Showering in our AS

[SillyRosie]

We just got our first AS, a 27' International. In fact, our first trailer period. The man-child (boyfriend) has been in it for the past week but unfortunately I've been out of town working and won't get to get in there for another week. He hasn't taken a shower in it yet, he's been using the park showers. I'm curious about what showering in our trailer will be like. Long luxurious showering is a thing of the past I'm sure, but what can I expect? Will my future include 2 minute showers from now on? Will I have to get an electric shaver for my legs? Will I be able to fully wash and condition my hair before the water goes cold, or will I get blasted with icy frigid cold water and jump, scream and fall out of the shower stall, dislocating my shoulder and possibly getting shampoo in my eyes? Are there any tips for extending the hot water time? I know there is some sort of instant hot water thingie that can replace the tank, but I can't remember what it's called. Is it worth it to switch it out? Thoughts?

[m.hony]

Actually, the hot water lasts a long time.
It is, however, claustrophobic compared to the shower in the house.
We use the bath house, too, unless it is really cold or raining.
The same for doing #2 in the trailer...

[Morgan guy]

You might want to look up the definition of Navy shower. It will certainly prolong the time you have to shower and hopefully help in not running out of hot water. I use the camp showers also when they are convenient and clean. My DW always uses the shower in the AS.

[m.hony]

We use the shower for storage.
The ice cream maker is in there.

[Dot Dave]

We have a 20 ft with a OK size shower. We're medium size guys (short but getting rounder) and have no problem with the shower size. But, yes, those short showers are a good idea. I'm still trying to perfect the closing of the shower head with soapy hands without dropping it (2x out of 5 isn't bad, me thinks). We have found not so much that we run out of hot water, but that the gray water tank can only go a day or so unless we empty it. You probably have a bigger tank than we do. We also have short hair (well, one of us is follically challenged) and never get soap in our eyes. Haven't fallen out of the shower yet . . . but that's always a possibility.

[Rocinante]

I used the shower in our 27FB for the first time recently and was very pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. Yes, I did the hyper-conservative shower thing, but the flow was good and the water was warm. I'll now default to showering in our AS, unless the camp showers are particularly nice.

Yes, #2 still goes in the campground toilets. We don't want to deal with that in our tank unless there's just no other option.

[kscherzi]

I replaced the standard 2.5 GPM shower head with a 1.5G PM model. Taking quick showers including washing hair and dishes etc, we get 3 full days min before the gray needs emptying. With the old shower head it was two days.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Airstream Forums mobile app

[m.hony]

I don't have any short shower discipline. I fill the tank with one shower. Full hookups is the best thing ever.

[SillyRosie]

This has turned out to be quite a funny read - follically challenged, using the shower to store the ice cream maker...love it!

I'm hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised when I take my first shower but I will probably be using the camp showers more often than not I'm sure.

I keep seeing you guys mention the gray water tank filling up. As a new trailer owner that is something I never thought of before. I was more worried about staying warm and not cutting myself shaving than the gray water tank. I see there are lots of things I have to learn.

[weirdstuff]

Originally Posted by SillyRosie

I was more worried about staying warm and not cutting myself shaving than the gray water tank. I see there are lots of things I have to learn.

Shaving? Are you kidding me? Well, at least, that 'aint happenin' in an Interstate!!

So far, our plan has included really really really short Navy showers. And I did wash my hair in there once, but, I avoid doing so. Although, now that I cut my hair short, it's probably much easier. Just need to buy one of those drain covers so I don't clog the drain with my hair.

Must say that I have completely enjoyed the luxury of using a couple camp showers. Lots of space, lots of hot water. There's no shame in it.

[SteveSueMac]

I'm a fan of the 30 minute luxurious shower. At home. In the trailer (27FB Flying Cloud) it's strictly Navy showers. I got a valve at Home Depot that screws in between the shower head and hose so I can fully shut off water flow as needed and open it up with one hand. While a bit more challenging, I prefer it to camp site showers. It's mine after all. Always preferable to someone else's if at all possible :-)

I think we can get 3-4 days on the gray tank before needing to empty. I just love how self contained it all is!

[J. Morgan]

When I built my trailer I had some criteria.

Queen bed
Full size "flush" throne
Minimum 32 x 32 shower
Endless hot water....

If we are not stupid careless with our water and waste water storage, we can always make it to our destination and full hook ups .

Of course all of this means that our trailer has only one interior door separating the bath from the remainder of our studio apartment.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by SillyRosie

We just got our first AS, a 27' International. In fact, our first trailer period. The man-child (boyfriend) has been in it for the past week but unfortunately I've been out of town working and won't get to get in there for another week. He hasn't taken a shower in it yet, he's been using the park showers. I'm curious about what showering in our trailer will be like. Long luxurious showering is a thing of the past I'm sure, but what can I expect? Will my future include 2 minute showers from now on?

