Your fuel consumption will be up to 25% more than if you were going 55 miles per hour, depending on your vehicle and other driving conditions. With gas prices surpassing four dollars per gallon in many places, it is easy to see that this kind of cost can add up, especially if you are driving a vehicle that is not exactly fuel efficient, such as a van, truck or sport utility vehicle.

Most people are not very receptive to the idea of slowing down from their usual speed and driving a little slower on the highway, freeway or interstate. If you do want to save money bad enough, though, you will be willing to make some sort of change to the speed that you drive on these types of roads. It may be hard at first, particularly when people start passing you on the road, but remember that you are saving yourself a substantial amount of money in the process!

Also, you do not necessarily have to change your speed dramatically to see some level of savings. Even if you are completely unwilling to slow down to 55 miles per hour, if you can slow down from 75 to 65 miles per hour, you will still notice that you go through gas a bit slower. The key here is to find a speed that you can live with, but that is not as excessive as the speed that you traveled at before. Also, consider the situation. If you are on a weekend trip to a friends house, do you really need to arrive five minutes earlier? If not, simply relax and ease up on the gas a bit. If you arent going to be late, you really dont have to drive so fast!

You will experience other benefits from slowing down on the highway, as well. Youll be less likely to be seriously injured in a crash, and youll attract considerably less attention from the highway patrol, as well. Speeding tickets arent cheap, so slow down and youll save money on gas as well as costly tickets!

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The Cost of Driving at High Speeds is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

The two main areas of opportunity for decreased fuel consumption are driver behavior and vehicle performance. Driver behavior has to do with things like changing your driving style, planning your trips, and other things that have to do with you and how you operate your vehicle. Vehicle performance has to do with keeping up on regular maintenance and making sure that your vehicle is doing as it is supposed to do at all times. Lets discuss some specific tips of each type.

Changing your driver behavior for the better to increase gas mileage can be very easy. For instance, think about how you could avoid driving during peak traffic times, or altering your route to avoid busy areas. You can also plan ahead to make sure that you do not make several trips to the store or other places. If you can plan your trips logically, you can do all of the things you need to do while avoiding making extra trips.

A very important part of driver behavior has to do with staying off the gas and driving more conservatively. Doing aggressive things like accelerating towards a red light or driving in excess of 70 miles per hour on the highway only rob you of valuable fuel economy. Many people do this to arrive places sooner, but the amount of time saved is not really worth the heavy loss in fuel efficiency!

To make sure you are getting the best vehicle performance for maximum fuel economy, make sure you stay up to date on maintenance. This includes simple things like keeping the proper amount of air pressure in your tires, as well as more expensive things, like getting regular tune-ups. You also need to pay attention to details by doing things like using the correct grade of motor oil. You can even improve your vehicles performance by getting rid of excess stuff filling up your trunk! According to experts, 250 pounds of extra weight can drop your fuel economy by one mile per gallon! That adds up, especially over a long period of time.

The proper way to reduce your gas usage is by combining improved driver behavior with the best possible vehicle performance. Only by emphasizing both will you experience the type of fuel economy that your vehicle is truly capable of. On the other hand, if you stubbornly refuse to do such simple things, you will find yourself at the gas pump very often, which no one wants to do these days! Therefore, the best course of action is to make a few simple changes while paying attention to your cars performance. That way, you can keep your money in your wallet and avoid paying even more at the gas pump!

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The Best Ways to Use Less Gas is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

Exorbitant gas prices have most drivers trying to find any way that they can to decrease their fuel expenses. Luckily, there are several very easy ways that the average driver can limit their car, truck, van or SUVs gas usage. Most of these methods rely on simple changes made by the driver in particular, and will not cost you any money to enjoy their benefits.

First of all, do not waste your money on spendy items and products that boast increased gas mileage after usage. After all, most of these products are very unproven. The Environmental Protection Agency has not found that any of the products tested so far have significantly increased gas mileage for the vehicles they were used in. That is why when you are looking for ways to improve fuel efficiency, you should look to methods that you can easily take advantage of on your own, without having to rely on costly products or gimmicks in the process.

One of the easiest ways to conserve gas is to simply avoid turning on the air conditioner in your vehicle. Most people are already aware that when the air conditioner is on, the engine seems less responsive and powerful. It may even feel a little sluggish, because your car is working hard to power the air conditioner. Not only does the air conditioner affect your engines performance, however, but your vehicle will also get worsened gas mileage if you drive with the air conditioner on as well!

The solution is fairly simple and predictable: try to avoid using the air conditioner in your vehicle, unless it is absolutely necessary. This may lead to a somewhat less comfortable environment in your car, but you have to balance out that negative against the very attractive positive involved with saving on fuel consumption. After all, you will definitely appreciate the extra money you will have in your wallet when you can stop making such frequent stops at the gas pump!

It is also important to mention that you do not have to sweat like crazy in order to save some money. There are ways that you can stay cool while avoiding the use of your cars air conditioner. One very simple way to do so is to try to constrain your traveling to times of day when the weather is less oppressive. Avoid driving when the sun (and the temperature) is at its peak, as this will only tempt you to turn on the air conditioner. Instead, try to make trips in the evening or morning, whenever possible.

