Tankless water heater

[87MH]

A popular option on the late 80's Motor Homes was a small electric 110 volt "on demand" hot water reservoir mounted at the sink.

Actually, in my opinion, the one on the '87 offers little usefulness.

It takes a couple of minutes to heat up the reservoir (about a quart), and, other than making instant hot drinks, it's pretty useless. The tank does, however, have an adjustable thermostat.

[FC54]

Thanks again for all the comments which should help me to decide...

Hum hum .... To tell you the true I still don't know....
As my flyingCloud didn't have any water heater, I have to (or I could) create an opening where ever I want to access the W-Heater.
So just to sum-up...:

If I choose the tank W heater (probably Atwood 6gal) I would have to care of its location regarding the complete balance of the trailer, and create an opening with door access throught the skin... aouch...but I will have 6 gal heatable either by LP or 110 v.

If I choose the tankless W heater, I would be able to put anywhere in the trailer except right down the floor or in an enclosed area...but no opening throught skin, and unlimited hot (maybe warm) shower (depending on the size of my water tank... )and only heatable by LP.

And I am not talking about the flowrate...

D..mmmmm I really need to find out... may be the weekend, will be good...?

[j54mark]

How do you operate an LP water, tankless or otherwise, without an exhaust vent? Or for that matter, without a source for combustion air?

For what it is worth, our 6 gal. atwood has never run out of hot water. However, we do have a very low flow shower head. We also turn ours off at night as it is located directly under our head when we sleep and the occasional "whoosh" as it fires up is an annoyance. It takes about 10 min. to heat up of a morning.

Mark

[FC54]

Hi Marc,

Really good thing you point out about the "woushhh" I would either put the water heater under the galley sink, or run the water heater in electric mode at night if I have to put it under the bed...

At this link (I already posted earlier) you would find what they call "ventless" water heater....

http://www.excelamerica.com/calentadores_eng.htm

As any LP combustible appliance, you still HAVE to provide enought "natural" vent to provide O2 to burn...
The ventless point means the combustion didn't provide carbon monoxide and therefore doesn't need a dedicated exhaust vent...

That's what I understood....

Pierre.

[j54mark]

Pierre, I would like to see you do some more research on this project. I am not an expert, so I am expressing merely fears here, not a truly informed opinion.

It appears that these vent-less appliances are designed to be used in a house on the priciple that the amount of CO produced is not going to raise the overall level to a danger point. Note that they specify that they are not to be used in a bedroom or bathroom. The only explaination for this restriction I can see is that the size of the room would be too small to safely disperse the CO. The largest Airstream is smaller than a typical bedroom.

Also, running a unit like this on lp will introduce rather a lot of water vapor, which will be nuisance unless you have vents open.

My other concern is bring in another lp line inside the coach. True, most of us already have one for the furnace and range, but the water heater is usually plumbed so that there are no connections inside. In the event of a leak, it will escape more or less harmlessly outside. This will not be the case on a tankless unit installed inside the coach.

Mark

[gasman]

psiscoe@telusplanet.net in Calgary has an Excel Vent Free tankless gas water heater unit installed in his 1967 Airstream trailer. He can give you some feedback on the unit

[gasman]

Phil.Siscoe@gdcanada.com Phil siscoe of Calgary has an Excel Vent Free unit installed in his 1967 Airstream Trailer, he could give you some feedback.