Beating The Heat...

I'm in a 2018 KW T680 with no APU...just Espar bunk heater, how can I keep my truck cool without draining the battery? Are there any good products to help keep my truck cool as well?

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Depending how warm, idle it

I have to keep my truck super cool for my English Bulldog. So, I have both the front window curtains and the sleeper curtains between the seats and bunk. I run everything on full cold when I park just to get ahead of the heat, and don't shut the truck off until your curtains are closed. I also use a rechargeable fan, and a plug in fan, just to keep the air moving.

One of the driver's in a dog owners FB group swears by this stuff. They trimmed it to fit every window, including the upper bunk windows, and it's kept in place by the snap covers for small windows. I had already ordered the ones that actually fit my truck, so I can slow down the heat with a small airgap between the reflective material and the actual curtain.

If your company allows idling just idle it and use your ac and sleeper ac. I sleep better with my truck idling. My company won't let our trucks idle between 32 degrees and 68 degrees.

Fortunately, the kenworth t680 has only one ambient temp sensor, located on the bottom of the drivers mirror. Since our trucks aren't very accurate at temp readings and I dont want Edna getting a cold, a pocket hand warmer taped over the sensor and a beanie covering the bottom of the mirror assembly certainly helps and coincidence would have it that she nicely idles all night.

Our fuel bonus is suspect at best. I'll take comfort and annoying liberals over a fuel bonus any day.

Brilliant idea. Will squirrel this away for the future.

If your company allows idling just idle it and use your ac and sleeper ac. I sleep better with my truck idling. My company won't let our trucks idle between 32 degrees and 68 degrees.

Fortunately, the kenworth t680 has only one ambient temp sensor, located on the bottom of the drivers mirror. Since our trucks aren't very accurate at temp readings and I dont want Edna getting a cold, a pocket hand warmer taped over the sensor and a beanie covering the bottom of the mirror assembly certainly helps and coincidence would have it that she nicely idles all night.

Our fuel bonus is suspect at best. I'll take comfort and annoying liberals over a fuel bonus any day.

Yep, I have a case of them, because inevitably the Apu is toast when it's right on the line of the temp settings for our idle parameters.

Brilliant idea. Will squirrel this away for the future.

If your company allows idling just idle it and use your ac and sleeper ac. I sleep better with my truck idling. My company won't let our trucks idle between 32 degrees and 68 degrees.

Fortunately, the kenworth t680 has only one ambient temp sensor, located on the bottom of the drivers mirror. Since our trucks aren't very accurate at temp readings and I dont want Edna getting a cold, a pocket hand warmer taped over the sensor and a beanie covering the bottom of the mirror assembly certainly helps and coincidence would have it that she nicely idles all night.

Our fuel bonus is suspect at best. I'll take comfort and annoying liberals over a fuel bonus any day.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.