Water Heaters

[Ketchakah]

Hello Friends,
I am considering installing an insta-hot water heater in place of the standard Tanked heater.

What are your thoughts ? Are the standard water heaters very efficient ? I am thinking i would get more mileage from the propane with the tankless.

Thank you for any thoughts. T&K

 

[Draughty]

Good question! I'll be interested in the other responses.
I find the stock heater is pretty quick to heat and supplies enough hot water for a shower..2 showers with a few minutes between..like 5 or 10 not a half hour..
As far as savings on LP an electric element may help more with that if you are camping where there is electricity.

 

[mainah-SUN]

What I have found with mine once it's hot and I shower by morning the pilot light will keep it warm overnight usually marner than it was by thermostat. Your fresh tank can only hold so much so do you really gain anything from endless hot water? The instant things do use copulas amounts of propane short duration.

 

[Ketchakah]

Hello,
Thank you Draughty, I am not wanting anything to hook to Elect. Looking self contained.

Mainah, Good point.
Not really looking for endless water. More looking for using less Propane. Are you thinking that the standard water heater, uses less propane to maintain the hot water tank 24-7, then the insta-hot uses to heat water for a quick 3 min shower ?

This is kind of what im looking for. The most efficient use of the propane.

Thank you for the thoughts.

 

[mainah-SUN]

Usually mine is hot in about 10 minutes so I shower it comes on reheats and just the pilot keeps it hot all night. So maybe a toss up? The camper is already plumbed for hot water so I'm guessing it maybe a problem to make hot water for the bath sink and kitchen with a instant heat system without a good bit of plumbing and venting.

 

[Ketchakah]

Thank you very much. I will have to do some experimenting.
Some good thoughts to think of.

 

[Draughty]

I looked at using a tankless when my tank split last winter due to ignorance on my part. It was discussed on my thread about that incident.

 

[Draughty]

http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=144497

Link to that thread if anyone is interested..
There are many threads in the repair and maintenance section as well. Very informative and helpful..

 

[Ketchakah]

Thank you very much for the link. Well done !

 

[Draughty]

Thank you very much for the link. Well done !

Many contributers to the discussion and my learning!

 

[Tom K]

Hello All, I do plumbing, specialize in water treatment, filtration and purification. I do install water heaters in homes and the convenience is nice but there is required cleaning maintenance to them and is best left to a tankless water heater tech due to the disassembly, chemicals, process etc. I / my company will not do the tankless maintenance in homes or commercial applications. I to did not clear out the water from my Sunline water heater 2 yrs ago and had to buy a new one, no I would not consider a tankless !!! it's hard on the tankless to not be in use all the time as in a home. So concept and thought is great but not for part time / monthly, weekend use.

I do make up water softeners and long term chlorine removal small units that will sit outside your unit to purify and make your water soft, spot free where water dries no chlorine smell or taste to your water. contact me for info. Tom

 

[Ketchakah]

So a bit of an update. Not complete but i will add to it.
A friend just added an Insta-Hot to his camper. He says he really likes it, but has not used it in actual situation as yet.
He likes that it only runs on demand, and says it gets plenty hot.

I will keep an eye on this and report more. I am wondering if its like the Insta-hot in my house, yes it does work well until you shut off the water. ( like in a Navy Shower) then its an Insta-cold until it runs thru again. It seems to have no ability to keep water warm even for a moment.

This could be more of an issue for limited water then the propane saved, But Im thinking perhaps a water bypass valve.

May be more complicated then its worth. Ill let you all know.

Ketch

 

[Tom K]

Insta Hot and tankless water heaters are different. Insta hot is electric small unit for under the sink with low flow usually 1/4 inch tubing to the insta hot faucet which is separate from your regular kitchen faucet. The tankless has 3 varieties, normal plumbing is 3/4" and 1" but can be gotten in 1/2". so you can see right there there is a difference in water quantity flow. usually 1/2" is more expensive than the 3/4" due to 3/4" is most common in homes. but pipe / tubing can be adapted from 1/2" to 3/4" for using the 3/4" size. then the outlet reduced to 1/2" to feed your rv. Hope this helps. Tom

 

[mainah-SUN]

I would think an outside shower could benefit from a instant hot water system but re inventing the wheel to deal with 6 gallons of water seems a bit excessive with the plumbing that is already in place. Maybe if the tank is no good removing it and installing an instant heater in its place would make sense because the hot water piping would be right there, never researched it not sure what would be involved with venting.