Do you keep your water heater turned on?

[Doc Foster]

I normally leave my water heater turned off, and try to remember to turn it on about 30 minutes before taking a shower, but that is often inconvenient. Currently my gas portion of 6 gallon hot water is not working (won’t stay lit consistently- another thread), but the electric element works fine, though slower than gas or both together. Will it harm anything if I leave the electric function of my hot water heater on all night so that I have hot water shower first thing in the morning? Yes currently at campsite, but only 30 amp. It is an Atwood gas/electric, 2015 international serenity. Thanks for any thoughts , advice or input.

[pcskier]

You are fine leaving it on. Once water is hot the heating element turns off. Will come on again as needed. On the gas issue, clean the burner tube out. If needed, you can adjust it by loosening the set screw and moving it until you get a good blue flame--it's possible the burner is running to lean or too rich.

[A W Warn]

I left ours on electric from October 2017 through March 2018 this past winter. I only turn on the gas portion when we both are planning to shower immediately one after the other.

[OTRA15]

Your owner's manual probably covers this IMO.

[Hans627]

We usually turn on the water heater only when we need hot water. Otherwise we leave it off. No reason that it could not be left on but we choose not to. Kind of waste not...want not type of thing!

[Bill M.]

I turn mine off most of the time. The water gets hotter than I like it if I just leave it on. I have a dual gas electric but just run it on gas.

[Paprika]

I mostly boondock, so leaving the water heater on 24/7 would be a crazy waste of propane, given that my only use for hot water is a once-a-day shower. (I don't use hot water to wash hands, face, dishes, etc., because it would waste gallons a day just running water to get it hot at the faucet. This would be true even if I were plugged in and running the water heater on AC.)

I used to turn on the water heater before showering and let it run for ten to fifteen minutes to get to a comfortable temperature, then shut it off. You don't use much propane in fifteen minutes a day. But then I came up with a better way: I bought a small remote-reading aquarium thermometer and slipped its temperature probe underneath the water heater's insulating jacket. I set it to sound an alarm when it reached my favorite temperature for showering.

Now when I want to shower, I turn on the water heater, press a button to enable the thermometer's alarm, and go about my business. When it beeps, I know the temperature is perfect. Key point here: I only turn on the hot water in the shower, not the cold. No mixing means no wasted water while fiddling around trying to get the right temperature. I always get the perfect temperature--the thermometer's alarm guarantees that.

I still have to run enough water to get the hot water to the showerhead. But it's not wasted: I run it into a quart Rubbermaid bottle, which I then use to wash dishes throughout the day.

Bottom line: I get the perfect shower temperature every time, I use the minimum amount of propane, and no water is wasted.

Note: This procedure works well for a single person, but for multiple people it'd have to be modified a bit. Still, some version of this should be doable.

[TBRich]

We only use the water heater when we need hot water...primarily for showering and dish washing. Just he habit we are in.

[ROBERT CROSS]

^
X2

........ doesn't take long to heat 8gal.
Same goes for the WP, only on when we need water. 👍

Bob
🇺🇸

[Mollysdad]

No.

[rmkrum]

Tankless. On when camped. Off on the road unless need hot water for hand washing or whatever.

[Rokitman]

The only thing I can think of that would warrant "consideration" for leaving the hot water electrical element on continuously, would be scaling of the element. No water is 100% free of minerals (well, maybe rain water?). When the water gets hot, these minerals are released. Sometimes just residue in the bottom of the tank, which are easily rinsed away during regular maintenance; sometimes as scaling on the element, which reduces the life of the element. But the same occurs in your home if you have an electric wh, which lasts about 12 years or more. So...

[MontyV]

no, it heats water so quickly we do not see the need.

[AFTER TAXES]

how much ur tankless sys. ?

[rmkrum]

It depends on the brand and features. Atwood, Truma, and PrecisionTemp come to mind. A search of the forums for “tankless “ would get a lot of results.

I went with a PrecisionTemp because it was the one with anti-freeze features built in, and they seem to be the inventors of RV tankless. Not cheap, but works very well for DW’s Long hot showers [emoji3]

[Doc Foster]

Thanks for all the replies. I will most likely just turn on the water heater as soon as I get up.

[WhereStream]

We turn it on when we arrive and leave it own until we depart.

[369goose]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

I left ours on electric from October 2017 through March 2018 this past winter. I only turn on the gas portion when we both are planning to shower immediately one after the other.

Was your trailer plugged in to an electric source when you left it on all those months?

Accidentally left mine on gas while cleaning so it must’ve come on and off every time the water cooled. Had been stored so don’t know how much water was in the small water heater tank. Hope I didn’t do a lot of damage.