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Peterborough's Idle Free Zone! IDLING GETS YOU NOWHERE 
If you are going to be idling for 10 seconds or more, turn your engine off!
Canadian drivers idle their engines for an average of 5 - 10 minutes a day. Add these minutes together and that's enough time to keep one car running for 144 years! This needless idling means millions of litres of fuel, and therefore millions of dollars, are simply being burned away. Contrary to popular belief, idling your car will actually damage your engine! And in areas where excessive idling is common, around school zones for example, serious health effects have been exposed.
Idling: Myths vs. Facts Myth: Idling is good for your vehicle because it warms up the engine prior to driving.
Fact: Idling can actually be hard on the engine because fuel combustion is incomplete and some fuel residues condense on cylinder walls. Myth: Individual unnecessary vehicle idling does not contribute to the problem of climate change.
Fact: Carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas that is contributing to climate change, is a natural by-product of burning gasoline. Each liter of gasoline used produces about 2.4 kg of carbon dioxide. So everytime you start the engine your contributing to the problem. Myth: Idling is necessary on cold winter days that do not exceed minus 30 degrees Celsius to ensure that all of the vehicle's components are warm.
Fact: Many components of the vehicle including the wheel bearings, tires and suspension system will warm up only when the vehicle is moving. No more than 30 seconds of idling is needed to get the oil circulating through the engine. Only approximately 3 minutes is necessary is extremely cold weather. Myth: Idling is only a concern in the winter.
Fact: Idling is a problem all year-round. A recent study revealed that on any given day in August, Canadians idle their vehicles for a combined total of more than 46 million minutes per day. This is equivalent to one vehicle idling consistently for 89 years! Myth: Frequently restarting a vehicle rather than letting it idle, is hard on the vehicle's starter and battery.
Fact: Studies have shown that restarting the engine numerous times has little impact on components such as the battery and starter motor.
COOLING OFF THE WINTER "WARM-UP" When the cold weather descends on our community, we crave the warmth. And by extension, this means warming up our vehicles before driving. But poor air quality is becoming a serious problem in our area - summer and winter - with Peterborough City and County often registering some of the worst air quality readings in Ontario. Reducing vehicle warm-up times can help with this problem and save you fuel costs! Did You Know? - With today's computer-controlled, fuel-injected engines, you need no more than 30 seconds of "warm-up" idling on winter days before driving away. Even at -18oC, most cars require only 15 to 30 seconds of idling.
- Idling in cold weather is hard on your engine because it isn't working at peak operating temperature. When this happens fuel doesn't undergo complete combustion leaving fuel residues that contaminate engine oil and make spark plugs dirty. The best way to warm a vehicle to optimal operating temperature is to actually drive it!
- When you warm-up a vehicle you need to warm more than the engine. The tires, transmission, wheel bearings and other moving parts also need to be warm for the vehicle to perform well. Most of these parts don't begin to warm up until you actually drive! Start slowly though and don't go for high speeds for the first 5 kilometers.
- Warming up for only 30 seconds in cold weather will save fuel because it cuts the warm-up time in half! By reducing idling time by five minutes a day over a year, drivers can save 55 liters of fuel and a lot of unnecessary emissions.
- Safety still comes first! Drivers should ensure they have clear visibility before heading out. Keep a scraper for your windows available and make sure you have a set of gloves on hand to manage those cold steering wheels!
Idle Free Zone - Natural Resources Canada
123turnyourkey.com - Mississauga's Idle Free Zone
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