New member from Florida with questions

[Pete]

Mark, here we go again. This subject has been debated many times on this forum. I have owned both. A coach with Prevost bus air and heat,and 3 cruise airs (a 40 footer), and a 45 footer with 4 (four) roof airs and with dash air. If I had my pick again I would go with bus air. The 45 I presently have is ok, but is not as comfortable even running 4 roof airs and the dash air, especially when driving into the sun. When parked, the coach with 4 roof airs is ok, and comfortable, but you need to run all you have during the day when on the road. Soooo, in my opinion, go with the bus air. Also, you should keep in mind that in the case you should loose your Generator when you only have roof tops, or cruise airs,and maybe dash air you are out of Business while on the road. If you loose your bus air, you do have backup with the Generator and your roof or cruise airs.........Ask Andre and Ann, they just had that situation. My two cents worth! I think I hear INCOMING! I have said before, three things you don't discuss on this site are religion, politics, and BUS AIR!

[Danss]

i have 4 roof airs that cool great. when running I can run one roof air without generator. I close door to back area and turn on dash air and one roof air and away I go. Dan

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Mark you have really opened a can of worms. Next your going to ask everyones opinion on Slides or Non Slides in Buss's..??? Just kidding you.

This is really a tough question to answer and there are right answers from every side of the equation.

I don't have OTR air, and in Texas I sure wish I did have it driving down the rode. I do have 4 roof airs, and when in the heat of the year, I drive with the generator going and all A/C's running and the blinds down most of the time, which keeps me cool going down the road.

There aren't too many OTR equipped buss's out there ( IMO ) compared to the NON OTR bus, but that is just a convertors decision. Some convertors refuse to use up the valuable space for OTR and feel they have the proper cooling power with what they put in?

I believe more convertors choose not to use OTR, but for example Liberty ONLY uses OTR in their buss.

OK, now lets talk about your color preferences !!!!

What ever you decide, and you have a long list of options and wants that must be narrowed down, Your going to have lots of fun.... Good Luck and keep all of us in the loop.

Gary S.

[ajducote]

To add what Pete said, we have 3 brand new 15K BTU roof airs and on the way thru Tennessee I lost my generator due to a $16 start capacitor. All we had was the dash air for 2 days on the road. Now we got a little lucky, it was only in the mid to high 80 deg's and we made out ok with just the dash air while on the road. We stopped at a campground and ran the roof airs on 50 Amp shore power for the night. I have never had a bus with over the road air or cruise airs so I can not compare them to roof air. Right now I seem to be making out OK with my 3 roof airs, but they do run a lot when the temps get over 90 deg. or so.

[Pete]

Mark, I failed to tell you that I can run 2 roof airs on the inverters while going down the road, but I feel it over works the alternator and batteries, so I Just fire up the genset, and run all four rooftop a/c's and the dash air if need be. You will be fine with 4 roof airs, but I feel it is easier to regulate the bus air (just a simple twist of the dial on the drivers dash) than to regulate 4 t-stats on my coach. The engine generates a fair amount of heat in the bedroom that you have to contend with when you stop for the night, if you don't run an a/c in the bedrooom.

[Roadpilot]

We have 4 roof airs. Normally going down the road, we run 2 roof airs off the inverter and close the door to the back. We also have the dash air going. So far this has worked fine. We could start the genset and run all 4 roof airs but so far haven't had to. We bought the bus this winter in Florida which was cold. We haven't tried the roof airs in 100 degree temps, but our Essex, which was also 45' had 3 roof airs and it was quite comfortable in very hot weather. I'm hoping the Prevost with 4 roof airs is as good.

[Alek&Lucia]

Hello Mark,

Right now we have H3-45 Royale with OTR.
I have to admit, that after having 2 Prevost buses with out OTR,
if we have a choice we will always prefer a coach with OTR,

Alek

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Mark, Welcome to the asylum. This is a topic that has been discussed and debated, but in the end if we step back from defending the coaches we have or have had the numbers will tell the story.

OTR is about 80,000 BTUs of cooling. It was designed to cool 45 people on a coach while driving through the desert southwest in July. Keep that number in mind.

