Kicked Out By IdleAire???

IdleAir is a service provided by some truck rest areas, where you can run a "hose" into your truck for heat or cooling, so you can shut it down. They charge for this, but it cost's far less than idling. They estimate that by 2008 there will be one Idle-Air type slip available for every 14 trucks who need them. APU stands for Auxiliary Power Unit. These are devices - usually diesel generators - that are installed on the truck, and provide auxiliary air and heat, so you can shut down. They save a lot of fuel, but most of them cost a fortune ($6,500 to $10,000). There is one company (Lifeforce Energy) who makes one for less than $3,000. Should be able to find them by typing Lifeforce APU into your browser. This is all good, because, you are right, it's all about the environment and greenhouse gasses. We need to do our part too.

 

Another naive question here, what is the advantage of using an APU over idling? If an APU burns diesel, what is the difference?

 

less than 0.1 gal/hr.....typical truck idles anywhere between 0.5 and 0.7 gals/hr depending rpms idle.

 

There is no APU on the market that burns .1 gal/hr. - sorry. Most claim to burn .2 or so, and there are 2 that claim .1 gph, but if you look up the specs from the engine manufacturer, you'll find different. The facts show closer to .25 gph. None-the-less, that's about 1/4 of what trucks consume idling, which is a real savings. The problem is their initial expense. Most sell for $6,000 to $10,000. It takes a lot of fuel savings to pay these numbers off. Interesting enough, there is a new APU company (Lifeforce Energy Corp.) who makes a Propane APU that sells for less than $3,000. If you type Lifeforce APU into your browser, you'll find them. $3,000 makes a lot more sense to me.

 

I wouldn't discount the .1 gph claim simply because the manufacturer states otherwise. Just like automobile manufacturers, I am sure these folks probably place specs of .25 or so because they know that number is easily obtainable, rather than list the .1 gph that the APU can probably average in many situations.

Regardless though, it is far less than what a big CAT engine will be using, and is much better on the environment.

 

Thanks for the input

 

Not sure if I like the idea of propane. Lifeforce says a tank should be fine for four days on the road. I realize you can bring extra's but sounds like more trouble than its worth.