Decrease fuel consumption by...

[karnovking]

This seems obvious, but you can decrease your fuel consumption by moving close to work/shopping/etc...

I used to have a 25 mile one way commute all highway driving living out in the boonies. I got good MPGs in my 94 civic 5spd. I usually got 47-51mpg with the highway trip. I'd fill up about every 8-9 work days.

I recently moved 5 miles from my job and I am close to everything. I only get 38-43mpgs these days due to my decreased highway mileage. Now I only have to fill up about every 30 work days.

So I have cut my fuel consumption by about 67%. I figure that is as good as increasing my original 47-51mpg by 67%. that would put me in the 80-85mpg range.

Just a different way of looking at it.

I posted this on auto forums, but it must have gone over everyone heads. Maybe this board is the place to post it!

[GasUser]

No one ever thinks about that. And if you were able to move real close to work you could walk or ride a bicycle.

When I lived in the city I didn't even have a car and I never had any trouble getting anywhere. But that was a long time ago. Now, for better or worse I can't move anywhere so I am stuck so to speak.

[groar]

The same as GasUser, when I lived in Paris I didn't had a car, walked to the office and I could shop in the way home. If I was working in a customer office then I was using public transportation.

Now I'm living near a smaller city. Depending on my missions I can have to fill once to 3 times a month. One day I realized I had to fill 3 times a month during the last 3 months and I was at EPA+7%. The first decision was to find a better route. The newer one was 4 km longer, but I saved 20 minutes of traffic jams and jumped to EPA+13%.

Then I began to eco-drive and 10 months later I'm at EPA+50% thanks to Pulse and NiceOn Coasting, and traffic jam avoidance. To help even more, I'm trying to work from home as much as possible which is now 30% of my saving.

Denis.

[maximilian]

When I was in college I could walk everywhere (no car anyway, or license for that matter). Had one of those foldable wheeled cart things for grocery shopping. Winter wasn't so bad in RI, though. I was able to do a low tech form of telecommuting in the mid 90s. One a month I'd go into the office with a floppy disk and give them the latest version.

[want2buyVX]

I was driving 85 miles to work one way (170 miles round trip per day) four days a week for five months cause I accepted a job that paid VERY well , but I was undecided if I really wanted to move to that area. Luckily I was driving a company car.

Since then I have transfered much closer to my home. But well paying jobs are so tuff to find now or days that I had no choice but to drive almost 700 miles per week until I could transfer and be bicycle riding distance to work.

Yes, its very wise to find a job close to home to cut down on gas usage, tolls, wear and tear..... not to mention the more you drive, the greater risk you are being in a car accident.

[maximilian]

85? That's harsh. When I was working in MA, an engineer who worked on contract who lived in CT would commute every day (about 70 mi). He drove a souped up Toyota Supra that he raced and would go 150 mph (in good weather) on the highway. Didn't want to move for a six month contract. Took me for a ride once and I got headaches from all the accelerations when zipping back and forth sharply in the parking lot. Knew I wasn't meant for racing.

[dkjones96]

My current commute is 13 miles each way. (a gallon each way) I'm moving next month to an apartment that is most likely within 2 miles from work. That will DEFINITELY save fuel. Especially since I hate riding the bike on that commute because in city takes too much time and freeway during rush hour on a quiet 250cc bike isn't exactly my idea of safe travels.

[bowtieguy]

want2buyVX and kyle(dkjones),

both of you bring up good points. good paying jobs are hard to find. i left a job that was 2 miles from my house to one 18 miles away. but, i more than doubled my income.

biking in a metro area is unsafe. orlando is the capital of the US in regard to pedestrians being hit by cars. no doubt bike riders get their share.

something else to consider...

for most of a 10-12 mile radius of my job, there are slums(downtown) or over priced houses(even for today's standards). also, my commute certainly takes less time than someone that lives closer(in or near the city). there is an express way right near my place nearby making my trip home relatively painless.

snax has said that time is often more important than money.

[BEEF]

time is more important than money but there has to be some limit to it.

I want to live comfortably so I live 20 miles from where I work. houses are cheaper as are taxes. I live in a quiet neighborhood with a farm behind me. not something I could do living next to where I work. also, my wife drives 12 miles in the opposite direction so it is truely a situation of living in the middle of both of our works. yea, she got the better end of the stick.

a guy I work with lives less than 2 miles from where we work. he also has planes going over his house all the time. fed-ex is going to start a new hub in greensboro and he is in the flight path. they do most of their travel at night. planes overhead at 3 in the morning isn't fun.

I think I got the better end of the stick on that one. I do miss not having such a commute. I ironically moved to lessen my commute. I was driving 52 miles one way.

[dkjones96]

Originally Posted by BEEF

I do miss not having such a commute. I ironically moved to lessen my commute. I was driving 52 miles one way.

Ouch!

[slurp812]

Originally Posted by dkjones96

Ouch!

I am close to the ouch distance. about 20 one way. But I have to take my kid to day care also. 21,000 miles on the car since I bought it, and it hasn't been one year yet. In the summer months. Only way to move closer would be to move to the hood.

[Snax]

Originally Posted by BEEF

time is more important than money but there has to be some limit to it.

I agree. One must always consider their own economic utility for time vs. income and expense, but some things you simply can't put a dollar figure on.

I would gladly trade my 10 minute commute for one 2-3 times as long if it meant I had a good farmable homestead for my family and could get away from my neighbors who are noisy, park on their lawns, have too many cats, leave their dog out to bark half the night, etc . . . But with my wife having to drive 3 kids to 3 different schools at 3 different times (how she gets ANYTHING done, I don't know), moving further out would significantly impose on the time savings convenience we have by living closer to the schools.

[maximilian]

I'm currently trying to decide on a new place to live once I sell my house. Because I'm retired and don't have any family I need to stay near, there are an awful lot of parameters to consider. Kids must make that decision even harder!