Overnight in Anthem at zero degrees

[tvolk]

Spent last night at entegra factory ( plugged in ). Temp was just above zero.

With electric and diesel switches 'on' , I was very comfortable. Turning the fireplace on took out whatever chill might have been near the front of the coach.

I am confident that there is no other rv of any type that I have owned ( have owned a LOT--and this is my third dp after having A,C,B,trailers, fifth wheel, pop ups)------that would have kept me anywhere near as comfortable. No way to have known from inside that it was low single digits outside.

Just thought I would 'share' that info for anybody concerned about cold.

And , to top it off, Joyce and crew cooked pancakes and eggs for me before I had to leave to go home and back to work!


Tom Volk 2013 anthem deq

Not to sound like a broken record, but entegra continues to exceed any reasonable customer service expectations as well as ( one year into ownership) proving that their product is outstanding.

[fla tom]

I am hopping that insulation will work as well for Florida summer heat (or more like betting on it)

[DSL417]

Forwarned...you gotta do something about that big glass thing up front during the summer...pick spots facing North if possible and some type of external cover...we just added Magnashades.

That window is a heat engine Summer, and Winter.

[spinn]

X2 on DSL's comments, we also went with MagnaShade, great product. Prior to that we had 3M Crystalline window film installed and although it works well (especially when driving on a sunny day) when you park and the sun comes blazing in you need an external shade.
In the Texas sun you would not believe the heat transfer through the windshield.

[brobox]

Tom, if you were there this morning, hopefully you saw my coach being picked up by transportation to head south here to FL..

After watching the evening weather report, I hope it didn't ship today. If it did, it's nice to know the driver will be comfortable. The insulation was our #1 reason to stay with what we knew about Entegra's.

[Cruzer]

You guys make me sick. The only way I can keep from freezing in our Allegro Bus in that situation is if they would let me park it inside the Entegra shop at night.

I've looked hard at the Entegra insulation and (other than Newell - which is a whole different ball game) I haven't found anything to match the Entegra insulation. I'm looking forward to it (some day when my bank account, their floorplans, and the sun and moon are all in alignment).

As to keeping summer heat out -no worries. I went to an FMCA convention when it was hot and we checked out the various cabinets inside the different coach brands to see how hot they were. Quite a few could toast your bread while some were mildly warm but Entegra's upper cabinets were the coolest around. Entegra's just never cease to impress me.

However I did find a fifth wheel that similarly impressed me. It was Continental Coach, based out of Shipshewana, IN. So much that I did an article on them for RV Magazine. What will be interesting to Entegra owners is how Continental Coach got that way. My contact there was Jay Troyer, who worked with his father Glen at Travel Supreme. When Glen sold Travel Supreme to Jayco, Jay bought in and became a partner in Continental Coach. He brought all the design know-how with him and the Continental Coach has the same insulation, 3/8" plywood decking, and everything else that Travel Supreme and Entegra have. It's just that they have a fifth wheel hitch rather than engine under it. Turns out that the majority of their buyers are ex class-A owners who want to migrate to a fifth wheel but don't want to give up the amenities of a higher end diesel pusher.

This might be a bit off-topic but I thought you Entegra folks might be interested in it.

[tvolk]

Chuck

I got to the factory just before dark last night and left this am just after 8 am . All I saw was a few coaches in their ' to be serviced ' lot where I parked overnighte. I had an appointment-and just took advantage of the 24 hour break in the weather . ( I live 2hours from the factory in lower Michigan). So--I did not see anything to do with much of anything! I will go back to pick up my coach when it is done ----and when the stupid snow winter weather weather allows --or Memorial Day ---whichever comes first this year.

Mark--the difference between my 2010 phaeton and this entegra is , quite simply, night and day as far as heat and cooling ---due to better insulation. As discussed, only newmar appears to be close to entegra on this-although tiffin for 2014 claims to have added an insulation layer.

Do not mean to rub it in ( tiffin vs entegra insulation) --but the fact that so many entegras are /have been sold is partly your fault for being one of the first to tell everybody about build quality and construction of entegras!!! I can't believe that they have not given you some sort of killer deal to move from your Bus to an entegra as a thank you.


Tom Volk

[Crippsfl]

Originally Posted by tvolk

Chuck


Do not mean to rub it in ( tiffin vs entegra insulation) --but the fact that so many entegras are /have been sold is partly your fault for being one of the first to tell everybody about build quality and construction of entegras!!! I can't believe that they have not given you some sort of killer deal to move from your Bus to an entegra as a thank you.


Tom Volk

That's right - you got it - it's ALL Cruzer's fault!!

Being serious for a minute. I must say that reading Cruzer's evaluations were a big part of my due diligence when searching for a coach. His reporting is fair and even handed and I respect his opinions.

