Embassy RV

[Punkinhead]

Originally Posted by avanti

Premier is definitely NOT the same company as UndermountAC.

Beats me what's going on then. UndermountAC claims to be the supplier for Embassy. Owners are saying Premier is the supplier. Maybe it's a convoluted supply chain where UndermountAC puts together a system from Proair components then sells it to Premier who resells to Embassy and does the installation.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Is this floor composite Thermo-Lite board from SpaceAge Synthetics? My floor is from them, very strong reasonable insulator. They gaining market in large RVs.

It is a bit different than Thermo-Lite board and likely has better insulation value.

Embassy builds the floors themselves in 1" to 2" thicknesses, depending on the application. It is an insulating foam core in a pultrusion between two fiberglass panels. They embed metal around the side perimeter and in areas where they have cabinets. Then they attach the aluminum cabinet frames to the floor with adhesive and fasteners into the metal stipes embedded in the floors. The composite/pultrusion floor is attached to the van steel floor with a strong adhesive. No fasteners penetrate the OEM steel van floors.

There is a small image of the floor composite on their web site:
https://www.embassyrv.com/models-core-features/

Embassy RV is one of four company under single ownership in Elkhart.
Embassy Specialty Vehicles - https://www.embassysv.com/
Tecstar Mobile Kitchens - https://www.tecstarmobilekitchens.com/
Fortress Composites - https://fortresslamination.com/

The Tecstar web site home page shows better images of their pultrusion panels. They look a lot like what Total Composites makes in Canada.
https://totalcomposites.com/

There have been rumors that Embassy RV is working on a Class-C box type RV much like the Winnebago EKKO and Advanced RV B-box. Embassy SV already makes numerous box van vehicles for other purposes.

[Rocinante]

Originally Posted by Davydd

We don't have a TV installed. We didn't have the obvious traditional plan location to view it from back beds or sofa. We seldom watched TV anyway without cable hookup in a private campground which was a rare event. We do have a dome directional antenna on the roof to pick up over the air TV and also a cable hookup, but we watch TV on our iPads and even our iPhones wirelessly over the air, cable, and streaming from anywhere in the van with an app to connect wirelessly. With streaming Youtube, Hulu, Netflix, AppleTV, etc. there is more than we can watch and you can pick it up with WiFi and cellular. I think traditional TV sources are diminished. I'm thinking of putting a mount for the iPads in both beds to watch handless but haven't made it a priority. I already have the solution with iPhones. We haven't used over the air or cable yet other than curiosity and testing--just streaming with WiFi and cellular. You can't get some NFL games other than streaming. We already watch those 6-10 episode and season series streaming. That may be the future.

Agreed. My far better half would be perfectly happy with zero TV's in the van. We generally stream / watch on computers, tablets and phones anyway, so not having any TV in the van is certainly an option.

The one scenario I'd like to service with one of the existing dumb displays is by using the HDMI input so we can stream from the phone and watch it on a larger screen via the HDMI out adapter we already have for our iPhone. However, we don't want that feature badly enough to replace either dumb display with a smart TV that would support AirPlay. An HDMI cable, an HDMI-out adapter, and a screen we already own is cheaper, and it works just fine.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

It is a bit different than Thermo-Lite board and likely has better insulation value.

Embassy builds the floors themselves in 1" to 2" thicknesses, depending on the application. It is an insulating foam core in a pultrusion between two fiberglass panels. They embed metal around the side perimeter and in areas where they have cabinets. Then they attach the aluminum cabinet frames to the floor with adhesive and fasteners into the metal stipes embedded in the floors. The composite/pultrusion floor is attached to the van steel floor with a strong adhesive. No fasteners penetrate the OEM steel van floors.

There is a small image of the floor composite on their web site:
https://www.embassyrv.com/models-core-features/

Embassy RV is one of four company under single ownership in Elkhart.
Embassy Specialty Vehicles - https://www.embassysv.com/
Tecstar Mobile Kitchens - https://www.tecstarmobilekitchens.com/
Fortress Composites - https://fortresslamination.com/

The Tecstar web site home page shows better images of their pultrusion panels. They look a lot like what Total Composites makes in Canada.
https://totalcomposites.com/

There have been rumors that Embassy RV is working on a Class-C box type RV much like the Winnebago EKKO and Advanced RV B-box. Embassy SV already makes numerous box van vehicles for other purposes.

Thank you for this info. Good concept but with some issues:

1. Labor intensive, single sheet of one inch Thermo-lite with polyurethaned cabinet mounts would be stronger and perhaps less expansive.

2. Using aluminum framing can cause unwanted heat transfer between van’s chassis and frames so it is important to have thermal breaks between frame and the chassis. I am not sure how good are thermal breaks in Embassy floor.

I looked a few of Embassy videos, and found the owner knowing a lot but perhaps not enough. Selecting one way or a highway on such a polarizing issue like managing human waste led him to corner himself into a small market niche, OK in strong market but could be deadly with market downturn.

[Punkinhead]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

Agreed. My far better half would be perfectly happy with zero TV's in the van. We generally stream / watch on computers, tablets and phones anyway, so not having any TV in the van is certainly an option.

In the "S" floorplan Embassy mounts the TV in a swing down frame that sits flat against the ceiling when not being used. In their other floorplans the TV looks like it wastes valuable counter space. I never use a TV at home, let alone when camping so I'd definitely remove the TV from the non-S models and probably would even remove the flip-down TV from the S model and use that space for something like bedding that could be folded flat. Plus I'm very weight conscious and every pound counts so I wouldn't want to carry a TV that I'd rarely use.

[Punkinhead]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

There is a small image of the floor composite on their web site:
https://www.embassyrv.com/models-core-features/

Embassy RV is one of four company under single ownership in Elkhart.
Embassy Specialty Vehicles - https://www.embassysv.com/
Tecstar Mobile Kitchens - https://www.tecstarmobilekitchens.com/
Fortress Composites - https://fortresslamination.com/

The Tecstar web site home page shows better images of their pultrusion panels. They look a lot like what Total Composites makes in Canada.
https://totalcomposites.com/

Holy smokes, my wife better not see this picture:

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

The one scenario I'd like to service with one of the existing dumb displays is by using the HDMI input so we can stream from the phone and watch it on a larger screen via the HDMI out adapter we already have for our iPhone. However, we don't want that feature badly enough to replace either dumb display with a smart TV that would support AirPlay.

Just plug in a Fire Stick (or equivalent). Instant "smart TV". The Fire Stick supports AirPlay, plus if your phone can create a WiFi hotspot, it can stream directly from most any source. They cost almost nothing when on sale (which is often). You don't need the expensive "4K" ones.

In our new van, we will have just a "dumb" monitor (not even a tuner) -- cheap, light, compact and high quality) with a Fire Stick feeding it.

[Rocinante]

Originally Posted by avanti

Just plug in a Fire Stick (or equivalent). Instant "smart TV". The Fire Stick supports AirPlay, plus if your phone can create a WiFi hotspot, it can stream directly from most any source. They cost almost nothing when on sale (which is often). You don't need the expensive "4K" ones.

In our new van, we will have just a "dumb" monitor (not even a tuner) -- cheap, light, compact and high quality) with a Fire Stick feeding it.

Good idea, thanks. We know the larger dumb TV has an HDMI port, so if I don't pull it down I'll add a Fire Stick. Once I confirm the smaller dumb TV has the HDMI port I think it has, I'll know I have that option as well.

(edit) I just learned that Fire Stick doesn't appear to support Airplay, but Roku sticks do, so that's the direction I'd go for this. All the same, thanks for the idea! (/edit)