| Author | Message | ||
| matt massoni (Mmass)
Registered Member Username: Mmass Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 207.69.137.40 Rating: |
Looking at a comfort master apu to do both heating and cooling for the drivers compartment. The specs. look good and found that over 30000 btus for heating and cooling as well as battery charging and 3000 watts left over for extra 115 volts of use. I plan on putting this in the center of my forward bay of my model 10 eagle. Any thoughts on if this is a good idea? Don't want to run A/C hoses from the back, and i have found that the price is about the same as a 10000 KW. generator. It can be run going down the road and using less than a half a gallon of fuel per hour. Any thoughts would be welcomed. Have been changing tubing on my 10 for quite some time and am looking forward to start putting stuff back together. | ||
| John MC9 (John_mc9)
Registered Member Username: John_mc9 Post Number: 507 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 66.217.101.215 Rating: N/A |
Re: *heating and cooling for the drivers compartment *found that over 30000 btus for heating and cooling as well as battery charging and 3000 watts left over for extra 115 volts of use. *found that the price is about the same as a 10000 KW. generator A small RV propane heater generates 30kbtu... A few oil filled electric radiators will do about the same at around 1,500 watts each. A 10kw genset will easily run three AC units, or a helluva big basement model (or any mobile home closet model), and have power to spare for all the other toys... Oh... and.... You'll probably want to use the power-pole electric to run the heater and AC unit while at a campground? That combo unit won't accept outside power, will it? I'd personally opt for a big genset and all it's flexibility, before spending the same amount for such limited usage. (Message edited by john_mc9 on September 20, 2007) | ||
| Donn Reeves (Donnreeves)
Registered Member Username: Donnreeves Post Number: 13 Registered: 3-2007 Posted From: 69.115.76.219 Rating: N/A |
My nieghbor has one in his over the road truck. When he runs it all night to keep things warm for an early departure, it sounds like it is in bed with me. My bedroom is on the back side of my house, his truck 200' away on the front side. It is loud! Not exactly loud, but a base single lung thumping that would be almost impossible to quiet. It's already in a very nice sound box. I would find one to see in action before putting any money down. Donn | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces)
Registered Member Username: Pvcces Post Number: 1134 Registered: 5-2001 Posted From: 65.74.67.130 Rating: N/A |
"A small RV propane heater generates 30kbtu... A few oil filled electric radiators will do about the same at around 1,500 watts each." John, it would take about 6 of those heaters at full power to produce 30,000 BTU because they are good for about 5100 BTU each. That would mean 78 amps at 115 VAC. You would have to have 230 VAC available in order to get enough current to run them all. Is this what you meant? Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 Suncatcher Ketchikan, Alaska | ||
| John MC9 (John_mc9)
Registered Member Username: John_mc9 Post Number: 510 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 66.217.107.114 Rating: N/A |
Tom - Yup... They're not rated high with btu, but they hold the heat in the oil, and seem like the old cast iron radiators while running. That seems to be the advantage with that type... They remain hot while the power's off. They cycle and use much less power than the standard fan-type coil heaters... We ran one in the rear of our Georgie-Boy 37' while in Massachusetts a few winters back. The rear propane heater quit, and I didn't want the bathroom pipes to freeze during the sub-zero blitz.. One unit kept the temperature high enough to prevent freezing. It was equal to the 30k btu propane heater, prior to it's failure, Three of those oil filled units would have sufficed for total heating, I'm sure! (well... pretty sure) | ||
| matt massoni (Mmass)
Registered Member Username: Mmass Post Number: 2 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 207.69.137.7 Rating: N/A |
It will take power from power pole but I plan to use a 50 amp service while parked. Mainly want the powerplant for road travel when needed. I went to a local truck stop and found several apus in operation and they are located under the sleeper on the passenger side. Found noise level to be less than most generators on motorhomes. Plus the generator will be behind the front axle so noise should not be a problem in the bedroom at night. Mainly looking for services for the drivers compartment during road travel. Thanks for the information posted so far. | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1073 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 74.12.83.122 Rating: N/A |
Truck APU's have some distinct advantages, if spec'd right. First, stay away from air cooled, lots of noise, less service life. The control packages of the good ones have auto start features, according to temp, setting the clock or battery voltage condition. Options that would be quite handy for a busnut. Pay close attention to the BTU and wattage outputs, and how they plan to attain the heating, some integrate an Espar or Webasto bunk heater, that will only be in the fine print. Otherwise, function for function, there is some good value out there. After all, if rolling your own was much cheaper than their pre-engineered packages, every cost conscious fleet would be piecing it together like we do! happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| David Evans (Dmd)
Registered Member Username: Dmd Post Number: 192 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 96.232.83.239 Rating: N/A |
I got excited about these for awhile but they are as pricey as a true genset which could run some a/c units and heat also. Blackrock 3 cyl unit runs a Yanmar diesel (good) and does have a lower stated fuel consumptionbut you have to adda 30lb HVAC unit to a 425lb APU. I'm still wavering back and forth between an O man 5500 propane unit or a diesel unit. The APU does show a lot of promise for a bus nut but i think we have to large of an area to heat or cool. If you were to use it as a pilot's area unit while traveling and then plug in upon arrival it would be good. |
