APUs- Electric vs. diesel

From the people I have talked to, you don't get a full 10 hours with electric. I have a diesel tripac and wouldn't have it any other way. Also, [now this is only what I have heard] it takes about 6 hours to recharge the batteries on the electric apu, so when you are on your 34, you will be idling more than you are using the apu. Especially in the summer. Some folks seem to like them ok, but diesel is the way to go.

 

I have a carrier diesel apu. it's not bad. I am positive I wouldn't want to sleep on top of a battery pack under the bed in the bunk. but then I don't know anything about the electric apu's that are in the prostars. any how I have been working on a better apu system that is going to do away with the need for another engine in most cases. and bring more versatility to the use of the apu at half the purchase cost. and near zero repair cost.

 

Funny you ask this. Went through this today with TK M an I'm dealing with. He NOT even recommending his own brand battery operated apu. Order a TK apu with dpf. Cali Carb compliant. Cause if you have to change down the road to be compliant it will cost a lot more. Now without dickering final deal yet that one installed almost 15k. Non Dpf ones around 10k installed.

 

Had a "Artic Breeze" electric apu system on the last truck, worked good after they put the 2nd condenser/blower in the sleeper ( in series with the 1st one) but that shortened the useful time... altho I got pretty good at finding an 110 outlet that wasn't being monitored...lol, also the Shore Power ppl got to know me.... their product works quite well... and the cost is much less that using the main engine to recharge the batteries.. The best thing was that it is quiet compared to a diesel APU, the worst thing is that You are dependent on a battery farm... I had 6 huge deep cell gel batteries & got 10 hrs of use per cycle.

 

$3.50/gal
2/3 gal/hour idling modern 13L
1/4 gal/hour apu


At a $15,000 price tag, the breakeven point is at ~10,274 hours of idling (you save $1.46/hour in fuel with an apu vs idling). If you idle 8 hours every day for 4 months out if the year, it would take over 10 years to reach 10,274 hours idle time...

 

What about the wear and tear saved on the truck engine? Is this significant?

 

i have an elect one and it sucks. go with a fuel one.. in the summer time ur lucky to get 5-6hours on it then ur back to idling.. plus it don't keep your truck charged up in the winter time or summer time so in the long run you will be idling anyway...

 

Had an electric in a Prostar which was also equipped with the auto start/stop for the engine. When the coolant temp would drop below a certain point or the battery voltage got too low it would start the truck and run it at around 1100 rpm for about an hour then shut back off. Worked well in hot or cold tho. I was never left uncomfortable.