Thanks Cruzer

Ralph & Janet
2015 Cornerstone 45K (on order for June delivery)
2913 Ford Explorer

[757driver]

Originally Posted by tvolk

Spent last night at entegra factory ( plugged in ). Temp was just above zero.

With electric and diesel switches 'on' , I was very comfortable. Turning the fireplace on took out whatever chill might have been near the front of the coach.

I am confident that there is no other rv of any type that I have owned ( have owned a LOT--and this is my third dp after having A,C,B,trailers, fifth wheel, pop ups)------that would have kept me anywhere near as comfortable. No way to have known from inside that it was low single digits outside.

Just thought I would 'share' that info for anybody concerned about cold.

And , to top it off, Joyce and crew cooked pancakes and eggs for me before I had to leave to go home and back to work!


Tom Volk 2013 anthem deq

Not to sound like a broken record, but entegra continues to exceed any reasonable customer service expectations as well as ( one year into ownership) proving that their product is outstanding.

That is comforting to know Tom, thanks for your first hand observation. More reinforcement that I picked the right coach.

[oneal]

We spent a night at a Walmart in northern PA after we picked our Anthem up a month ago in similar temps with no shore power. Had the gen set on auto so it cycled 6 or so times in the night to maintain the batteries and we were snug and happy. The local pizza shop found it funny when we called to have pizza delivered to the Walmart parking lot in a snow storm. I had driven over 600 miles in snow and sleet that day so it was a great ending to a little adventure.

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by oneal

......no shore power. Had the gen set on auto so it cycled 6 or so times in the night to maintain the batteries

Sounds like you need to adjust your auto generator start system. Cycling the generator on and off 6 times in one night sounds like too much! The generator should not need to start until the batteries are at 50-60% state of charge and then should run long enough to bring them to at least 80-90%. This is a ballpark figure, you can fine tune to your preferences from here.

Probably set the generator "start" voltage at 11.5 This is a batteries "under load" voltage, that would equate to about 12.1 if the batteries were at rest.

[ShadowBolt]

The first weekend we spent in our new 2014 Aspire I though we had made a big mistake! August 1st 2014 and it was 104 in Plano. We were parked where the sun shown on the front of the coach all day. We could not get the front of the coach under 82 degrees with all three A/C's on. We went to town and purchased aluminum foil and covered the inside of the windshield. This cured the problem and as soon as we got home we made something better. On my Beaver I have a sun shield that you could see through but stopped 98% of the heat. It worked great but I had to drill and install snaps. I did not want to do this on the Aspire so we bought material and made a cover that goes inside. It works and did not cost must at all but an outside unit works much better. There are two answers for me. The magnetic unit is killer but expensive. We don't like to stay in Texas in July and August so if we are going to stay in the coach in summer we go to one of our favorite places......... Ouray, CO. or Ruidoso, NM. We have never had to worry about the windshield heat in Ouray or Ruidoso.


JJ

[brobox]

Originally Posted by ShadowBolt

The first weekend we spent in our new 2014 Aspire I though we had made a big mistake! August 1st 2014 and it was 104 in Plano. We were parked where the sun shown on the front of the coach all day. We could not get the front of the coach under 82 degrees with all three A/C's on. We went to town and purchased aluminum foil and covered the inside of the windshield. This cured the problem and as soon as we got home we made something better. On my Beaver I have a sun shield that you could see through but stopped 98% of the heat. It worked great but I had to drill and install snaps. I did not want to do this on the Aspire so we bought material and made a cover that goes inside. It works and did not cost must at all but an outside unit works much better. There are two answers for me. The magnetic unit is killer but expensive. We don't like to stay in Texas in July and August so if we are going to stay in the coach in summer we go to one of our favorite places......... Ouray, CO. or Ruidoso, NM. We have never had to worry about the windshield heat in Ouray or Ruidoso.
JJ

JJ, just throwing this out for reference. We had these on the TS and they held up great and simple to install. I ordered a set for the Entegra and have them ready to go. I think the front windshield is only about $270. I ordered front and both side window with the storage bag for just a tad over $400 with shipping. RV Sunscreen | Our Sunscreens, Shades and Covers

[MRUSA14]

Originally Posted by brobox

JJ, just throwing this out for reference. We had these on the TS and they held up great and simple to install. I ordered a set for the Entegra and have them ready to go. I think the front windshield is only about $270. I ordered front and both side window with the storage bag for just a tad over $400 with shipping. RV Sunscreen | Our Sunscreens, Shades and Covers

I just got the Prompt RV Sunscreens for my Anthem, and they are as good as Magneshades at half the price. Goes up in 60 seconds with no ladder required, and you don't have the magnets attached to your windshield all the time. Call me a happy camper.