What's up with all the trucks idling?

This.
I would love an apu. I can't justify the cost. I had one on a truck prolly 15 years ago. I think it was a rigmaster. The dang thing was down more than it was up. I'm sure they have gotten better. However, a guy on another thread said he just paid $12k installed for his. There is no way to break even on that......that I can see. Maybe if I was a reffer guy.....idling more than driving.....lol.

 

I have had a lot of problems with the one that came on this truck. I am sure it has saved me money but I did not buy it and install it. With that said if I had bought it, I am guessing I would not have had the issues since I take care of my stuff. This one was not working when I bought the truck so sure it was abused.

When I get my new truck I am installing the
TriPac Envidia® All-Electric APU
It will also have a solar panel on the roof. It was cheaper to buy this vs the Reg Try Pac. Not sure on the cost since things have changed since I had the quote done. I believe it will work good enough for what I do most times. Plus should have less issues so cost should be lower in the long run. Batteries are high but maybe by the time I need new ones after the first set up they will be cheaper.

 

The problem I see with electric is longevity. In the winter they aren't going to last long because of temp. In the summer you are going to have to idle to charge the batteries up. No way that battery packnis going to run a/c for a reset and cook food, watch TV, charge phones, etc. Solar panels are very finicky. If they are dirty, they make less power, if they aren't getting direct sun, they make less power. So unless your parked facing south all the time.....good luck. Not to mention, when you park, usually there isn't much sun to be had. If you run daylight hours that is. Plus the more you use batteries, the less they last. They only cycle so many times. This also depends on how far you discharge them too. I dunno what the thing to do here is. I thought about installing a marine a/c unit. Then running a generator.
I was eyeing out those go green apu. They seem decent. They use off the shelf parts. So they are easy to repair yourself. Plus they are on a shelf. So the whole unit slides out of the enclosure for easy repair and maintenance. I dunno how much they cost though. I imagine, more than I want to spend though.

 

I will for sure see how the APU I spec will work. I hardly ever spend my ten hours in the truck so as long as I can get 6-8 hours of use I will be fine. Everyone is different for sure.

 

So here is what I see on their site. Requires a minimum 270 Amp Alternator. I don't know about you, but mine is about half that. It's only 8000btu a/c. That don't seem like it would be enough in the dead of summer. It doesn't have any info on projected longevity while running the a/c...
Etc. However, if it does what you want it to do.....it's all good. Post up some reviews when you get it. I would be Interested in hearing about it.

 

This your grocery getter?

 

That’s pretty #### close… lolol

 

Lol, I’m not putting solar strips on my flattop, maybe on some plastic fantastic but not the Pete. If your margins are so thin you need another engine built on your truck to stay cool you may need to rethink why your not making enough to just burn diesel.

 

I don’t. I picky about how my truck looks and I didn’t spend $170k on it to cobble up something when I have a bunk heater and factory inverter. It’s a novel idea but I simply turn the microwave on and cook my food right when I park while the engine is cooling off. If I want something warm to eat in the morning then I turn the microwave on and eat when the truck is warming up.

I explained why I don’t have an APU in my other post, so now I’ll say I don’t want a generator and gas can strapped to my truck making it look tacky.

You have a way of posing questions that come off as the way you are doing it is correct and those that don’t agree are foolish.