Hot Shower?

[GAStreamin]

How many can take a hot shower? Or how long does the hot water last for a shower? How long does it take to heat back up? We have 5 taking a shower and I am just trying to make a plan. Thanks.

[AtomicNo13]

We have 2 options. In our classic we have a tankless heater. We can go forever or until the water and gas are out. With our 100 gallons of fresh water this equals 9 days of satisfying showers , dishes, flushing and other use. Our PanAm has a 10 gallon heater and 52 gallons of fresh that is 4 days of quick showers as it takes 30 minutes of regeneration for the hot water... 4 days of use with inboard water. For whatever reason we seem to go longer in the classic than the PanAm. Also, our propane use in the Pan Am is double the classic I think due to the water heater. The classic has dual furnaces but we rarely fire them both. Both coaches have 2x #40 tanks. We use both coaches as full time and are not frugal.

[perryg114]

If yours is a 6 gallon Atwood then you should have enough for two decent showers. The water is really hot on most units so you want to supervise the kids. It takes about 30 mins to heat up. Practice at home and see what you will get out of a tank. You can always dump the gray water in the yard. I would consider using the camp ground showers if you have that many to shower but it can be done. I would have the adults shower in the morning and the kids in the evening because you know they are going to be smelly and dirty by the end if the day. Your dump valves will last longer if you don't get too much sand down the drain. I don't know about your newer trailer but Airstream usually makes them hard to get to for repair.

Perry

[TouringDan]

IT DEPENDS.

Hard to give a firm answer as there are so many variables. The propane wh have a pretty quick recovery rate. If you take a navy shower all 5 may get to shower. Just try it and you will find out.

Dan

[GAStreamin]

I was thinking about applying the navy shower rule for efficiency and so we can all use our own shower.

[perryg114]

Make sure you have a shower head with a remote cutoff on it. It is hard to take navy showers without one.

Perry

[SteveSueMac]

I'm a fan of the half hour shower at home but in the trailer, it's a Navy shower - period :-)

With 2 it's no problem. With 5, you might want to schedule (someone earlier recommended morning for adults, evenings for kids - makes sense to me).

It doesn't take long to reheat the water in the tank - maybe a half hour?

It seems doable!

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by GAStreamin

How many can take a hot shower? Or how long does the hot water last for a shower? How long does it take to heat back up? We have 5 taking a shower and I am just trying to make a plan. Thanks.

You have a 6 gallon water heater. The shower head allows a 2 gallon per minute flow. With typical incoming water temperatures you'll set the valve for a little more than half hot and the rest cold water, so the shower can run for about 5 minutes.

The recovery rate published by Atwood (the water heater manufacturer) is 7.4 gallons per hour. The published rate is conservative because it is based on a 90 degree difference between incoming cold water and outgoing hot water. It is my experience that it takes about 30-40 minutes for the water heater to finish heating back up after someone takes a shower long enough to deplete it completely.

There are 5 of us also but we have the gas/electric combination water heater which cuts the recovery time to about 20 minutes as long as electricity is available. We can't all take showers, realistically, in the trailer, without full hookups. With full hookups we stagger showers, kids at night, adults in the morning.

If there are good showers in the campground we use those.

[webspinner]

We have a gauge on the shower so that users can monitor water on the dial. We also have an oxygenics low flow shower head. With our 6 gallon water heater, the four of us can all take a shower before the water runs out, but those are navy showers: wet down, water off, soap up, rinse. A one gallon shower is pretty minimal, 2 is adequate. After a while, 3 gallons feels like luxury. And remember, those gallons are a mix of hot and cold, so it's not all coming out of your water heater.

[RAH]

webspinner can you show a pic or link to the showerhead gauge you mention?

[webspinner]

Here's a link to the page that shows the line of water meters. I'm not sure if this is where my husband got ours, but this is the meter we have. It's a bit bulky in the shower since it's not your usual shower equipment. It makes for a great conversation piece, though, and it's worth its weight in gold when water is scarce.

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by webspinner

Here's a link to the page that shows the line of water meters. I'm not sure if this is where my husband got ours, but this is the meter we have. It's a bit bulky in the shower since it's not your usual shower equipment. It makes for a great conversation piece, though, and it's worth its weight in gold when water is scarce.

I like this. Thanks for sharing!

[perryg114]

I am guessing you would put that on the hot water side to measure just the hot water consumption or maybe on after the pump if you want to measure the amount of water you have used for the entire shower which might be important if you are boondocking. You never said if you would be boondocking or hooked to facilities. Personally, I would not try to use your trailer shower with 5 people in a situation where you can't dump your gray water or you are running off the fresh water tank only.

Perry

[scamp]

Four of us have taken a navy shower with a 6 gallon hot water Atwood heater ,they are short showers but work if you have the 6 gallon Atwood heater with electric option shower times are extended as it operated on electric and propane for faster temp recovery, but again if boondocking without electricity or generator your electric option will not help,and also must rely on fresh water holding tank capacity.

Don

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by perryg114

I am guessing you would put that on the hot water side to measure just the hot water consumption or maybe on after the pump if you want to measure the amount of water you have used for the entire shower which might be important if you are boondocking. You never said if you would be boondocking or hooked to facilities. Personally, I would not try to use your trailer shower with 5 people in a situation where you can't dump your gray water or you are running off the fresh water tank only.

Perry

At this point we are not boondocking. I would like keeping up with water just so we can practice being frugal with it. The kids are I are going to have to practice being quick with our showers. Having a tankless water heater might be nice, but we don't have one. I can boondocking with 5 people might only last a day.