Looking at Liberty Prevost 97

[garyde]

Stinky. Pros: you can be in 110 degree weather outside and be very comfortable inside. The reverse is true with cold weather. And it is evenly distributed thru-out the coach.
Cons: You loose storage space ; Bay #3 on Starboard, Bay #3 on Port side.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Stinky,

Without a doubt the easiest way to stay comfortable while traveling is the OTR air and heat. It has about 80,000 BTU capacity so on a very hot day it will do a great job compared to 3 (39,000 BTU) or 4 (52,000 BTU) roof or Cruise Airs.

The biggest objection people have to OTR is the claim it takes up too much space. But let's analyze that. Open the OTR bays and you will see the two areas are only about 18" deep. Behind them are the fuel tank(s). What you gain is the equivalent of about 1/3 to 1/2 of a bay. The space utilization on the Liberty compared to others is superb. Everybody else uses up that equivalent bay space by sticking their batteries and their generator in valuable bay space up front, and then goes beyond that to compensate for the less efficient use of space by eliminating the long range fuel which is behind the first bay in the center.

Trust me, once you have both OTR and long range fuel, and a balanced loading which Liberty does by putting the generator and batteries where they are located you will appreciate how important that stuff is. If anyone wants to suggest a negative regarding the OTR is the engine power required, consider that energy is not free. No matter where it is used, there is still a price and running the big OTR compressor (which cycles and does not run continuously) is not much different than driving a big alternator which is putting out a lot of power to run the roof airs, or to run the generator to run the roof airs.

I expect a lot of whining and crying from owners of other conversions, but they know I am right.

[phorner]

Jon,

You're preachin' the Gospel here......

That OTR heat and AC is one of the defining differences between a Prevost Bus and everything else out there.....

[truk4u]

Hey, hey hey, take it easy on us poor low life forms without OTR!

[jack14r]

OTR also gives you redundancy,I heard of a situation in Las Vegas where it was 115+ and almost everyone left their coaches and checked into the motel.The coaches with the OTR just cranked up the Detroit Diesel and ran the OTR with the cruise airs and got the coaches cool and then shut down the DD.I have OTR and it will maintain 70 in the coach on a 100 degree day,it is the only way to really cool a coach.I think that most of the entertainer coaches have OTR.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Hey, when you are on that side of the fence you need to expect to have to face reality sooner or later.

The debate about OTR air and heat has raged on ever since the first converter figured out they could save serious dollars on a new shell by ordering the shell without OTR. It wasn't long before others followed.

Since the git-go every converter that didn't want to spend money for OTR has sung the same song. They claimed they were saving space and without the added drag on the engine the bus without OTR could climb the hills better and get more MPG. They repeated their claims so often the buyers started singing the same song without realizing the converters that were doing that were using up the saved bay space and more with their placement of the generator and batteries up front. If bay space is so valuable why waste it on a generator?

The folks that then shift their focus to the power consumed by the OTR compressor are also being less than honest. To produce a certain amount of cooling requires energy. Yes the OTR air compressor does take power that can be better used to climb a steep grade. If that is the case, turn it off until you hit the crest. You will never feel the difference in temps.

But if your non-OTR coach is going up a hill, how do you trun off the alternator. You don't so you have to turn those AC units off as well because the alternator also requires engine power, with the greater electrical loads requiring more alternator power. Or run the generator, retain engine power, but use more fuel per hour.

The reason OTR is rarely used by converters, apart from the above is that it takes a lot of engineering to balance the air flow in the system. Without it a converter can slap cabinetry and furniture anyplace it seems convenient. But in an OTR coach the converter has to consider the movement of air and make provisions along the entire length of the coach, not just for air discharge, but for return air. Any heating and AC specialist will tell you that is not as simple as it may seem.

Stinky, On the 97 Liberty which I have, I am still in awe of just how well that coach utilizes systems and features. I not only have the convenience of OTR, I have storage in one full bay in front, the equivalent of half a bay in the second position, long range fuel, ample battery capacity to go all night long without a generator starting, four cruise airs, and especially important to me 298 gallons of fuel. When the fuel prices were ridiculous I was able to tanker fuel and only buy at the cheapest locations. I happen to think the late 90's Libertys are as good as it gets.

[tdelorme]

We live and travel in warmer parts of the country and would not consider a bus without OTR air. But, if I lived and traveled in cooler parts of the country, found just the right unit at a good price, the lack of OTR air wouldn't kill the deal.

[merle&louise]

I can see the advantages of OTR AC. In both of my previous coaches, I experienced 2 ACs to go out in the dead of summer. In my 1987 2 of the 3 roof top ACs died at the same time; all I had was the dash air(which didn't work) and the bedroom AC. In the 1993 my son-in-law had 2 of the 3 Cruise Airs go out (you guessed it, the Bedroom unit was the only one that worked).

I would really like to have OTR AC. If for nothing else but an excellent back-up to the basement ACs and dash AC. When you are sweating driving down the road in your $300,000+ motorhome the last thing on your mind will be lost bay storage!

I like redundant systems.

[truk4u]

I have had 3 buses. The Marathon didn't have bus air, the CC did have CC's version of bus air that worked really well and now have the Liberty without OTR. It's a non-issue for us, I think I used the CC bus air two or three times through the entire summer, the dash air worked great. My Marathon also had a great dash air, we only used the cruiseair's via inverter a few times while driving.

The bottom line is, if you have to have your environment at really cold temps in order not to sweat like non sheared sheep in July, get OTR. Let's face it, I hear the OTR guys bragging about hanging meat in their buses, while the ladies are covered in blankets!