Tankless Hot Water

greenacre · 07-14-2006, 08:32 PM

I see there are now tankless water heaters for RVs...to be installed in standard openings. They're expensive, but sounds like a good idea (long showers!) Anyone have experience with these? Pros/Cons?

centennialman · 07-14-2006, 08:51 PM

I checked extensively into one and was very close to making the purchase. The dealer that was going to install it became nervous about it and convinced me to install a 10 gallon water heater instead.

TIMEMACHINE · 07-14-2006, 10:06 PM

I like the idea, have one at the house and it works great and saves energy..in my case natural gas.

Maybe a group buy is in order if they are safe and dependable.

John

greenacre · 07-14-2006, 10:40 PM

http://www.houseneeds.com/Shop/Heati...ermainpage.htm

Quoting the installation manual, "The RV-500 can be installed as a flush mount or a surface mount...The RV-500 flush mount can retrofit an Atwood ten gallon flush mount water heater without side wall modification regardless of side wall framing."

Safari Tim · 07-14-2006, 11:01 PM

We are working with the guys at Precision Temp on putting one of these in the VAP restoration project.

Actually we may be going with the Twin Temp. Continuous hot water AND furnace in one box.

The way I understand it works is by running the heated water to a Power Vent which has a little manifold in it. A fan blows through it putting out the heated air.

Cool stuff!

lewster · 07-15-2006, 12:22 AM

I have been using the RV-500 for 6 years. The first 5 were in a 1998 Monaco Dynasty MoHo. It was the first unit of it's type that Monaco ever installed in one of their coaches. It worked flawlessly until I sold the coach last year.

When I bought my 19CCD in Dec. and looked at the 6 gal Atwood water heater, I realized that a 3 minute shower would not do for me. I installed another RV-500 in the CCD also. It WAS NOT a direct replacement, but took a little 'coaxing'

to get it to fit. This included trimming 2" from the top skins and adding 4" aluminum strips to the sides to create the proper sized opening. The rest was a piece of cake!

They WILL fit right into a 10 gal. opening, but most trailers come with a 6 gal unit. It's no big deal if you are careful when you cut into the inner and outer skins.

I am also a dealer for Precision-Temp and offer the RV-500 at a 15% discount to Forum members.

ZoominC6 · 07-15-2006, 08:21 AM

We had a customer request these units in a residential project recently. After researching the product, I was surprised to learn that the Japanese have been using them for a couple of decades with great results. We installed a couple in the project and the customers just love them. I'm happy to learn that they're available now for RV use as well. Based on my non-RV experience, I wouldn't hesitate installing one in my Airstream. Good luck with your decision.

**wahoonc** · 07-15-2006, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZoominC6

We had a customer request these units in a residential project recently. After researching the product, I was surprised to learn that the Japanese have been using them for a couple of decades with great results. We installed a couple in the project and the customers just love them. I'm happy to learn that they're available now for RV use as well. Based on my non-RV experience, I wouldn't hesitate installing one in my Airstream. Good luck with your decision.

Just for the record

they go back a lot farther than that. They have been in common use in Europe since the 1920's and perhaps earlier

My great grandparents had one mounted on the wall in their bathroom. IIRC it was from Germany, their house was built in the early 30's and it was orginal to the house. BTW they were of German descent and still had brothers and sisters in the old country. So getting one might not have been too difficult.

Aaron