ALT-3 How to get more Gasoline per Dollar
With the blazing sun beating down on the hot summer asphalt little do America consumers realize while standing at the gas pump they are being ripped off they just aren’t sure about the cause. Is it the privacy invading cameras that watch your every move while you pump? Or is it the many pump-and-run drivers who don't pay for their purchases? The real culprit is "gasoline expansion"
Gas is something we are already spending more for then we ever have in history. As you know, gas expands in heat. That's something you learn in basic science class in high school. The fact is that fuel experiences significant expansion and contraction with temperature change. Gasoline: 1% per 15 degrees Fahrenheit change and Diesel: .6% per 15 degrees Fahrenheit change. So, what does this mean? You're spending more for gas, getting less for your dollar and the gas is providing less energy per gallon. You LOSE know matter how you look at this.
ReporterJamie Courtof the Huffington Post reported in 2008 that if the temperature is more than 60 degrees, you are getting ripped off by as much as three cents per gallon. That's roughly $2.3 billion per year for American consumer and according to the latest congressional report estimates, this summer alone, consumers will lose as much as to $1.5 billion from gasoline expansion. These estimates were calculated before gas prices reached over 3 dollars US per gallon this spring.
People in Texas and Arizona take note here! Consumer losses in warmer states are ten times larger than consumer gains in cooler states. What can be done? Technologies exist to solve this problem and that technology can be used in the United States. Canada is already using it at their gas stations. Canadian law requires the use of temperature compensated meters to adjust fuel deliveries on ever pump. It seems ironic that a colder climate country requires the petroleum industry to provide their consumers with this technology at the pump and the consumers in the warmer southern states are stuck losing millions per year. The technology to fix the pumps comes at a high price and gas station owners are reluctant to spend the 2 to 3 thousand dollars to retrofit pumps to save you money. We all could laugh at the irony if it weren't for us crying every month when we look at our checking account balances.
What can you can you do about this and get more for your money? Basic science can work for you. Pump your gas as early in the morning as you can because it's the coolest part of the day. You will actually be getting more gas when you pump and paying less than buying your gas at the hottest part of the day. It's a matter of time before gas station owners will be forced by the EPA or either local or federal government regulations to retro fit all their gas pumps. In the mean time, we lose.
