Antiqua Has anyone replaced their hot water heater with the tankless system? If so, how did you do it and was it difficult? We would like to do this with our AS as we always run out of hot water and I hear these systems provide hot water as long as the faucet is turned on...
We put one in our house. Works fine once it gets up to speed. You wait longer than with a tank for "hot" water so I don't think it would be good for running without a water hookup. They raise the water temperature a certain number of degrees. So if you have one that brings it up 70 and you put in water at 40 you can have 110. Very hot. Check the temperature rise on any unit you consider. Plumber have not problem putting it in and connecting the city gas.
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The European tankless hot water heaters give hot water instantly and run on propane. I'd love to have it if I could tolerate propane. The electric one especially at 110v can bring water up 40-50 degrees from the tap water temp. 22o volt works much better. Look at energy star ratings- gas/propane ones in a house can pay for itself in one or two years. Look under marine water heaters, or tankless water heaters in google. I'm using a 110 volt point of use at the shower to boost the heat immediately. Staying mostly in the south, cooler showers are nicer. Silver suz
Precision Temp makes a tankless water heater for RV use. It will fit into the same hole that a 10 gal tank type water heater uses. see Precision Temp
The caveat on these things is that it takes a lot of energy to heat water and on demand heating means large energy flow. The RV 500 brags about 940 gallons of hot water from a 20 lb propane tank. It runs at about 50,000 BTU, which is about max for RV appliances. The unit uses a modulated burner for 12,000 to 50,000 BTU and costs about $700 or so. I have seen mostly good reviews from users.
I would consider keeping the old hot water heater if it wasn't in sad shape. It makes horrible loud noises when it is running and it has turned the outer door black!!! I haven't found anything to help with the discoloration yet. I think I will try 'Barkeepers Friend' as it claims to remove just about any stain, however I am concerned with its' abrasiveness as it has the consistency of comet--therefore I am going to use it in a very small area around the vented slots only and not on the skin just to see what it will do. It it scratches with only gentle pressure, then I will keep looking for an alternative solution...
Personally, I think that the instant tanks are not as good as some folks claim them to be on LP gas unless you fulltime. According to the posted site, that info conflicts with some of the info some folks have posted about these tankless units.....
Personally, I think that the instant tanks are not as good as some folks claim them to be on LP gas unless you fulltime. According to the posted site, that info conflicts with some of the info some folks have posted about these tankless units.....
I don't know what full timing would have to do with how good the system is, only in making it easier to amortize the expense, which is about twice that of a tank version.
A 50,000 BTU LP burner is about equivalent to 15 KW electricity. Its much easier to get 50,000 BTU of LP in most RV's than it is to get 15 KW.
Say you take a ten gallon shower and need to warm the supply water from 60F to 100F for a 40F raise in temperature. This is 80 lb of water heated 40F or 3200 BTU. This will get you maybe 15 showers an hour with the RV 500 tankless going full tilt (assuming you have the water supply and waste handled). Another way to say this is that you can get 150 gallons of very warm water an hour or a flow rate of a bit more than two gallons per minute. This is in the typical range of RV water pumps and shower heads, I think.
I believe the typical tank type water heater burner is about 15,000 BTU and 6 to 10 gallons of storage. The tankless burner is about three times bigger and it is also more efficient (the reason why avoiding skin scorching is a claim for the tankless as the exhaust temps are much lower)
Either way, you aren't going to get far towards a typical household shower (150 gallons if I remember the claim in my last water bill newsletter) with any RV water heater. But the tankless will allow you to take a longer shower than will a tank type and you can get the temperature hotter by reducing the flow a bit. When a tankless runs through its tank, you either wait for it to reheat or rinse with cold water.
In an RV application, according to the site (unless I misread it), it takes a fairly large BTU to get it going (which we all know that LP takes longer to heat things and at elevations, even longer). Most folks that fulltime might see the benefits as they might have larger LP tanks, might be at lower elevations, might have a fresh water connection, etc. Those that use the HWH seasonally and/or boondock, might never the the benefits vs cost and fuel consumption for the typical RV application. I figure if they worked well in most of the RV environments, RV builders would have started installing them a while ago, yet, I haven't seen any on an average coach. The system as advertised does not seem to work well off a fresh water tank, meaning, that if you used the shower in your coach as designed with the quick shutoff, etc, they tankless system, the way I understand it stops heating, whereas a fulltimer might shower or use the tankless system similar to how folks use hot water at home.
Thats kinda what I was getting at. Keep in mind what I've posted is based on the site linked and basic understanding of LP gas and tankless heaters. I don't have any real world exp with them......yet, but my gut tells me that for the average seasonal RVr, the tankless system's cost and performance based on type of use, might not make it as great of a value IMHO.
I would consider keeping the old hot water heater if it wasn't in sad shape. It makes horrible loud noises when it is running and it has turned the outer door black!!!
The loud noise and soot are symptoms of maladjusted or a partially blocked burner tube. The black stuff should come off with th black streak remover they sell at CW and a sponge.
If the heater was replaced at some point the RV tech may not have properly adjusted the burner and that is why it roars, that could also be the reason for the sooty exhaust. It is a simple adjustment of the air shutter on the main burner tube. You want the flame to be blue to the tips with just a touch of yellow at the ends, and no roar. one screw is all that holds the slotted air shutter in place. It is right by the thermostat.
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Brett G
WBCCI #5501 AIR # 49
"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey." -- Fitzhugh Mullan
Wise men talk because they have someting to say; fools, because they have to say something. -- Plato
In politics, absurdity is not a handicap— Napoleon
On the water heater topic--- my Atwood shuts down after the burner light for a few minutes, not enough to heat the water very much. It has a replaced board in it, and I don't see any adjustments. What are the opinions on replacing the burner with a electric hotrod? Saw them at Camping world the other day. When it does burn the flame is nice and blue by the way.
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Check the flame probe. It is the electronic replacement to the thermocouple. If it is heavily corroded or missing it will cause the heater to lock out if it does not sense temperature. Should be on a clip with the igniter spark thinghy.
__________________
Brett G
WBCCI #5501 AIR # 49
"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey." -- Fitzhugh Mullan
Wise men talk because they have someting to say; fools, because they have to say something. -- Plato
In politics, absurdity is not a handicap— Napoleon
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