Prolly a dumb question, but I know that when the A/C compressor is running, it pulls a few H/P from the engine, but am I also losing gas mileage when I'm just pulling heat from the engine?

Thx.

 

Its an electric heater....

 

No, the heat being provided in your interior is the heat from the engine's coolant. Basically it is a small radiator inside the cabin of your truck thus transferring the heat to the interior. The blower motor providing the push for the heated air is minimal and certainly not a horsepower issue.
Bart

 

no your not, you either have an electric heater or the engine blows air over the hot coolant and creates the in cab heat. it does not use any gas

 

Running the heater will not reduce your fuel economy.

 

Thx, all I needed to know. At least I'll get better fuel economy in the winter, lol.

 

I guess in theory it does use a hair more gas, more electricity needed and I think the compressor cycles a bit especially on defrost. I don't think it's anything to worry about because winter is NFG on mileage anyways. I think my best mileage has been on highways with the a/c on and temps above 75.

 

I doubt it. The winter blends suck for fuel economy.

The only way that heater usage (if in FLOOR which does not use the A/C compressor) can affect fuel economy would be dependent on what blower speed is selected. Higher blower speed places a greater electrical load on the alternator and will require a minutely greater amount of fuel.

Steve

 

Most definitely! The engine must be running and the colant warmed up, so yes it does use gas.

If your fuel economy is suffering, either you use a remote start, let it warm up in the driveway, only drive a very short distance while the engine never reaches operating temps, etc.
Or could be a combination of things,,,,, but NO the heater itself doesn't use any fuel to operate in an operating vehicle.