Another way to cool off without taking the step of turning on the cars air conditioner is as simple as rolling down the windows. When you are driving at higher speeds, you will notice a very nice breeze coming in, which will often be enough to keep you comfortable, even on hot days. This is a fun way to save a little money on gas, while enjoying a comforting breeze at the same time!

Some people would point out that driving with the windows open can cost you a bit of gas mileage as well, which is true. However, the effect does not compare to the increased fuel consumption that driving your car with the air conditioner causes. Also, you can combat this effect by simply backing up off the gas a bit and driving a little more slowly on the interstate.

No one wants to feel the heat of summer, but we also do not want to feel the heat of the gas prices bearing down on us. If you can find ways to avoid using your vehicles air conditioner, you will probably be quite pleased with your cars increased fuel efficiency. After all, none of us wants to make more trips to the gas station than we already are, so make sure to only use the air conditioner when it is absolutely necessary!

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Stay Away from Air Conditioning, Stay Away from the Pump is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

The best ways to save on fuel consumption when you drive are also quite often among the cheapest methods, as well. For instance, did you know that you can save on gas expenses simply by making a few small changes to your driving style? If this sounds too good to be true, do not worry! It is quite possible to increase your fuel efficiency quite dramatically, with even a few subtle changes to the way that you drive. Read on to find out just how you can accomplish these changes.

First of all, you should know that driving in excess of 55 miles per hour really eats up a lot of gas. If you compare your mileage when you are driving 55 miles per hour to your mileage when you are driving 75 miles per hour, you will see a drastic difference. Many experts have speculated that you use about 20 to 25 percent more fuel when you are driving 75 miles per hour, compared to what you would use if you drove at 55 miles per hour. That is why it is very important to consider going a little bit slower when you are driving on the highway or interstate road.

It may seem like a bit of a chore to have to putt along at 55 miles per hour when everyone else is going 65 miles per hour (or even faster), but remember that you will still get to where you are going, and in the process you will save some money! If you are only going a short way, such as a one hour trip, you will only spend about ten extra minutes on the road. At that point, you have to decide for yourself whether getting to your destination a few minutes faster is worth paying a few extra dollars for fuel expenses to get there. If your trip is shorter, such as a thirty mile trip, going ten miles per hour slower will only cost you five minutes of driving time! Surely, you can afford an extra five minutes spent in the car!

It is important to note that you do not necessarily have to drive 55 miles per hour to get the benefits of increased fuel efficiency. Even if you slow down from, say, 65 miles per hour to 60 miles per hour, you will still save a bit of gas. You just will not save as much as you would have, if you had gone down to 55 miles per hour. However, any gas savings are better than no gas savings, so even if you can slow down just a little bit, you will be helping yourself out the next time you have to go to the gas station!

It is also important to remember that going slightly over 55 miles per hour does not cost you as much fuel efficiency as an increase in speed when you are already going quite fast. In other words, five extra miles per hour when you are already going 70 miles per hour will cause a more marked decrease in fuel efficiency than the difference experienced when you go five extra miles per hour over 55 miles per hour.

You wont only enjoy increased fuel efficiency by driving slower. You will also avoid getting costly traffic tickets, which can often cost about two hundred dollars! Plus, you will be a safer driver, and more likely to escape a potentially deadly crash. If you want to save money at the pump, you should seriously consider slowing down your speed.

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Slow Down to Save Gas is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

However, drivers can help themselves in the fight to keep gas prices from making them bankrupt! One of the easiest ways to lessen the cost of driving is to take whatever measures are available to you to reduce your fuel consumption. Fortunately for drivers who are tired of shelling out hundreds of dollars at the gas pump, many of these solutions are very inexpensive or even free! Here are some free ways to relieve yourself of some of the cost of driving these days.

One of the best ways to use less fuel is to simply not drive. You are probably wondering how you will get from place to place if you do not drive your car. Well, find a different way to get around! Car pooling, for instance, is one of the oldest and most plausible ways to reduce gas usage as well as help reduce emissions, too. You can car pool with co-workers or others to decrease your fuel expenses, while helping the environment as well!

Even if you are going to run to the grocery store, see if your neighbor needs anything as well! You may be able to car pool together, and you will have some company along for the ride as well. If you live at somewhat of a distance away from your work or other places you have to go consistently, car pooling is a great way to save money.

Even if you have no one to car pool with, you can plan your trips ahead so that you can save gas. If the grocery store is on your way home from work, try to know what items you need so that you can simply stop by the store on your way home from work. This will help you to save time as well as money spent on gas. If you can not avoid making a special trip out, try to combine several stops within one trip so you can conserve gas.

When you do get to the store, try not to leave your car running while you quickly run in to the store. Doing so decreases your miles per gallon to zero (think about it), and contrary to popular belief, is not more fuel efficient than turning off your engine and turning it back on a minute or two later. Unless you want to idle your way all the way to the gas pump, make sure that you turn your car off whenever you are making a stop!

