Whether it is to save money, maximize limited natural resources, or reduce environmental impact, fuel economy is important to everyone. That’s why there are many tools and tips to help. This is a small list of websites that can help track your fuel consumption and improve fuel economy.
TrackYourGasMileage.com
TrackYourGasMileage.com is one website that keeps things simple and efficient. This service creates a web-accessible database where you regularly input information from the receipts kept from gas refills. By registering for a free membership, you can track your personal fuel information over various time periods. The data collected can be displayed as either regular text or graphs.
Just three pieces of information collected manually at each gas fill-up are needed: the amount of gas obtained, the date of the fill-up, and the distance driven since the previous fill-up. The two former data will be on the fill-up receipt, and the latter will mean checking the odometer or tripometer on your vehicle.
Fuelly.com
Fuelly.com tracks your car’s fuel consumption history. Once registered, you can list each car, truck, or motorcycle you want to track; Fuelly.com works well with multiple vehicles. Integrated social networking features allow sharing and comparing fuel economy between any car models or drivers registered in the system. Sharing experiences deepens the import of your data. For example, you can have advance warning when something is wrong with your car because you heard about it from somebody else with the same car model or driving habits.
Fuelly.com requires you to manually record either your odometer or tripometer at each gas fill-up. You can change the method at any time in your user preferences. Enter the amount of gas obtained, price of gas per gallon, and date at each fill-up. For convenience, you can use the Fuelly.com mobile version on your smartphone or other mobile device to input fill-up data before leaving the gas station. The mobile version presents a smaller, simpler interface that provides access to important features, even switching between all the vehicles registered to you.
Your driving data is public to other users. The openness facilitates sharing statistics and tips, comparing data, and socializing with other users. However, if you are not interested in the social networking features on Fuelly.com, another website may better suit your privacy needs.
MyMileMarker.com
Very flexible, MyMileMarker.com tracks fuel consumption from any desktop web browser, mobile device, or even text messaging through Twitter. Account registration is fast and simple, requiring an email address or OpenID, new password, and the names of any vehicles you plan on tracking. The website is very minimal, especially compared to Fuelly’s, but highly accessible and integrated with mobile devices and Twitter; information can be entered and retrieved while still at the gas pump.
FuelEconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do
“My MPG” is a service offered by the U.S government’s Department of Energy; registered members can save their mileage information and view or change it at any time. Miles per gallon are calculated, and statistics are maintained for your vehicle’s history. Statistics are also shared between users. Some of the tools are still accessible to non-registered visitors, but neither history neither saving nor reviewing is available.
CalculateNow.biz/conversions/consumption.php
Depending on your particular needs, one or the other of these websites may work best. However, to keep things really simple, you may prefer to record your statistics offline. In that case, a unit converter for fuel consumption may be all you really need, besides a pencil, fill-up receipts, and spreadsheet or table of records. “Fuel Consumption Converter” at http://www.calculatenow.biz/conversions/consumption.php combines the amount of fuel obtained together with either distance travelled or rate of consumption; it converts between imperial and metric systems of measurement. No registration or public sharing of information is required.
This friendly piece has listed sites that will help you monitor your energy online. Make sure you have a reliable internet service providers or ISPs in your area and start visiting these websites. Learn how your car fuel consumption works. Regardless of the type of vehicle, minimizing its fuel use leads to safer, cleaner, and happier driving.