APU Info

Almost any of the brands out there that use a small diesel powered generator set are going to start in the 6500-7000 dollar range installed on the truck. Some go beyond that, depending on features and capacities. And, some dealers are making good money off of the installation, charging a separate fee for that, as much as 1500 for one brand I heard of. If you search around, there are some units sold used that can go for less, but right now they are a very popular item and as a result they hold their value well. About 8-9 months ago I missed out on an almost new demo model Proheat that ended up selling for slightly over 2000.00.

I ended up buying a new engine, and a separate generator, and am building my own unit. It will do the same job, and will end up costing me about 2300 when I am finished.

Another alternative is to mount a generator on your truck and put in a small electric heater and a rooftop RV type A/C unit. I saw a guy with one of those deals a few weeks ago, talked to him a bit on the radio. He bought a small diesel powered portable generator and installed it on the truck, had a rooftop A/C, and had undel 1500 tied up in his setup. I also know a guy who put a unit from an older motor home on his truck. He installed a gas tank, buys 5-6 gallons of gasoline a week to run it, and spent less than 800 for his unit.

The factory built add on units are the most expensive, but there are possibilities if you get creative and don't let yourself get hung up on having a specific setup.

 

If you want a rooftop unit off of a motorhome, they are available brand new fairly cheaply. Doing a search on Ebay will bring them up, look for a name like Coleman and they pop up, and are priced reasonably. One of the reasons I like them is that they can also have a heater grid installed, and that takes care of the winter heating problem as well. Or another option is a nice small silicone tube heater on the floor that heats in winter. They can be found advertised in "Mother Earth News" and aren't very expensive.

One point to make with the rooftop A/C units is that you do need to run a good heavy grade electrical cord to the unit, and secure it so it doesn't rub through or chafe. But this is an inexpensive item running under 20 dollars at any good hardware store.

As for generators, inexpensive foreign made ones go for 600and up on Ebay, and better brands like Kubota or Yamaha sell for 1500-2500 or so. Add a box from the local chrome shop, and add the generator to the back of the truck or the side framerail, and you can set up an inexpensive genset to a tractor at a lot less price than the big companies sell for. Adding air vents to the box and maybe a vent fan for assisting an air cooled motor are fairly simple at home shop tasks.

My view on generators of course includes the argument about fuel costs and the savings from running a small engine vice the large one. But I also come at it from the other side of the coin. As a truck owner, you only have so many hours of life in the engine before it needs to have a rebuild done, and ever one of those hours costs you in maintenance. Eventually, you will divide those hours into the cost of a rebuild on the motor. So I believe that the hours of running time I put on the engine should be spent making money, not just idling. And I find it very hard to justify running a 400 hp motor, in poor operating conditions just to keep my fanny warm or cool. I do it some in my company truck now, but don't like it. I have a good sleeping bag and only idled 6 nites this past winter, but I don't have as much options when summer comes.

Hope this info helps.

 

Unless you just want to get rid of it, the APU simply bolts on to the next truck. It only takes a little bit of effort to swap it off the truck, and reinstall it. So the depreciation of the APU isn';t a reral concern as long as the APU engine is still in the hour range of it's lifespan. And most of the factory built units are set up with engines that have a 20,000 hour or more lifespan, as long as the oil is changed regularly. The little Perkins 2 cylinder I bought is rated for that as a minimum, and should last much longer than that with routine maintenance and care. And based on the roughly 150 nites I spend out a year, if I ran it for a complete 10 hour break every nite, that's over a 13 year lifespan on the motor. So I would buy one with the intent of moving it from tractor to tractor when I swap machines. And in fact, that's precisely what I plan to do when I buy a truck in the future.

 

I'm glad someone posted about this subject, because I now have something to offer on the subject of APU's, through personal experience.

I received a new truck two weeks ago with an APU installed. I am in love with my APU....

It is the unit that Freightliner is currently marketing through it's Alliance Parts brand network of parts. It was featured at the Louisville Truck Show this past March, if anyone happened to be there. The best I could do for pictures and details is;

http://www.fydafreightliner.com/images\Freightliner Alliance Premium Climate System.pdf

I'll check my paperwork in the truck to see if there is a more detailed site, because I seem to remember one listed.

The particular unit I have is the Alliance Premium Auxiliary Power Unit. It features air conditioning and heating for the sleeper portion of the cab, along with 115 volt power supplied through four outlets. As I understand it, it can be supplied with SIX outlets, if one desires, and a total of 3,500 watts of A/C power.

Draw the curtains on the truck, crank the thing up, and you will sleep like a baby. The unit is powered by a somewhat noisy 7 horsepower Kubota engine (I do like Kubota's quality, and personally own an M-110 ag tractor), but that's the good thing about it. The "white noise" of the APU engine drowns out the crap that used to keep me awake, such as the inconsiderate drivers who like to blow their horns, use their jake brakes, or rev their engines. The heat works equally well. This unit is supplied with an onboard battery charger that keeps the batteries on the truck at full charge, allowing you to use your 12 volt accessories with no fear of draining the batteries with the truck shut off, and in cold weather, you can even plug in the block heater for the truck into one of the supplied outlets, to make starting the next morning no problem in cold weather.

The unit comes in a nice cabinet that is covered in polished aluminum grating, which looks good on the truck. The downside? There are is a great deal of wiring, hoses, and lines that run from the frame into the cab, but the dealer hid them as well as is possible, and it is professionaly done. Checking the oil and water levels is easy and fairly convenient.

The one thing that sets THIS APU apart from the others is the fuel consumption. It only uses a TENTH of a gallon per hour. That saves an average of 9 gallons versus idling the truck, every time you take a ten hour break on the road. Translated into dollars and cents, that means that each day you are on the road, you could save about $25.00 at today's fuel prices. If you are on the road for 260 days a year, that's a savings of $6500.00 a year. 300 days a year? You save $7500.00 a year, and that absolutely will just about pay for the RETAIL cost of the unit, plus installation charges at the dealer in ONE YEAR.

There is quite a big markup on APU's at the moment, so be careful when you shop, and make your best deal. I will not pretend to know what the best price out there is on this particular unit, but I have been told what our company bought them for, and it was well below the marketed price of $8000.00 installed, but they bought 100 units, and as many new trucks from the dealer as well.

If anyone is considering an APU, this is one to definitely check into. It's by far the lightest (381 lbs., all in), and most fuel efficient stand alone unit. It is fully self-contained, and does not compromise the truck's existing climate control system in any manner.

Oh, and by the way, California has given this unit (and the Kubota engine supplied with the APU) their heartiest endorsement through CARB, and these days, that's a pretty good thing to have in the can, because just about every state looks to California for guidance on environmental and air quality issues. There is even paperwork supplied to that effect in the nice zippered pouch that comes with all the handbooks for the unit.

 

Don't forget to look into some of the alternatives as well. Webasto has a unit called the "Bluecool" that combines a Webasto diesel fired heater with a unit that charges and stores cooled material, then discharges air over it for the duration of a stop/sleeper break. And there is a similar system called "NITES" for No Idle thermal Environment System" that uses a similar technology with heavy duty storage batteries. They cost about half the cost of the generator setups, and are also an option to consider. If you run the Southwest, then a swamp cooler style cooled air system will work very well, as opposed to a full on air conditioning system.

 

One point I forgot to mention, is the savings in fuel mileage that I am experiencing. Pre-APU, the fuel mileage was 6.0 consistently. It is now 6.6 to 6.7 but seems to be leaning towards a constant 6.6. I think that a is noteworthy mention.