PALMER — To counter those budget-busting trips to the gas station, a workshop Thursday evening here will give consumers ways to save money and avoid gas-pump pitfalls.

Steve Brown and Julie Cascio, public outreach instructors  who field free workshops at the University of Alaska’s Cooperative Extension Service (CES) in Palmer, recently teamed up to tackle the financial pinch felt by many from rising gasoline prices. They have been researching tips on saving fuel and to help dispel any “easy fix” myths that have surfaced as gas prices have soared to more than $4.50 a gallon for regular unleaded.

Cascio is a home economist for CES and organizer of “Maximizing Mileage,” a workshop on saving gasoline slated for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the MTA building. She said it was time to look into what will actually help save money at the pump and how to decide if buying a fuel-efficient car is really economical.

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“We deal with people in the community who ask what we can teach them about current issues,” Cascio said. “Right now it’s the energy crisis and the rising price of gas. People want to know, ‘How can we maximize our mileage?’”

Cascio teamed up with Brown, who has taught automotive courses, to find out what works and what doesn’t when trying to conserve fuel. Cascio found that trading in an old beater that putters out 12 miles per gallon for a new hybrid that gets better gas mileage might not be the best way to save money.

“Like myself, people look at the price tag first, but don’t look at the cost of financing,” Cascio said.

Many people don’t estimate monthly payments and restructured insurance costs into the equation when thinking about trading in as a way to save at the pump, she said. If a new car is purchased, it could take years before a buyer could actually start saving at the gas pump. In fact, it could be the life of the vehicle.

“There are many costs associated with new cars,” she said. “So, there’s this other aspect of ‘Is it really worthwhile to trade off my car for a new one?’”

Cascio decided to find out how much money she would actually save on gas if she traded in her 10-year-old station wagon, which gets 26 miles per gallon, by entering her information on Edmunds.com’s “Gas Guzzler Trade-In Calculator.”

“I put the numbers in and it told me that if I traded my beater in for a Toyota Prius, it would save me $91 a month in gas, but that it would take me more than 20 years to break even,” she said. “I found that my insurance would go up, I would begin monthly payments, not to mention gas prices would most likely increase and I would not be really saving anything. I thought, ‘OK, so I’m saving on gas, but I’m paying out on the cost of the vehicle. How worth it is it then?’”

Cascio said before people go out and buy a new $23,000 hybrid to save money on gas, they should look into how much life their current car has left and maximize its use.

“If your car is paid off, figure in the cost of the maintenance, the cost of mileage, automotive insurance and other fees as well,” she said. “You may not need as much insurance, but it is better to compare costs over time than what you think is the quick fix.”

Brown, district agriculture and natural resources agent for CES, said aside from learning about future costs of a new car, he will show people ways to work on their cars to improve gas mileage and save money.

“We’re doing this because there’s a lot of bad information out there,” Brown said of hosting the workshop. “We’re basically answering questions and showing tips on how to cheaply improve your mileage.”

Brown said the easiest way for many motorists to improve gas mileage is to check their tire pressure.

“We’ll be showing how to check the correct air pressure on a car and where to find the information on the vehicle,” Brown said.

If a car’s tire pressure is decreased by as little as five pounds per tire, it can decrease the car’s gas efficiency by five miles per gallon.

“As we go into the fall, the air pressure will decrease subtly with the temperature,” he said. “Inflating your tires is a skill, so we’re going to show people how to do it right and how to keep checking them.”

Brown said recent myths making the rounds in the national media about easy methods to improve gas mileage will also be discussed at Thursday’s workshop.

One myth, Brown said, is that running a car’s air conditioning can drain a gas tank dry.

“Right now, with the warm temperatures, people aren’t using their air conditioning, but rolling their windows down,” Brown explained. “What they may not know is that it’s been proven that you are actually using more gas on your drive with your windows down than if you where using air conditioning.”

Brown said that when a car is on the road for long distances with the windows down, a vacuum is created, slowing the car slightly and decreasing its mileage.

Brown decided to test another urban driving myth: Driving the speed limit and slow acceleration at stop lights saves gas.

“I did this experiment on my truck for a month,” he said. “I deliberately went the speed limit and slowly took off from stop signs and lights. My car went from 18 miles per gallon to 22 when I took it slow,” he said. “You learn how to be easy on the gas pedal to save.”

Another quick gas fix that works is changing a car’s air filter on a regular basis, Brown said.

“A clean one is very important, particularly in Palmer, because of all the glacial silt in the air,” he said. “That’s an important bit to improve gas mileage.”

Brown also said a car owner should look at the type of oil being using in the engine. Synthetic oils can create a smoother ride on the car, and the wallet, than regular motor oil.

“People should be looking for energy-efficient oils out there,” he said. “Most synthetic oils are slicker, ultimately improving the life of the engine and gas efficiency.”

Other areas of discussion at “Maximizing Mileage,” Brown said, will be on topics that seem like common sense, but really aren’t, like trading in an SUV for a fuel-efficient motorcycle.

“Motorcycles are the worst solution,” he said.

Brown said most motorcycles have been known to deliver 60 miles per gallon or more, but buying a new bike can take up to 30 years for it to actually pay off in fuel savings, not to mention that motorcycles aren’t practical to use in wintertime.

“At best, you can only ride in the summer, maybe three days a week,” he said. “Plus, there are safety issues. What a lot of people don’t know is that motorcycles are least effective on the highway and more efficient in town. Once on the highway, you lose 20 miles per gallon, which doesn’t help commuters out at all.”

Brown said nervous SUV owners should take a deep breath and gas-and-go for the time being — while they still can.

“Keep your SUV until it’s worn out,” he said. “The cost savings, based solely on fuel prices, can take years to kick in with a new car.”

Cascio and Brown also plan on discussing the new mystery gas saving devices on the market that have many wondering if they really work.

According to Popular Mechanics magazine online, fuel-line magnets, which manufacturers claim breaks up fuel molecule clusters so that gas burns more efficiently, showed no real effect on long-term gas mileage.

“The problem there, from a physics standpoint, is that people can’t figure out how it works,” Brown said. “Other than it changes the owner’s driving behavior in thinking it’s working.”

Another myth is that over-inflating a car’s tires to 40 and 50 pounds will substantially improve the gas mileage, he said.

“This actually does work, but other problems surface, such as it greatly decreases the ability to stop, the tires are more prone to burst and it easily puts more wear and tear on the center of the tire,” Brown said. “To replace a cheap set of tires for under $400 is not easy, especially when you had hoped $30 of gas would have been saved in the process.”

CES invites the public to attend and bring fuel questions to “Maximizing Mileage” from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the MTA building, 480 Commercial Drive in Palmer. Registration deadline is Wednesday and required to attend. To sign up, contact Penney at 745-3360, or e-mail ffscb2@uaf.edu.

Contact J.J. Harrier at valleylife@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.