More and more instant hot water systems

[TurnThePage]

Some of the brands I've been following and considering have switched to instant hot water systems. I don't know if I've ever heard anything good about them. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

You have to waste water to get the hot water. You can't take a low pressure, water conserving shower. My current old school 6 gallon water heater has provided more than enough hot water in any increments we've ever needed, and it doesn't waste water or propane doing it.

At least one brand requires winterization even if temps are near freezing. Pretty much useless up here except in the summer.

I can't figure out why people would want them in an RV unless they always camp with hookups where it's always warm.

At least some brands are including the water miser feature that recycles the "unused hot" water back into the fresh tank.

Am I making too big a deal about this?

[deltabravo]

These types of water heaters are called "tankless water heaters"

Here's a few useful videos on them:

The Problem With RV Tankless Water Heaters

RV Tankless Water Heater. Should I Get One? (Pros vs Cons)

Best RV Tankless Water Heater!

[valhalla360]

TurnThePage wrote:
Has anybody ever swapped in a conventional water heater? I wonder how much work that would be?

Depends if they retained the space for it.
- If they just put a hatch and turned it into storage, probably not a huge project. Mostly redoing the hole, some plumbing, electrical and propane lines. Likely keep it simple by putting the controls close to the unit.
- If they designed the rig from start for tankless, you likely don't have to do quite a bit more rearranging of the furniture/cabinets to fit one.

[valhalla360]

I think it would be a decent (but not great) option if you mostly are on full hookup sites.

Reality is most people don't boondock, particularly among newbies. With unlimited fresh water and gray tank open to the sewer, you just turn it on and let it run.

Heck a lot of folks don't even use the onboard shower but use the bath house, so really only maybe used for doing dishes.

On smaller trailers, it can also help trim weight (not without other compromises). A 6 gal hot water tank full of water is likely going to weigh close to 100lb. A tankless, is likely under 10lb. Some small trailers only have 700-1000lb of payload, so 100lb is a big chunk of weight available for payload.

Having had one on our boat, not a fan of them.

[pbeverly]

Hmmm, my hot water tank is at the front of the TT and the shower is at the back. So a lot of water is wasted while it travels from the front to the back waiting for the water to get hot.

I like my 6 gallon tank though. Main heating is electric and when we do showers/ washing dishes we do the combo electric/gas and don't run out of hot water.

[TurnThePage]

Has anybody ever swapped in a conventional water heater? I wonder how much work that would be?

[bucky]

I'm talking about the cold unused water filling up the waste tanks. Again, A big issue with no sewer dump at the site.

[TurnThePage]

StirCrazy wrote:

bucky wrote:
If the tankless units don't send the unused water back to the source that's a huge problem with CGs that don't have sewer hookups.

a normal tank water heater doesnt either so I don't understand what your getting at.

Perhaps not clearly stated, I think the point simply reinforced the original statement (mine) that they are wasteful because you have to waste so much water before you get usable hot water.

[StirCrazy]

bucky wrote:
If the tankless units don't send the unused water back to the source that's a huge problem with CGs that don't have sewer hookups.

a normal tank water heater doesnt either so I don't understand what your getting at.

[Second_Chance]

One problem with the on-demand WHs I don't see mentioned above is the fact that, since they are not constantly heated, they're not well-suited for use in very cold temps (they will freeze and crack the heat exchanger). Winterizing has to be done carefully to not have the same thing happen during winter storage. I'm in the "what were they thinking" camp (pun or not as you prefer) as far as using them in RVs and will stick with our 12 gal. tank-style WH, thank you.

Rob

[p38fln]

I switched to the Excel Tankless water heater from a 6 gallon tank. The 6 gallon heater was fine as long as we could space showers out, but we've got children that need baths (because sometimes you NEED a soaking bath to clean up some of the unholy messes they can make) and the 6 gallon heater just couldn't get the job done. Grey water tank is good for two baths before it has to dumped. I used it for doing dishes as well, it works fine. I fill up the sink with hot water and soap, let it soak, quickly rinse the dishes off after they soak. The water flow required to make the thing work is extremely low, barely a trickle. I swapped the shower head from a 2.5 GPM to a 1 GPM shower head and the water comes out toasty hot, the bathtub has to be filled up at a trickle - this was a $225 38K BTU unit not a $800 60K BTU model.

[mleekamp]

We have a tankless at home, going on 7 years now. We love it and since it's on the other side of the wall from the shower, hot water comes about the same time as it did with a tank....very quickly.

For our RV's we've owned, they have always had 6 gal tank heaters. I do like the tank heater in an RV since I can heat the 6 gal in the morning, and it tends to stay hot all day for when you need it (like dishes or hand washing) without using more gas.

80% plus of our camping is in summer. Can't tell you how many times I took a shower without hot water at all...because I never turned it on. Usually in the summer months the water is warm (for me) already.

Lastly I'll say this: I can see the value of tankless and tank....most likely one of 2 things is happening: (1) its a cost savings of some kind for RV manufacturers to install or (2) its a feature being put in to show RV's are keeping up with the times (so to speak).

[bucky]

If the tankless units don't send the unused water back to the source that's a huge problem with CGs that don't have sewer hookups.

[LMHS]

We removed the 6 gallon water tank water heater from my daughter's truck camper. I hung a small lp EccoTemp L5 tankless water heater that we used to use on a food cart. We do have to turn the water on more than a dribble to kick the burner on. It's set pretty low. Makes a really hot shower. We only use the water thru the 12vDC water pump which exceeds the gpm water flow the water heater requires for the burner to kick on. Takes about 3 seconds to get hot water to the bathroom sink/shower head. Takes about 5 seconds to get hot water to the galley sink. You need to leave the water running or the burner kicks off. So if you do "navy" showers, a tankless probably won't suit you.

In the winter, I disconnect the water heater inlet water hose and drain the hose onto the shower floor. I pull the "pin" to release any water that may be in the tank still. And that's it. It's easy to reconnect since it just hangs on the wall in the wet bath. It also heats up the wet bath while showering too (the rooftop vent stays open 24/7).

[pasusan]

TurnThePage wrote:
I can't figure out why people would want them in an RV unless they always camp with hookups where it's always warm.

At least some brands are including the water miser feature that recycles the "unused hot" water back into the fresh tank.

Am I making too big a deal about this?

I totally agree. We've rented cabins that have those and I can't imagine why they'd put one in an RV. You have to have the water running constantly - it works in a shower (if you have lots of water), but not washing dishes (unless you leave the water running). Tremendous waste of water IMO. :R