During last month’s cold snap, on days when it wasn’t quite so frigid and I could get out for a walk, I noticed several cars sitting idling in driveways for fairly long periods of time. Seems the message about not needing to idle modern cars for more than 30 seconds still needs to get out there! Hence, the repurposing of this Eco Tip, which originally appeared in February 2016. (If you have neighbors who are idlers, perhaps you could cut this out and leave it on their windshield!)

It’s a frigid February morning, and you’re sitting in your car waiting for the engine to warm up (or if you have a remote car starter, sitting in your kitchen finishing up your coffee). If this describes you, you’re not alone. Many drivers still believe it’s necessary to warm up the engine for at least 5 minutes before hitting the road. That might have been true for cars built before 1990, but not for modern fuel-injection systems, which need only about 30 seconds to reach ready-to-drive conditions. If you’re warming up your engine for 5 minutes, you’re only wasting money — Americans spend $13 million every day for unnecessary idling — and polluting the air. 

And idling is actually bad for your engine! The reason is that fuel is only partially combusted when your car is idling because the engine doesn’t operate at its peak temperature, which leads to a buildup of fuel residues that can damage engine components and increase fuel consumption. (This is true whether you’re warming up your car, idling while waiting to pick up friends or family or stuck in traffic.) 

Not idling is a win-win-win: less pollution, more money in your pocket, more time.