Solo, you got an Espar? Details, please!

[lowrange]

I didn't want this to get buried in that other thread.

When did you get it?

Where did you get it?

Did you need an appointment?

How long did it take to install?

Bunk heater and block heater too?

How much?

Anything else?

TIA

[BanditsCousin]

I have one of those. They are the cat's meow.

[Malaki86]

My truck has a Webasto in it, but they're almost the same. Also, this is a company truck, but I'll give you the best answers I can.

When did you get it?

It was installed in my truck when I was first assigned to it last March.

Where did you get it?

Did you need an appointment?

How long did it take to install?

Our shop install our Webasto's. They order them direct from Webasto. I watched them install one in a 2006 Columbia in under an hour start to finish.

Bunk heater and block heater too?

Ours are bunk heater only.

How much?

I was talking to the shop foreman last week about the cost of the heaters. He said that when they started installing them last March, they cost $700 per unit. They're paying $1,200 per unit now for the exact same thing. Webasto's reason for the huge jump in cost is because of the demand for them now. Also, I had a flame sensor go out on my heater. It took almost 3 months to get the part.

Hope the info helps you out a little. I do know that they're well worth it. The heater will run you out of the truck if you set the thermostat too high and fall right to sleep (trust me on this, it's not fun). The only downside is that I still have to run the truck if the temp gets too low for a couple of reasons: the fuel isn't being circulated, so it will still gel when it's extremely cold out and the batteries and the cold don't mix. There's nothing like having to find someone to jump you when it's -5f and 20mph wind because the batteries don't have enough juice to crank the engine after sitting in the cold all night.

[Rev.Vassago]

I will echo everything Mal said about bunk heaters. They are the greatest thing since sliced bread. They use hardly any fuel (about 0.01 gallon per hour - that's a tenth of a gallon per night), and they will cook you out of the truck. I was running mine last night, and several times I had to open the window because it got too darn hot.

I wish they had a legitimate thermostat that you could set to a specific temperature.

Good luck finding one though. From what I heard, they are almost impossible to find right now. Even with the cost of fuel dropping, I doubt demand will slow much.

[lowrange]

Thanks, gents. HHhhmmmm....

In my mind, I've set off the five months of November-March and I'm calling that winter. I've decided I've just got to survive these five months and I'll be fine. I've managed to steal the first two weeks of winter on a Chattanooga/California/Texas loop so now it's down to 4 1/2 months Hopefully, I'll spend part of the rest of the 4 1/2 months at the house, part of it in the south, that at least narrows down the number of nights in the cold.

Mine is still a lean, mean business. I could use a new driver's seat, I need the hinges on my door replaced, I don't have satelite TV yet. What I am doing is finishing the house- hopefully repairs to the ceiling, insulation and siding before Christmas. It'll be good to get that done.

So that leaves, do I do the Yukon Jack (not the liquid kind), survivalist, cave man thing or do act like a sissy like all of you and get myself a bunk heater? Last year, calling my own shots with Landstar, I just sat at home or dodged a lot of the snow and when I did get caught in the cold, I laid under 6 of those cheap U Haul furniture pads much of the time. It ain't fun, but like I said, I've set it in my mind I have to get through 5 months of it and everything will be fine again.

Let's see, when it's very cold you still have to run the tractor!? Ok, like sitting at home or running in the South, those nights don't count in terms of savings. No thermostat and opening the windows, I dare say there must be nights when that's more of an annoyance than laying under a bunch of blankets. Parts can be hard to get ahold of if I can find a unit in the first place? Fuel has come down, idling isn't as expensive. (How come a bunch of guys were idling in California in perfect weather yesterday? People throw their money away and break the law at the same time?)

Well, I don't know what I'm going to do. If I do free up some money for this thing, I've still got to find one and a place to install it? Let's say it was 25 degrees out, would any of you feel confident heating your bunk without also heating your anti-freeze? Is that block heater a must?

Caveman trucking...well, I slept in cold holes in the ground in the military. The fact is, I've got a nicer, cozier house than I've ever had. Maybe someday I need to have a tractor with an easy chair in place of the lower bunk, a quiet APU and satelite TV (skip the chrome, who needs chrome ) Maybe someday I'll move beyond roughing it to getting everything all cushy and comfy. In the meantime, finish the house, get my door fixed, and maybe try to locate a bunk heater...maybe. Or should I get VuCube first?

