APUs are a driver retention tool. I've made it through 2 summers WITHOUT an APU and have only idled all night 4 or 5 times. I use IdleAir ALOT and have many tricks to avoid idling.
idleair runs a little over $2 a hour, its not a huge savings but can save an o/o almost 50% in some cases compared to idling plus you can get internet and cable with it. I did not idle much last summer at all but I was fortunate to be in the North most of the time where it was a bit cooler and at the time had the prostar where I could open the windows but even with windows open and a fan directly on me I could not sleep in the southern states during the heat even during some nights especially in Phoenix 93 degrees at 2am. Now im in a freight with no windows just those little vents, lately its been in the 70's here and I wake up sweating with the sun beating down turning the truck into an oven. I am not looking forward to the temps hitting the 85+ mark, my idle will probably be much higher this time around.
I thought that until I learned of the huge tax credits companies are getting for buying them. (Part of some go green program). And saving a modest 25 gallons per week over a four year period is around 20k at current fuel prices.
That's the absolute best you could do, provided you ran an APU for 10 hours a days 365 days a year versus idling for that same period. Based on my current idling, I would only save about $1000 over a 4 year period. That's won't even cover the maintenance cost on an APU during that time, much less recover a $10K+ capital cost.
dropped that looad of water at the walmart dc in fontana. then got a 2 store stop in bakersfeild. the deadheaded back to porterville dc. got a store drop here in long beach and p/u a backhaul in san bernardino going to porterville dc. do that p/u tomorrow since i only had 45 min. left when i got here in long beach. spend the nite here in the parking lot.. been a busy day. pretty much non stop all day...sorry posted in wrong section lol
