Running Geni while driving for A/C (instead of using truck)

[Ride Everything]

Hello all - We just purchased a Class C and are coming from a Toy Hauler. To help with MPG, would you be better off running the geni and the coach's A/C while driving rather than blasting the A/C in the cab?

When we had a motorhome back in the day as a kid, that's what my dad used to do. He also had a 454 Big Block in a Class A he was dealing with, but he swore up and down it saved fuel costs.

Curious what some of you all do.

Thanks!

[MrJoe]

I've never bothered comparing if running the genny uses less gas than not. We run it when needed. That's why it's there. I have seen others claim that when running the genny verses just using the engine, the genny uses less... I'm not so sure. Kinda like running with the windows down verses using the A/C and the chicken and the egg...

[davel1971]

your not going to save anything running 2 engines instead of 1

[MillerTime]

I don't think you will see any drop in mpg with the truck ac on.

Unless you are driving a little 25+ mpg car that only has 75hp, you won't notice a difference. And on the 25+mpg car u will lose mpg with windows open-vs ac on. I've tested it on my 100+mpg daily commutes.
If you think the genny will save you $, go for it. But if your driving a 10mpg gasser, I doubt you'll even notice any change in fuel consumption- and less if its diesel.

MillerTime- Future Sabre Handler!!

[funfinder5]

For us we have 3 kids (and 2 labs) in the back playing random games and watching tv in a 32ft motor home. There is no way the cab air can cool all that!

I run both (cab air and house AC) ...
1: We live in Texas, it might be 60 degrees in the morning when you wake up, but by the time your on the road it's already above 70 degrees and climbing.
2: The cab area is a hot box with the least amount of insulation.

[KB3MMX]

It's more of a comfort issue than MPG.

I used to run our 7.5Kw Onan QuietDiesel all most all summer long while travelling in our Renegade Toterhome, it kept the interior nice and cool in 90F+ heat.
Fuel mileage wasn't noticeable as the consumption was so low.

[tbob777]

Originally Posted by funfinder5

For us we have 3 kids (and 2 labs) in the back playing random games and watching tv in a 32ft motor home. There is no way the cab air can cool all that!

I run both (cab air and house AC) ...
1: We live in Texas, it might be 60 degrees in the morning when you wake up, but by the time your on the road it's already above 70 degrees and climbing.
2: The cab area is a hot box with the least amount of insulation.

When we had our Class A in Texas, this is what we did also. We needed both to cool living space and make the front (with huge window) tolerable.

Gas savings or not, we kept cool!