Also, try to reduce the amount of weight you carry in your car. It can be easy to be a bit lazy and leave items in your trunk for a long time, but even a hundred extra pounds can reduce your cars fuel economy by a couple percent compared to normal. Many people like to pack their car with sandbags during the winter months for added traction. If you decide to do this, make sure to remove the extra weight when it is no longer needed!

As you can surely see, there are many very uncomplicated ways that you can increase your cars fuel efficiency. While not all of the tips will improve your fuel efficiency that dramatically, even an extra gallon here or there is a substantial savings with todays gas prices.

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Simple Ways to Stay Away from the Gas Pump is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

It is quite understandable if you do not want to shell out money for expensive products that say they will increase your vehicles gas mileage. However, that will not keep you from saving money on gas, since many of these products have not proven their claims of increased fuel efficiency, anyway! Really, most of the best ways of reducing gas usage are also the easiest ways to do so. This is especially true when it comes to the simple vehicle maintenance you can perform to enjoy better gas mileage.

One extremely easy way to keep your car at its best in the area of fuel efficiency is by checking the air in your tires often. Tires that are not properly inflated to the right levels cost you precious gas mileage, believe it or not. Fortunately, this is an easy problem to fix. Many gas stations and car washes have free air dispensers to fill up your tires to the levels they need to be at. Even if an air machine does cost you money, it will not usually be more than a quarter or two. This is a very cost effective way to ensure that you are getting the type of gas mileage you should be getting when you drive.

Regular oil changes also help to keep your cars gas mileage where it should be. Even though it can cost money to do your own oil change or have a mechanic do it for you, it is still a cost effective method of increasing your vehicles fuel efficiency. After all, you have to change your vehicles oil anyway, so you might as well make extra sure that you stay on top of it, since you can save on gas expenses that way. A car that is running on the right type of oil will run much more efficiently, which is why frequent oil changes help you to conserve gas.

Also, make sure that you are getting your car tuned when it should be. Tuning your vehicle can keep it at peak performance, which again, helps to increase gas mileage. Meanwhile, regular checkups may reveal a problem that is making your car use more gas than it should. By fixing certain problems with your car, you can really dramatically improve your cars performance and fuel efficiency. Like with oil changes, you need to regularly tune up your car anyway, so why not make it a real priority, since it can help you save gas?

Finally, one of the very best ways to conserve gas when you are driving is to check your air filters on a regular basis. If they are clogged or dirty, make sure to replace them. Again, this is something that needs to be done anyway to keep your engine running smoothly, but it is even more important now, since it will help you to increase your gas mileage significantly. How significantly? Well, many experts say that having clean air filters can increase your gas mileage by about 10%! Think of how much 10% of a gallon of gas is. Thats a pretty decent sum of money, by any estimation.

Remember, it is important to perform these types of regular maintenance on your vehicle anyway. Since you can actually save money by taking care of your car, why not make it a priority?

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Simple Vehicle Maintenance Can Save You Money on Gas is a post from: Green Living Home Guide

Luckily, the regular maintenance that you have to perform on your vehicle anyway can actually help you to get more mileage out of the fuel you use! It is nice to know, especially these days, that the money you spend on this kind of maintenance can also help you save money at the gas pump! Conversely, if you do not have the regular maintenance done on your vehicle like you should, your gas mileage is sure to suffer.

One of the very rudimentary things that has to be done with your car every so often is getting an oil change. Oil changes can occur ever few months or even sooner, if you drive a lot, but you do not want to let them slide (no pun intended)! After all, oil changes keep your engine running smoothly, which in turn allows you to get more mileage out of the gas you put into your car. It is also important to use the correct grade of motor oil, as this can have a small effect on your gas mileage, as well.

Another type of regular maintenance that can help you to increase your gas mileage is getting your car tuned. Tune-ups are hard to measure in terms of increased fuel efficiency, but it has been speculated that a car that is properly tuned will use 4% less gas than a car that is not tuned and has not been in some time. While 4% may not seem like that much money, think of it as sixteen cents of savings for gas, if the price is $4 per gallon. As you can see, that can add up to a substantial amount!

It is also of the utmost importance to get your car checked regularly, especially your fuel intake, exhaust and other systems that can affect gas mileage. If there is a problem with an important part of these systems, you car will probably still run, but fuel efficiency can be very badly affected, causing you to lose almost half of your fuel efficiency in some cases! It definitely pays to get problems like those fixed!

One of the least expensive, but most effective, improvements you can make for gas mileage is to simply replace old, clogged air filters. Although it may not seem like a big deal to drive around with dirty air filters, filthy ones can rob you of 10% of your fuel economy! Again, for the price it costs to fix this simple problem, you really cant beat the results you receive!

These are a few of the things that you should be already doing for your car that will provide you with benefits to your vehicles fuel efficiency. If you have been slacking on these areas of maintenance, make sure to get on the ball! It may cost you money to maintain your car at first, but it may very well save you money in the end!

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Save Gas By Performing Simple Maintenance is a post from: Green Living Home Guide