How My Mind Works
Posted by jdellis on May 14, 2008
Okay. I’m an engineer by trade. I think in detail about certain things. So what. Right? Who doesn’t?
For example…right now gas prices are so high that I’m thinking about how to conserve fuel and save money. My truck gets approximately 16.5 mpg on the way to work and 20 mpg on the way home.
Hmmmm.
“Why is that?” That’s my first instinct. Bear with me here. I’m thinking it may be one or more of the following:
- Net elevation change from home to work
- Wind resistance, head wind vs. tail wind
- Atmospheric conditions, temperature and humidity
Traffic is pretty negligible both ways so what’s the difference? That’s just it, I don’t know but I want to find out. Maybe I’ll try Hwy 70 in the morning and see what the difference would be. That could possible eliminate the second guess on the list.
I calculate at the current gas prices that I can save almost $44/month if I can increase my average by two miles per gallon.
Don’t you think that is worth the problem solving effort?
May 19, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Is it possible that, when you go to work, you’re anxious to be on time? Consequently you may put your foot on the floor, whereas you may be more gentle on the way home?
I own a Toyota Prius, and to get the best fuel consumption has changed the way I drive. It’s just amazing what can have an effect - and it’s usually the driver’s brain. Looking forward to seeing how you get on.
May 19, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Graham, great idea but I use cruise control religiously. Still haven’t tried the slower back roads though. Personally, I’m looking forward to the deveopment of electric cars and trucks. I think they’ll be economically viable in a couple more years.
Thanks for the suggestion.
May 26, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I too use the cruise control religiously. Even in the city at 35mph. I’m about to move to Burns and increase from 10 minutes to 40 minutes of travel time. If you can figure this one out, I’d love to know. My milage should be about the reverse of yours.
Lincoln
May 27, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Hey, this will be a great experiment! Lets try it and get together and compare notes.
Plus it will give another reason to get together and eat!!!
June 2, 2008 at 8:08 am
I’ve been giving some more thought to this, and have another idea!
If it isn’t wind, or the speed at which you travel, then what about changes in altitude and the gradients of the hills?
For instance:
- if your workplace is at a higher altitude than your home, and it’s uphill all the way there, then you would expect to use more fuel on the way to work.
- if your workplace is at the same altitude than your home, and it’s dead level all the way there, then you would expect to use the same amount of fuel each way (unless you’re always going to work into a head wind).
- if your workplace is at the same altitude than your home, and it’s NOT dead level all the way there, then things get interesting! It could well be that the hills going to work may be steeper than the hills going home (as is often the case with an escarpment) you would expect to use more fuel on the way to work.
And the most likely situation is a combination: that your work place is at a different altitude, AND the hills between are of different gradients!
By the way, if you want to see how my mind works, have a look at
Url: http://catchthevision.wordpress.com
June 2, 2008 at 12:55 pm
That would be the net elevation change, but I do have an update to this. As the overall temperature has increased locally over the past few weeks, I’ve seen the two balance out somewhat resulting in 18.6 mpg on the way to work and 19.1 on the way home. Either way, 75 mph is my cruise setting.
June 2, 2008 at 1:30 pm
So does this mean that it’s starting up from cold that it the critical factor? (Less of a problem in warm weather, and presumably less of a problem on driving home from work, compared with the earlier start?)
Incidentally, a Toyota Prius puts some of its radiator fluid into a Thermos-type flask, and keeps it warm overnight so as to help with cold starts in the morning. (I only found out about this when carefully reading the Owners Manual, and had seen nothing about this before purchase.)
If not that, could it be there’s a stronger prevailing wind when the weather is colder?
Cheers.
June 12, 2008 at 11:35 am
[...] a lot of gas. A LOT!!! Her SUV does very well as my truck does not. So as an update to this post from a while back, I have decided to quit driving to work on the interstate and take a shorter, [...]