http://www.starsouthcount…t-Thompson.aspx
With gasoline prices at their highest ever, we need all of the help we can get to shop and fill our gas tanks the smartest and cheapest way possible. Here are some tips I have received from the Kinder Morgan Pipeline in San Jose to get
more of our money’s worth for every gallon.
Δ Only buy gas in the morning when the ground temperature is still cold. The gasoline storage tanks are buried below ground. The colder the ground, the more dense the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands. Filling your tank in the afternoon or evening when the ground is warmer, your gallon of gas is not exactly a gallon. Gas stations don’t have temperature compensation gauges at the pump.
Δ When you are filling your tank, don’t squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. The nozzle has three stages; low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on the low mode. This minimizes the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fastest rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the storage tanks. You are getting less actual gas for your money.
Δ Fill up when your tank is half full. The more gas you have in your tank, the less air you have occupying the empty space. Gasoline evaporated when it hits the air in your tank. The gas station’s storage tanks have a floating roof that minimizes evaporation eliminating the air space in the tanks, unlike the gas tanks of our cars.
Δ If there is a gasoline truck pumping into the underground storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, don’t fill up. The new gasoline being pumped into the storage tanks stirs up sediment and dirt from the bottom. This dirt mixed with gas gets pumped into your car’s tank and can cause problems for you.
Δ The gasoline you purchase is metered at the pump as it leaves the pump, not the nozzle. Due to the length of the hose, the position of the nozzle is usually higher than the center swag of the hose. When you turn off the pump, you have paid for the gas that is still inside the hose. After the pump is off, with the nozzle still in the open position in your gas tank, raise the center of the hose to be higher than the nozzle. Gravity will empty the last half gallon of gasoline you have paid for from the swag of the hose into your gas tank.
Janet Thompson
Realtor
P: (949) 795-9949
Janet_Thompson@cox.net
View my website
