hot water heater

[Cpatterson]

new to the form.


i have a 2017 voltage 3970. my hot water heater wiring fried after this past move and now we have no hot water, im looking to move to a tankless HW heater. has anyone made this conversion? if so, which model did you go with? we are a family of 4 full time living in our camper.



Thanks!

[ATCguy]

I have not made the conversion, but have previously done some research on it. Concluded that... for me as a solo traveler, it wouldn’t be beneficial. However, for a family of 4, I can see where it might be desirable.

The most important thing to realize is that they do not run on electricity, but rather propane... as that’s how you get that instant & continuous heat. And they don’t sip it... they GULP it. I can easily see you having to refill a tank every 2nd or 3rd day... and that’s if you’re not using anything else that burns propane (furnace, refrigerator, etc).

[franktafl]

If you are thinking of installing a standard tankless hw heater like you get at Lowe’s, think about how you will wire it up and how much amperage it will utilize. Without being able to use propane, boondocking will be difficult.

Welcome to the forum by the way and let us know which way you go with your issue.

Frank

[sundancer 87]

Originally Posted by franktafl

If you are thinking of installing a standard tankless hw heater like you get at Lowe’s, think about how you will wire it up and how much amperage it will utilize. Without being able to use propane, boondocking will be difficult.

Welcome to the forum by the way and let us know which way you go with your issue.

Frank

There are propane tankless heaters available. Albeit they need 110VAC to power the circuit board. However, the circuit board doesn't utilize a full 110VAC at all times.

[dsol]

Personally, I wouldn’t switch. I think the major benefit of tankless is the continuous and basically unlimited hot water but in a trailer you will likely be limited by your fresh water storage tank and taking short showers and doing your best to limit water usage anyway.

Now if you are going to have city water and power all the time and/or full time then likely a different story.

My water heater heats quickly and works great on both propane and electric and if it failed I would probably replace with the same type. I have never run out of hot water even when at nice campgrounds with power and water and taking long showers and using lots of water.

Now I will admit that if another faucet is turned on (usually the kitchen) while in the shower then it wreaks havoc on the temperature of the shower. However, that is likely the small size of the water pipes, and unless you re-piped from the hot water heater would likely have the same issue regardless of the type of water heater you use.

[Snafu82]

I wouldn’t limit myself to only lp. Most rv parks electric is included in the cost, lp $$ and as previous posts tankless drinks lp