As temperatures rise across the UK, it is very tempting to chill out in your car with the air-conditioning on full blast, but the flip side of that is knowing that keeping your car cool can come at a cost as it uses the engine’s power to function.

With fuel prices at record highs, it is a dilemma for many knowing that the air-con can speed up your next trip to the petrol station, but the kind chaps at one of the UK’s leading car maintenance companies, Kwik Fit, have revealed a hack which could save everyone some vital cash.

Amongst the myriad of buttons located on our dashboard related to heating and air-flow, there is an often underused button - air recirculation - which many drivers don’t even know what it does.

Speaking on the Kwik Fit blog, Bradley Jando said that using the air recirculation button could save you a significant amount of fuel.

“The compressor requires energy to run your vehicle’s air conditioning system and so will use a small amount of fuel whenever the system is running,” he said.

“It could increase your fuel usage by as much as 10%, and the effects are particularly noticeable on short journeys.

“When you initially set off, the air con has to work hard to bring the internal temperature down to a comfortable level.”

Meanwhile the RAC have their own advice for using the air recirculation button, saying: “Start driving, but keep the car windows open for a minute or two to let all the hot air escape, do this until the air from the vents feels cooler than the outside temperature.

“Once the air conditioning is blowing cold, close all the windows and switch to (pre-cooled) recirculated air.”

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