tankless water heater?

[noralee]

the 4gal atwood water heater in my 1350, 1983 just bit the dust, and i'm in the market for a replacement.

i'm considering a 6gal atwood, or a tankless water heater. thoughts or suggestions? i know a tankless will fill up my grey tank quickly, but if i were to install an outside shower that would eliminate a lot of the problem there...

someone in another thread mentioned that they thought all new campers/rvs will soon come with tankless WH which makes me think that that's the way to go. other thoughts on this?

thanks as always for your time and thoughts!

[mainah]

They work, need to be vented (portable type can't be used inside) built in one's are way expensive. In a small camper the tank type does give you 4-6 more gals. of water storage. If your parked hooked up to water and a drain then a tankless will give you endless hot water.

[mainah]

As far as new camper maybe but I don't think it will be some thing you would see unless it was pretty big. Lots of dirty kids etc. in a big camper parked at a camp ground it maybe the way to go then there would be no loss of hot water after a shower or two. The price of a built in tankless seems to be about 75% more right now then a 6 gallon one.

[Gene]

A couple of thoughts. Not sure why a tankless would fill the grey tank any quicker. You have an existing hole in the side of the camper that is the size of a 6 gallon Atwood. (the recent 4 gallon and 6 gallon are the same size, I presume the '83 was the same but I have been known to be wrong ) A new Atwood 6 gallon would fit that hole exactly I think. How would you mount / install a tankless? Are you able to custom fabricate something to fit the existing hole? Is there a real advantage to a tankless heater? Price difference?

My inclination would be to put in a 6 gallon Atwood. .... but that is just me, if we were all the same we would all own the same model camper.