For those readers in chillier climates it's a common to see people trudging out to their cars to warm them up early in the morning. It turns out all that idling isn't just ineffective but a waste of money too.


Photo by Alexander Lyubavin.

The common belief is that you have to start a car ahead of time in cold weather or else the engine won't be warm enough and you could damage it. It turns out that engines only require around a half minute of idle time to warm up; excessive idling decreases the life of your engine and unnecessarily kludges things up.

Idling Hurts the Car. According to the Hinkle Charitable Foundation's Anti-Idling Primer, idling forces an engine "to operate in a very inefficient and gasoline-rich mode that, over time, can degrade the engine's performance and reduce mileage."


Check out the full article at the link below for more tips on reducing your idle time and what you can do if you live in extremely cold climates where engines do actually need a little extra warmth in the morning.

8 Facts and Myths About Warming Up Your Car in Winter [The Daily Green via Wise Bread]