Friday, March 5, 2010

Ask Ida

Idling gets you nowhere


Dear Ida B. Green,

I hear that Ketchum has outlawed idling your car. Why?!

Signed,

Staying warm

Dear Staying,

I have to agree with that wise city. No good can come of idling.

Not for your car:

· An idling car gets 0 miles per gallon—(hybrids excluded). For every two minutes a car is idling, it uses the same amount of fuel as driving about one mile (California Energy Commission).

· Idling is not an effective way of warming up your engine. To properly warm your vehicle's transmission, tires, suspension, steering and wheel bearings, you need to slowly drive-off after the first 10-30 seconds.

· Excessive idling can actually damage your engine components. Since it is not operating at its peak temperature, fuel does not undergo complete combustion, and leaves fuel residue to contaminate engine oil and make spark plugs dirty.

Not for your environment:

· Every gallon of gas you use produces about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide.

· Exposure to most auto pollutants is much higher inside vehicles than outside. Some of the highest exposure occurs when sitting idling in a school or restaurant drive-through (International Center for Technology Assessment).

· Children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution due to their higher respiratory rate and size.

For your car and for your environment, turn it off or put it in drive!

Easy to be Green,

Ida




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.