With oil prices hitting record highs, it’s no wonder that gas prices continue to remain high. To help combat overspending, shop around for the lowest price and fill you tank at the coolest time of day.
To accomplish the first point, use GasBuddy.com. There you can enter your zipcode and find the cheapest gas in your area. It doesn’t make sense to drive to a distant gas station to save a few pennies, but as they say on the site, gas prices can vary by as much as 20% within only a few blocks. Going slightly out of your way for a much better deal is obviously worth it. I also like the “Gasoline Temperature Map” on the site. That shows the average gas price for all of the different counties of the country. It really gives you a sense of which areas have the best and worst prices.
The second point, filling your tank at the coolest part of the day, is actually a sore subject right now. Unlike in Canada, where pumps automatically adjust prices based on temperature, pumps in the US overcharge you at higher temperatures. The problem is that the industry standard for storing gasoline is 60 degrees. Higher temperatures cause the gas to expand, meaning there’s less gas in a gallon. For example, if you filled up your ten gallon tank when it was just 36 degrees you would get ten gallons of gas. If you fill the same tank up when it’s 72 degrees, you’re really only getting nine gallons (Source). If you’re wondering why Canada has temperature adjusted pumps, it’s because it’s so cold there. Gas companies would be losing money if they didn’t adjust for the cold temperatures. A class action lawsuit against some of the gas companies has been started as a result of the lack of temperature compensated pumps in the US.
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