How are the heat and air systems working in your cargo vans and equipment? Are your engines idling to keep up with the demand for more heat in the dead of winter? Are your employees sweating in the cabs of their vehicles in the summer? John Dennehy of Eberspaecher shares why the brand’s heaters can help save money, are better for the environment, and the many applications they can be used.
MWS: CAN YOU GIVE A BRIEF SUMMARY OF EBERSPAECHER?
DENNEHY:
The Eberspaecher Group is one of the world’s leading system developers and suppliers of exhaust technology, vehicle heaters, and bus air conditioning systems. Eberspaecher NA, formerly Espar Heater Systems, offers product solutions for climate control, sells and services fuel-operated heaters, and provides air conditioning solutions for a variety of applications including trucks, vocational vehicles, vans, off-highway equipment, and more.
Eberspaecher heating systems use 12- or 24-volt battery systems, gasoline, or diesel as an on-board fuel and operate as diesel or gasoline furnaces with sealed combustion chambers. Eberspaecher Air heaters use forced air as a heating medium, while the Eberspaecher Coolant heaters circulate the engine coolant to transfer heat.
Eberspaecher strives to ensure HVAC climate control/comfort, product reliability, product support, and the opportunity for end users to experience non-idling technologies that improve air quality (as more pollutants are emitted when a vehicle idles). Eberspaecher is recognized by both the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that help fund the Clean Cities program in the USA and participate in Clean City initiatives.
MWS: WHAT DROVE EBERSPAECHER’S SUCCESS IN THE UNITED STATES?
DENNEHY:
By far, a commitment to customer support. Our five regional managers in the US believe in taking care of our customers. And those who work in Mississauga, Ontario—in customer service, engineering, and trainers, along with the rest of the support staff—believe in the same thing. We aren’t alone in this goal; we have a strong relationship with our dealers and business partners—OEM truck manufacturers, Thermo King, and Bergstrom, to name a few—that help provide the support necessary to be number one.
Our regional managers are the face of Eberspaecher and, with their vast industry experience, can walk the walk and talk the talk when supporting the customer. This is a relationship business, and treating our customers with care and listening to their needs helps our company grow and create products that make sense.
Speaking of innovation, we pride ourselves in being a company that doesn’t wait for the next fad; we create it. The global name of Eberspaecher has many segments of business including exhaust, battery management, high voltage electric heaters, and, through the acquisition of the Kalori brand in 2018, an air conditioning product line. We don’t wait for things to happen, we make them happen.
Eberspaecher’s Hydronic S3
MWS: WHAT MAKES EBERSPAECHER STAND OUT FROM ITS COMPETITORS?
DENNEHY:
The quality of a German-made product speaks for itself. The Eberspaecher fuel fired heaters were designed to be a long-lasting heater that can be serviced completely. The current design Airtronic Series One heater can be maintained for as little as $25 and less than an hour of labor relative to its ability to be accessed. The Hydronic engine coolant pre-heater also has a complete rebuildable format, but the greatest change to this model came within the last two years. This heater was built with a focus on reliability. Past experiences helped design a heater that will carry us through many years of improved product reliability and, perhaps someday, will have the ability to communicate with the truck. We live in a world of new and best, and Eberspaecher is very forward thinking when it comes to the products it manufactures.
The Eberspaecher fuel fired heaters, whether engine coolant pre-heaters or the Airtronic bunk heater, are used in nearly all major fleets and OEM truck models. With these major improvements, the competition fell back and some of the generic copies of this technology are still at the starting gate.
MWS: EBERSPAECHER SYSTEMS ARE FOUND IN A MULTITUDE OF APPLICATIONS, BUT WHY ARE THEY SO SUITABLE FOR THE VOCATIONAL, DAY-USE WORK TRUCK/VAN SEGMENT?
DENNEHY:
When I talk to our dealers and customers about the best use for an Eberspaecher product, I tell them whenever and wherever there is an idling engine an Eberspaecher product should be used to help save money and reduce engine-related failures due to idling.
I have seen some very creative uses of our heaters, and the ones that impress me most are from those needing to heat fluids or a cargo area. Our heaters are used to heat vans that move/install granite countertops, high-end pet food carriers, beverage trucks, day cab route tractor units that are parked overnight at hotels across the country, pet grooming vans, skid-steers used to move snow, RVs, telehandlers where the DEF fluid freezes and creates a unit that derates from a lack of heat, and many more examples come to mind. Your imagination is your limitation!
Specifically, as work truck engines become more efficient, an add-heater may be needed to warm up the work truck’s enclosed area to a temperature of comfort. Preheating a work truck’s engine reduces wear and tear, saves driver time and additional fuel costs, and reduces pollution during sub-zero ambient temperatures.
A work van that uses the back space as a work bench for example is now able to provide heated comfort with an Airtronic Series heater (direct air) without idling the engine in frigid ambient temperatures.
MWS: WHAT ARE SOME INNOVATIONS TO EXPECT FROM EBERSPAECHER IN THE FUTURE?
DENNEHY:
Listening to the needs of our customers and reacting to those needs are paramount. We’re working on fuel cell technologies where we crack diesel fuel creating engird that can supply an abundant amount of heat, cool, or additional power to the vehicle. On the muffler side of things, we’re working on active sound, which is the opposite of the muffler reducing sound. We want to create sound for silent electric vehicles so children and pedestrians are alerted to a vehicle on the road. We’re creating compatibility with everything CAN/LIN-bus related including current heaters and control units.
MWS: ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS?
DENNEHY:
An idling engine consumes more fuel than people think, and the wear on an idling engine is much higher. A fuel fired heater gives a greater return on investment.
Ask your favorite technician: What is the leading cause of an emission-related component failure such as a DPF? They’ll tell you excessive idle. We have the device to help that issue, save fuel, and increase the return on your investment in, typically, less than one season of usage. Fuel isn’t likely to get cheaper, and using less fuel is better for the environment and your wallet.
We have ongoing reviews of our product that prompt changes for an even more reliable system than in the past. Those in the field ask for low cost of maintenance, reliability, ease of use, and most importantly customer support.
Previously known as Espar, we are the same company but now with a global presence known as Eberspaecher—a well-known and one of the most used brands in the truck market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Eberspaecher Climate Control Systems, located in Mississauga, Ontario, recently expanded into three divisions: heaters, air conditioning, and battery management systems. Eberspaecher is a Tier 1 supplier for OEMs, and its 1,000-plus sales and service dealer network reaches both OEM and aftermarket sectors in North America. Find out more, visit www.eberspaecher-na.com or call 800.387.4800.
MODERN WORKTRUCK SOLUTIONS:
OCTOBER 2019 ISSUE
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