Idle-Free

Spare Our Air!  Reduce Vehicle Idling!

The City of Chilliwack is taking action to make our community healthier and greener!

In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and smog causing pollutants, the City has launched an "anti-idling" campaign.  This campaign involves both policy and public education components. 

Avoiding unnecessary idling is a universal approach to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles. After all, idling gets you nowhere!

Myths and Facts about Idling

MYTH: Idling uses less gas than restarting the engine.  Studies clearly show that idling for over 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more CO₂ emissions than restarting your engine. The amount of time to offset any potential maintenance costs to the starter or battery is under 60 seconds. So, as a guideline, if a car is stopped for more than 60 seconds the engine should be turned off.¹

 MYTH: Idling warms the engine.  Idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to warm a car is to drive it. The tires, transmission, wheel bearings and other moving parts all need to be warmed up for the vehicle to perform well, and most of these parts do not begin to warm up until you drive.¹ 

 FACT: For the average vehicle with a 3-litre engine every 10 minutes of idling costs more than a quarter of a litre in wasted fuel or approximately 0.6 kg of carbon dioxide.

 FACT: If Canadians avoided idling for just three minutes every day of the year, CO₂ emissions could be reduced by 1.4 million tonnes annually, which is the equivalent of taking 320,000 cars off the road for the entire year.¹

¹ Office of Energy Efficiency, Idle-Free Zone, Natural Resources Canada

Join Us In Making Chilliwack Healthier and Greener!

For more information:

• Government of BC - Air Pollution Sources