Cruise Airs and roof airs each have around 13,000 to 15,000 BTUs of cooling. I do not know what driver's air has for capacity. It is probably akin to a system that might be found in a large SUV.

If you want to be able to stay cool and comfortable while driving in the summer heat, when the outside air heat is being absorbed by the coach as it travels down the road there is no substitute for OTR in terms of performance. That is the reason why entertainer coaches will be found with 5 roof airs. That number of units approaches the capability of the OTR. Keep in mind that entertainers and their crews who use the coaches are accustomed to continuous generator usage also so they are not the least bit hesitant to use all the cooling capacity available if needed.

If you have not seen if discussed keep in mind that if you do not have OTR, do not plan on Cruise Airs as installed in our coaches to perform as well as they should as a substitute when traveling. They are best when the coach is not in motion. They require cool air passing through the bay mounted condensing units for maximum efficiency. When you need cooling the most the Cruise Airs are likely to let you down because the heated air radiating from a hot highway is likely to prove inadequate for cooling and the units will shut down unless the units have been modified by forcing additional air through the coils or by having a water misting system for cooling.

Roof airs are the best alternative to OTR when in motion, but again use caution. Either plan on running the generator, or make certain you know and understand how many units will run from your inverters.

As to the number of AC units, if you have three on a 45 foot coach you must stay ahead of the game. Those units will be hard pressed to bring a heat soaked coach down to a comfortable temperature. Four will struggle. If one fails to operate you may find yourself very uncomfortable. You never want to let the coach get warm if you only have three units because they just will struggle to maintain temperature, much less pull it down. The reasons for debates on this topic is probably the differences in how different people tolerate heat. I'm with Jack. 72 degrees is getting close to perfect, and on hot days it is likely to take four units to get to and to maintain that temperature.

Finally, energy is energy is energy. Don't let anyone provide you with a helping of manure with respect to trying to convince you any of the choices and how they are powered is any more or less efficient with respect to the use of diesel fuel. If you want to maintain a specific temperature it will take the same amount of energy to get to and to maintain that temperature. Whether it is powered by the generator, the bus engine or inverters which are getting there power via the bus alternator about the same amount of fuel or power will be consumed.

[tdelorme]

Mark, three years ago I was asking the same questions that you are asking. We live in Texas ans had never owned a coach that would stay cool driving west in the summer. We owned three Foretravels and a Country Coach and all would stay cool while parked. The first coach we fell in love with was a 1997 Marathon without Prevost OTR air. Four roof airs and dash air. The salesperson went into great detail about how running a couple of roof airs off the invertor and the dash air would keep the driver cool no matter how hot it was outside. This was in mid May and it was about 85 degrees that day so I said show me. We headed west from Arlington to Ft. Worth right into the afternoon sun. The test drive lasted an hour or so and the front of the coach was never really comfortable and I was hot when driving. We ended up buying an older liberty with OTR air and three cruiseairs. Any Prevost equipted with properly maintained OTR air and three or four Cruiseairs will keep the driver and passengers cool no matter how it gets outside. I love my Cruiseairs. The Liberty we now have has OTR air and four Cruiseairs and staying cool is never an issue.
Also, I just don't get it when it comes to running roof airs on the invertor. Use the gen set and run whatever you want to run. It's the cheapest power around and if you take care of these units they will last forever. Good luck in your search. We have several first class dealers in your area including Ken Robertson and Liberty Coach. You won't go wrong with either company.

[Kenneth Brewer]

Mark, in my view there is one thing more to emphasize: With OTR (Prevost) the coach is cooled without closing the blinds/drapes. In fact, the OTR has to because it won't work with the blinds down because the OTR ducting (on non-slides, certainly) by using ducting/grating at the base of the windows. Closing the blinds blocks the air and blows/bows out the blinds. Addtionally, when the OTR is used (and I would follow Jon's advice about using CruiseAirs while on the road), it will cool the whole coach whether the bedroom and/or galley door is closed or not. Now I guess I will wait for the incoming as well.