What with all the snow and stuff lately. If you ever got caught out/stranded in the middle of nowhere in the car, what would be the impact on your car of keeping the engine idling all night to keep you warm?

How much fuel would you burn in say, 10 hours of idling?

None, cars work in MPG everyone knows that. So if you staying still you don’t use fuel.

😀

Probably a lot worse than carrying a sleeping bag or two, a small stove, a couple of tins of food, some warm clothing, a good pair of boots, charger for the phone and a shovel. Be prepared and don’t make unecessary journeys . 😉

Try it.

Not that random… 🙂

stuck in a car with the engine running (not me btw)

edit! beaten by 44 seconds..

Probably a lot worse than carrying a sleeping bag or two, a small stove, a couple of tins of food, some warm clothing, a good pair of boots, charger for the phone and a shovel. Be prepared and don’t make unecessary journies

I don’t do any of that but I do keep a copy of Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft in the glove compartment for exactly these sort of emergencies.

worst case scenario if you are stranded … If you dont have enough fuel to warm the car overnight or for an extended long period then rip open the seats and stuff the sponge and filling inside your clothing to stay warm.

based on those links an engine uses about 1 litre of fuel per hour and you don’t need to run the engine continuously, so maybe a litre would last you 3 hours, assuming the battery was strong enough to keep restarting the engine. That’s not too bad.

jon1973 – Member
I don’t do any of that but I do keep a copy of Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft in the glove compartment for exactly these sort of emergencies.

That’ll burn through in less than 15 minutes and give you minimal heat.

What would Ray Mears know? He’s got Mrs Mears to cuddle up to.

Since the guys died on the M62 (albeit 17ish years ago) I carry enough clothing to give me a chance of walking out (Boots, goretex, fleece etc) plus a 4 seasons sleeping bag in case I have to stay put.

That said, I have a 25 mile commute and my company pay for most of the former and I’ve had the sleeping bag for 20 years.

What would Ray Mears know? He’s got Mrs Mears to cuddle up to.

Actually, I don’t think he does.

Isn’t there a risk of CO poisoning when running an engine where snow could block the exhaust?