[Rev.Vassago]

You shouldn't need a block heater at 25 degrees anyway.

There is a thermostat, but it isn't one like you have in your house. It is like the one in your truck, where it is pretty much guesswork as to where to set it. After a few times, you'll understand where it should be set.

Even with fuel at $2.80, you're looking at the difference of using 10 gallons of fuel for an entire night vs using 0.1 gallons of fuel (plus or minus, of course). That is a difference of $27.72 per night. That adds up fast. Use it 43 nights, and it's paid for itself already (at $2.80 per gallon). Not to mention the wear and tear you aren't putting on your truck.

[mike3fan]

Did you ever call that number in Michigan that I gave you? Try them and see what they say.
www.esparofmichigan.com

As I have stated before it was without a doubt the best single purchase I ever made for my truck.

Last week I bought the VuQube,and although ridiculous in price I love it,from the time I stop and throw the thing on my roof I am watching satelitte tv in 5 min.

I am also trying to run very lean at this time,I just installed a new shelf for my microwave and added a toaster oven,new refrigerator and am gonna start taking all my food with me and try that for the winter. I am planning on it being a very slow winter with a lot of sitting around.

[Malaki86]

My Webasto has a true thermostat. It will cycle the thing on/off to maintain a specific temperature. But, it takes 15-20 mins for it to get up to full operating temperature. So, if you turn it up too high then go right to sleep, you'll either wake up too cold or too hot. Too hot is a nightmare.

I was in NC last winter. That trucks heater wasn't the same, so, no, it didn't have a true thermostat, plus I'd only had the truck a few weeks. When I parked, I set the temp control and went to sleep. About 3 hours or so later, I woke up barely able to breathe. The truck was so hot inside, you could barely touch anything in it. I had to open the 2 condo windows, plus roll down the windows in the front. I even started the truck and turned on the A/C to cool things down. Mind you, it was about 30f outside when this happened.

If you get a bunk heater, make sure you get one that has a true thermostat. The Webasto in mine has the thermostat built into the temp control knob. There is also a remote temp sensor available for it.

[lowrange]

Ah, this is good. I understand that strategy, Mike. If you can really get comfortable out there, even in lean times, you can stay out there following the buffalo and usually make what you need. I remembered you have an Espar, I just didn't pursue it because of the summer and because I was looking for another job (growing more content where I'm at right now). I might carve out some money for this.

How cold do you guys think you can get away with shutting off your engines and not heating the block? If I don't always need the bunk heater, and I need the block heater on still fewer occasions, I might be able to get by with one without the other. I could have an awesome satelite TV system for the price of a block heater.

I'll look into the thermostat, too. For the life of me, we spend so much time in these trucks, I never could figure out why they don't spend a few hundred extra and install some kind of climate control. The word of mouth advertising about how great the climate control is would pay for itself in advertising costs. They put them in cars that people are in and out of but don't put them in semis that we practically live in. Anyway, a bunk heater with a thermostat- got it

Man, it sure is warm in AZ today!

[vavega]

or go with a 12v mattress pad for $80.

guaranteed you won't wake up stiff

[mike3fan]

How cold do you guys think you can get away with shutting off your engines and not heating the block? If I don't always need the bunk heater, and I need the block heater on still fewer occasions, I might be able to get by with one without the other. I could have an awesome satelite TV system for the price of a block heater.

I don't use my espar block heater very much,probably less than 10 times since install but you only run it for the 2hrs right before you start up and it defintely helps with starting. I use it when it gets down around 25 or so and that seems to work. I judge when to start using it when the truck starts hard in the morning.

I think alot of it has to do with how well your batteries are. If they can handle a few 10 degree mornings then I say skip it,but if they are like mine I need the extra help.

[Malaki86]

Same here. When the temp is in the 20's, this ol' truck spits, sputters and barely cranks at times. Then again, it does have 896k miles on it.

