Some interesting facts regarding gasoline expansion with temperature:
25 gal of gasoline at 30ºF expands to 26 gal at 90ºF. (It expands 1% for every 15ºF rise in temperature.
In the U.S. gas is sold by oil companies to wholesalers in units called "US Petroleum Gallons," which is defined as 231 cu. in. of volume at 60ºF.(Meters on fuel tanker pumps are temperature compensated.)
In the U.S. gas is sold retail at gas stations in units called "US Standard Gallons," which is defined as 231 cu. in. of volume regardless of temperature.
In Canada meters at gas stations are temperature compensated, so that a liter of Canadian gas is only a true liter (1000 cu. cm.) at about 15ºC. If one buys gas in Canada on a day when the temperature falls below 15ºC, the actual gas volume delivered by the pump is reduced.
You belittle anyone who disagrees with your position on anything- you're that kind of guy.
I buy gas all year long. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think a lot of people do. The average temperature probably works out to around 55 degrees in this area. So the cost of fuel tends to average out like a lot of things in life. BTW- What's the average temperature where you live?
My highest consumption is during the spring and fall, when the temperatures are near their average. Coincidentally, that is when the gas pumps read their most accurate.
I agree with the prior poster indicating that it is the consumer that bears the burden of this equipment you would like to see mandated. As a consumer, I don't see the return on my investment.
You forgot to mention the money the trial lawyers will sponge from the system before this tempest in a teapot is over. Motorists in climates where the 60 degree annual average temperature will help to pay for them and for temperature compensating equipment for little benefit.
I always wondered why my gas mileage was less in the winter, now I know why !! The only thing I was expecting was suffering from getting a cold butt when I bought gas on a cold day.
The gas is stored under ground in big tanks.The temperature of the gas in those tanks is constant if it is 100 degrees outside or 50 below because it is stored far enough under ground not to be affected by the outside temperature.
The stations at which I shop don't seem to have overhead piping. If the gas is always underground, it should be at the same temperature all the time - about 56F (13.3C). I'll look closer in the future, but it seems unsafe to use a maze of overhead pipes compared to pumping from the underground tank directly to the pump.
One solution woudl be buy your gas in the morning then the gas in the pumps has cooled down, unless you live in Phoenix or some such location.
I'd not worry about it. There is a much better chance of being goosed by a malfunctioning pump meter or dishonest trader than the few % due to temperature.
Now here is an interesting statistic. I keep a log of hte vehicle receipts and gallons pumped per the receipts, and compared that to the calculated gallonage for the same fill, then compared the error in the totals.
Example, $22 @ 3.159/gal = 6.964229(calculated) but 6.963 per the receipt.
eg. for the last 60K mls of records, I pumped 2971.5 gals per the totaled receipts, but the calculated gals total 3000.7, some 29 gal less. Where is the error?. The pump meter, the rounding or the actual volume pumped.
I think that gasoline buried several feet in the ground will assume the ground temperature shortly after it is delivered to the station. Any loss from heat expansion of the gasoline would be small.
