ELECTRIC tankless water heater

[janharrod]

We would like to put an ELECTRIC ONLY tankless water heater into our 1979 AS. Are there any recommendations you would suggest. The amp has to be less than 25. Thanks

[Halford1]

If you do not plan on boondocking, its a GREAT idea! Tankless with propane may be good for boondocking.

Get bigger tank if you plan to have guests over...

[DKB_SATX]

If you're looking for something like an instaHot to give you hot water for a cup of tea, that's one thing. You're likely to be disappointed with the performance of any electric tankless unit you can run on a '70s Airstream's electrical system.

[janharrod]

Do you know of a tankless that you would recommend? Strictly tankless, no gas

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by janharrod

Do you know of a tankless that you would recommend? Strictly tankless, no gas

For my part, I'd never recommend a tankless electric water heater... they don't handle enough flow compared to their gas-fired counterparts. If you're setting up the trailer to be permanently parked somewhere and can get big power to it, there are 240V units that run 50A to 100A. Looking at a 75A/240v one, they claim a 31-degree temperature rise at 4gpm, compared to a midrange gas one that'll give you a 35-degree temp rise at 9.5 gpm.

A 30A/120v Bosch unit I found only delivers a 14-degree temp rise at 1.5gpm.

[nvestysly]

janharrod,

What you're asking for probably doesn't make much sense. But if you insist, here's a place to find more information:

www.grainger.com

more specifically, my search results for 120 V electric, instant water heaters came up with the following page:

https://www.grainger.com/category/pl...&filters=attrs

As others have said, you may very well be disappointed. Then again, you're not me and I'm not you. Maybe one of these units will work fine.

May I go back a bit in the decision making process to understand why a 120 V electric, instant water heater is on your radar screen? Is there something about a conventional RV water heater that doesn't meet your needs? If so, there are other water heater systems that might work for you. Are you trying to avoid propane? If so, is there a reason why?

Check out the threads from SmokelessJoe - he used some interesting means of cooking, water heating, air conditioning and refrigeration. Maybe some of his techniques will work for you.

[Marc_85]

The Stiebel Eltron DHC 3-1 is a decent unit. Don't expect high flows out of this unit, it is designed for point-of-use handwashing (0.4gpm). It draws 25 Amps on 120V and requires 10/2 AWG wiring.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The gotcha is that water takes a lot of energy to heat. Heating a reasonable flow (like for a shower) up quickly .... yikes. If you switch the power system in the trailer over to 50A, you still will have "only" 240V at 50A. If you are running an A/C unit, you are down to ~ 35A at 240V for the water heater. That's not really enough ...

Bob

[Halford1]

Janharrod, have you decided?

[janharrod]

We have researched and listened to everyone lots wiser than we are on this matter and have decided to go with the conventional water tank water heater. We think a 10 gal will do the trick. We're sorry that a tankless won't work but knowing how much we both love a HOT shower, we aren't willing to take a chance. Thanks to all of you for your great information!! Happy camping

[n2916s]

Keep in mind that your basic RV water heater produces water that is much hotter than a household unit. It is not difficult to get a decent hot shower with one. The drawback is rebound time — you won’t get back to back long showers.

[Halford1]

How about 50 gal water tank?

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If the objective is simply a hot shower, why not go with a propane fired on demand unit?

Bob

[Halford1]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

If the objective is simply a hot shower, why not go with a propane fired on demand unit?

Bob

I thought the same but he request for electric. Not sure why. Propane fired heats up water faster.

[pilot]

I would think physical size may become an issue on propane models? I have two electric instant-on heaters for kitchen sinks and they are both 60a/240v units that would not make for the hottest shower ever. They operate on "rate of rise" which is great in the summer, but in the winter not so much. I have a propane one for radiant floors and it is pretty big. I would love to be able to do the instant-on in my airstream, but more likely a small tank-type is the way to go for me.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by pilot

I would think physical size may become an issue on propane models? I have two electric instant-on heaters for kitchen sinks and they are both 60a/240v units that would not make for the hottest shower ever. They operate on "rate of rise" which is great in the summer, but in the winter not so much. I have a propane one for radiant floors and it is pretty big. I would love to be able to do the instant-on in my airstream, but more likely a small tank-type is the way to go for me.

Hi

The reason for mentioning propane if it's just a shower issue is that propane fired boost units *do* exist for RV's. They aren't cheap, but they do exist.

Bob