[Musicman]

I had an Espar heater that was installed with the Thermoking TriPak we had on our last truck. My only complaint was that the damn thing would burn you out of the truck if you weren’t careful. Even parked on I-80 near Rawlins with a 40mph wind and -15 degree F temperatures it would burn you out. The other thing I didn’t like is that it was not an instant on and off device. It starts up and blows cold on low fan until it heats up, which only takes a minute or so, but then when it would shut down, it would slowly “wind down” over the course of maybe five minutes (I guess to burn off any fuel that was in the burner, or maybe cool the system down first). The result would be that it would get a little warmer than I would have liked in the truck by the time it would shut off. Also, they mounted it under the bunk and put one vent in the front where my legs would be if I were sitting on the bunk at my computer. The thing blows so hot that it will literally cause skin burns if you let it hit your bare skin for too long. Also the cat would freak out when it would kick on for the first few weeks we used it. I think he thought the truck was on fire or something because he would howl like crazy for the first few minutes after it would fire up.

It certainly did do the job or warming the truck up though. Also, if you have weak batteries, I might be concerned that it could run them down. That’s not a problem if you are using it in conjunction with an APU that will keep your batteries charged, but as a standalone product, I don’t think the Espar has the ability to charge your system.

All in all it is a very efficient way to heat your truck, if not a perfect solution.

[lowrange]

I couldn't just buy new batteries and put them in for the winter, and then take them back out in the spring and get the rest of the life out of the ones I have, could I? Batteries don't like to sit being unused, do they? I'm just looking for the best strategy, particulary since I might not use the block heater very much either. For ten or fifteen nights a year, I could idle my engine for eight hours in the worst weather.

If I wasn't concerned about running my batteries down, that electric blanket
I knows how to tuff it if it means getting more money to all the various places I need it besides the truck.

[rank]

You cannot possibly exist in this business without a bunk heater. Period.

[Musicman]

You cannot possibly exist in this business without a bunk heater. Period.

If you stay south of I-40 you could easily get away with it. In fact, when I bought my first truck, I remember shutting down overnight in Elgin, IL. It was -12 degrees F when I woke up in the morning. It was close to 0 in the truck, but I was nice and comfy in my sleeping bag. The trick is to gut it out long enough the start the truck up and then get back under the sleeping bag 'til the truck warms up. It all depends on what you are willing to deal with.

Now I wouldn't dream of doing that... success makes you wimpy. I wouldn't dream of having another truck without a good APU. I love my Comfortmaster!

[lowrange]

If you stay south of I-40 you could easily get away with it. In fact, when I bought my first truck, I remember shutting down overnight in Elgin, IL. It was -12 degrees F when I woke up in the morning. It was close to 0 in the truck, but I was nice and comfy in my sleeping bag. The trick is to gut it out long enough the start the truck up and then get back under the sleeping bag 'til the truck warms up. It all depends on what you are willing to deal with.

Now I wouldn't dream of doing that... success makes you wimpy. I wouldn't dream of having another truck without a good APU. I love my Comfortmaster!

Ok, so I'm not alone in this.

Yeah, I guess I do need a bunk heater. What we were talking about is staying out on the road even if it means sitting around waiting for loads. That means getting really comfortable and really content spending time in your tractor.

Where would I go to get someone to take out my lower bunk and put a recliner in it's place? (no, I'm probably not there yet financially, one thing at a time)

Check it out, a really comfortable recliner on the floor, the bed on top, satellite TV, internet access, bunk heater...Now, I could wait contentedly for days with a set up like that! Who does that kind of stuff? Chrome shop mafia?

[Rev.Vassago]

I've been planning to do that very thing for a while now. I'd also like to add a kitchenette and a bathroom with shower.

In the event that I do put a recliner in, it will have heat and massage.

[rank]

I've been planning to do that very thing for a while now. I'd also like to add a kitchenette and a bathroom with shower.

In the event that I do put a recliner in, it will have heat and massage.

Why not buy the Dog House? Isn't he out of business now along with Pepe, Merrick ad Steve?

[lowrange]

Why not buy the Dog House? Isn't he out of business now along with Pepe, Merrick ad Steve?

I miss Pepe!

Steve's over on CDLofit.com, it didn't sound like he's out of business. Doghouse got that new truck (had low miles one morning) is he out? Merrick, what's he doing?