How to stay cool/Warm when you cannot idle the truck???

I'm a company driver at JB Hunt. Jb just put Espar heaters in all their trucks. They run off the battery, but burn diesel at the rate of one gallon every 24 hours to generate heat. They are CARB compliant. The cost, to Jb Hunt anyway, was $800 per unit. I'm sure that's a discounted price since they bought close to 5,000 of them. Google Eespar for more info.

My opinion of them: When they installed mine, I had them put a brand new set of batteries in, my old ones just weren't getting the job done. (they had paid for a wrecker to come jump start me 3 times that month so they agreed.) It took the guy that installed the Espar about 4 hours to get it installed. The unit is about the size of a toaster oven and is mounted underneath the bottom bunk, in the area between the side boxes. They told me I'd lose some storage area, but it wasn't near as bad as they made it sound. It actually heats up the truck faster than the engine does. It's quiet, inside the cab you'd never know it's on. When you go outside, you hear a wooshing sound coming from the catwalk area behind the sleeper. The downside, it's battery powered. My truck has a feature when the amperage drops below a certain level, it will sound an alarm, which will usually wake me up from a dead sleep, then shut everything off, including the Espar. This isn't so much a problem when it's above 25 degrees. It will heat up the truck without working too hard, I can usually get 8-9 hours of heat out of it without the truck complaining. Below that, the heater is working is running constantly, and you only get 4 hours. So, you have to get up in middle of the night, fire up the truck and freeze your nuts off for about 30 minutes to charge the batteries back up. Above 25 degrees, it works pretty good. Basically, if you turn it up on high, the truck will turn it off in about 4 hours, you turn the thermostat down to about halfway to about 60 degrees, it will give you 8 hours, but when it's real cold, it's running in high mode no matter where you set the thermostat. My guess is if these trucks were better insulated it would work a lot better.
But if I were an owner operator, I'd consider buying one because of it's low cost, especially if I were running the west coast and needed something CARB compliant.

 

My husband said he is taking his generator next trip home. This one is a 2000 (not sure what that means) and is very quiet. he said he will have it under the cab while he is on layover so he can use all his appliances, DVD/TV, coffee maker, microwave. I asked him where he's going to store it while driving and he said in the cab.

I have no idea how he does it but he charges batteries with it so I can plug my computer in etc...

 

MrMustard I have the same heater but mine uses seperate batteries. I also have the battery powered a/c that is also part of the NITE system. Only takes about 6 hrs of driving to complety recharge the batteries when driving down the road. The two batteries will run the ac for about 7-8 hrs before they run out of juice. (the heater has no issues as it only runs the small heater fan).

the ac works fine as long as you follow the instructions. cool truck down first then close the bunk curtin to minimize the amout of space needed to be cooled. the vents are on the back wall of the sleeper and blow right on me. (i need to use a blanket at night in the summer time while sleeping in places like Tx, La, Ms etc) I am going to look into this spring of putting larger batteries on it to hopefully last a little longer this summer. (I think the ones on it now are 600 amps)

The heater, works great, I have to keep it on the lowest setting so I dont get roasted like a turkey while sleeping.

I use a little honda generator for power. (the 2000 watt portable one) just run the powercord in through the window and have plenty of juice for tv/sat tv reciever/ laptop/ cell phone charger etc (i use a power strip for multiple things) and will last over 12 hrs on a single gallon of gas. has paid for itself many times over.

 

My Espar was great for the first few months, but last night I woke up at 4:30 am, the dash was beeping telling me it was time to fire up the truck and recharge the batteries. Great. I pulled over at 11pm that night, so I only had it on maybe 5 hours. It was 28 degrees outside. Reached up, turned the key, NOTHING. Battery was completely dead. Now it's going into the shop later on this afternoon. I want it back working the way it was before. The only other thing I run is a 12 volt coleman cooler, and a laptop with a 300 watt inverter that I plug into the lighter socket. I rarely if ever watch tv. I usually keep the heater turned all the way down too, it can roast you out, and 55-60 degrees is the temp I like to sleep at.

 

It is only about the size of a small suitcase (maybe 18-24 in long/10 wide and 18 high) i keep in in my frame mounted tool box while driving. (used to keep in on the floor in front of passenger seat but when I added the tool box it got a new home). When using it i just put it on the ground in front of the rear wheels and use a chain with a padlock to chain it to the frame. I have a 25 foot ext cord that i just run in through the window and have instant shore power. (right before I go to bed i turn if off and put it back into the tool box mostly so I don't have to do it in the morn). they sell them at camping world model EU200iA is the one I have, not sure of the price as i have had mine for a few years. But i think they are around 1k (+/-). I like it because the maint is easy and cheap (uses about 3/4 qt oil and takes about 1 min to change that is the only maint really needed). It also had the benifit of being portable so you can use it at home if you loose power.

 

YankeeTexan, could the toolbox where you put your generator, like maybe have mesh screen in it with a lift up or down cover so you could just leave the generator in the tool box with a lock on it, there for not having to take it out?? just asking.

 

I was at the Flying hook in Resaca Georgia I-75 exit 219 I think it is,summer of '06.Saw an old cab over Corn Binder parked in there and I KNEW he was an owner op.He had a small gas/diesel generator mounted on the catwalk with an extension cord running to a window A/C unit mounted to a piece of plywood in the passenger side window hahaha It was priceless to see that.I would almost guarantee he got better fuel milage than most conventionals with opti-idle/Icon idle.If you aren't that hard core you can get one of those 12v fans to plug into the cigarette lighter and I know with decent batteries in the truck you can run one of them for a 10 hr break no problem. In the winter months,they make heated blankets that plug in to the 12v sockets as well.Put it on the mattress and sleep on top of it with a heavy blanket and you're good to go.I know at least the International 9400i trucks have a low voltage interrupt so if the batteries get so low it cuts power to interior accessories and lights until the engine is started but I never had it cut power on me.

 

I called OSHA here in idaho and asked if they had any authority over this matter of companies not allowing trucks to idle and no other means of heat or cooling, OSHA said you have to file the complaint thru the state OSHA office in the state that the company terminal is in, then they will investigate the company and the problem, So maybe the problem with california can be adressed by OSHA in california, wouldnt hurt to call and ask for those of you who live and work there or have to go there a lot of the time to deliver. Just trying to help you all out.

 

I suppose you could do that. But then you would have a way for water, salt, and other crap to get on to your stuff in the toolbox. (I pull tankers and keep all my clean fittings in the box as well). You would still have to take it out to fuel it. I just find it is not a big deal to take it out, add fuel, run it and put it back in the box when I am done with it for the night. (Gives me an excuse to to a final walk around the truck before turning in for the night.)