You will get about 5 minutes, more if you are good about shutting the shower off at certain points to conserve.

Will I have to get an electric shaver for my legs?

No, however you will have to do the actual shaving with the water shut off and then rinse when you're done.

Will I be able to fully wash and condition my hair before the water goes cold, or will I get blasted with icy frigid cold water and jump, scream and fall out of the shower stall, dislocating my shoulder and possibly getting shampoo in my eyes?

I have longer hair than most women. I can take a shower during which I shave and wash and condition my hair without running out of hot water. I do shut off the water at certain points. My wife doesn't really complain about running out of hot water either.

Are there any tips for extending the hot water time?

Shut it off as much as possible. Also, if you have long hair, use the shower massager feature to rinse your hair, as this will get it done much more quickly. We also have soap, shampoo, and conditioner dispensers in the shower which minimizes the time spent handling bottles.

I know there is some sort of instant hot water thingie that can replace the tank, but I can't remember what it's called. Is it worth it to switch it out? Thoughts?

They have their own drawbacks and don't work especially well with really cold incoming water, which is what we have in Minnesota. I don't think it's worth it, in my situation at least.

[J. Morgan]

I used a home unit that is capable of delivering sever gal per minute.

Input temperature doesn't matter too much. If I set it on 111 degrees, it delivers a 111 degree shower.

So far so good. It would be challenging to put in a stock location though.

[mefly2]

The 7gal hot water heater is adequate for the two of us ... cramped if you shower together, however. Just be judicious and you can easily wash even long hair and not run out of water ... not sure on leg shaving - I have not tried that ; wife does it at home! For more heating capacity, run both the electric and gas heating at the same time. Let us know and congrats on the AS ... you will grow to really enjoy.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, we never use camp ground showers or toilets. If you have full hook ups you will be fine. Turn the shower on and set the right temp for you; Because the outside water is never the same temp, you need to find where to put the mixer handle. I usually tell my wife what position worked for my shower and she can use that as a starting point. Get wet, turn off, soap up, rinse, turn off, shampoo hair, rinse, turn off. By turn off, I mean the shower head button. I use a combination shampoo/conditioner to eliminate one more rinse. You should get about two days before emptying your gray tank or just leave it open. [never leave your black tank open] We have never run out of hot water. [two showers and dish washing] Sometimes a shower/bath for the little dog too.

[4RXLA]

I second what Robert does and we have plenty of hot water with a 6 gallon gas only heater. The key is turning the water off with the valve on the shower head in between rinses. I only have a 14 gallon grey water tank so I use a 18 gallon blue boy with wheels and dump it daily when I don't have full hookups. I had a SOB with gas/electric w/h and found electric only led to a cold shower as the recovery was slow. Gas has much faster recovery time.

[AtomicNo13]

Here is a thought...
We have water softener a. I use them not only for pressurized city connections, but to fill the fresh water tanks as well. We find that by having soft water on demand both ways gives soap, shampoo, and shaving cream greater efficacy, and extends hot water even farther. We can use less water doing dishes as well. Having soft water is not only a luxury, but keeps mineral buildup at a minimum. The hot water tank is clean when drained, and everything else is clog free. Water feel and purity is important to me.

We use a per filter with a carbon element to get rid of sediment and any bad taste first then a FloPur mk8000 softener. The softener regeneration uses a 33 cent box of table salt every week, and the filter is $11 every 6 months. Total investment is about $250.

[SillyRosie]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

I'm a fan of the 30 minute luxurious shower. At home. In the trailer (27FB Flying Cloud) it's strictly Navy showers. I got a valve at Home Depot that screws in between the shower head and hose so I can fully shut off water flow as needed and open it up with one hand. While a bit more challenging, I prefer it to camp site showers. It's mine after all. Always preferable to someone else's if at all possible :-)

I think we can get 3-4 days on the gray tank before needing to empty. I just love how self contained it all is!

Thank you SteveSueMac, the valve sounds like a good idea.

[moosetags]

Between the two Airstreams and the two of us, we have roughly 3,000 Airstream showers under our belts. Here is our assessment of the situation. In over 1,400 nights of Airstream camping over an eight year period, we have NEVER taken a shower in a campground shower facility. We generally take showers for as long as we please, and the hot water has never run out. It is a little tight, but still quite comfortable. We use an aftermarket shower head from Camping World with an in-line cut off. This works so well that we moved it to our new Airstream.

SuEllyn does her hair, including coloring, in the Airstream shower, and has for years.

I think that the shower in the Airstream is great. I would rather shower in the Airstream than in the house.

Brian