Tankless Water Heater to replace Tank Heater

[USMarineNCO]

I'm looking to replace my current 6gal tank water heater with a tankless water heater. Has anyone tackled this on a Freedom Elite 30FE? It looks pretty straight forward from all the videos I've watched, but wanted to see if anyone here had done it and what their experience was. I spent 12 years in the Marine Corps, and combat showers are not something I want to continue to do while on an RV trip!

I recently installed a 2nd AC unit from Furrion, and have had success with the product. They sell a tankless water heater and I'm looking at that for the upgrade. If you've installed one, what brand did you go with and why?

Thank you any and all who provide feedback/input!

[DavidEM]

I haven't installed one but have looked at the installation instructions and it looks fairly simple. But why would you want to do it?

You will save a little propane, but you will probably use more power. If you just turn on your tank type water heater about 15 minutes before needing it, you will have good hot water by then. We don't use hot water for dishwashing, only showering so 15 minutes of preheat works fine for us. But yes we are leaving a hot water tank full afterwards, so that eats up a little propane, but miniscule actually.

David

[USMarineNCO]

Originally Posted by DavidEM

I haven't installed one but have looked at the installation instructions and it looks fairly simple. But why would you want to do it?

You will save a little propane, but you will probably use more power. If you just turn on your tank type water heater about 15 minutes before needing it, you will have good hot water by then. We don't use hot water for dishwashing, only showering so 15 minutes of preheat works fine for us. But yes we are leaving a hot water tank full afterwards, so that eats up a little propane, but miniscule actually.

David

I don’t have a problem with the water getting hot. I do have a problem with running out of hot water after the kid and wife take showers. Sometimes you just want a 20 minute hot shower to wash away the day.

[Judge]

I have the Girard Tankless on my SV34 and have had two coaches with them. You can take a 30 minute shower and set the temp you want and it will hold it the entire time.

I think the big things will be the size of the opening in your coach for your current hot water tank. If the tankless is smaller, that might present a problem. If the Tankless is bigger it will be easier to make the opening bigger if you have the room inside.

You won't need the tank bypass any longer you probably have on your current unit. You will just need to hook up the propane, cold water in and hot water out and the thermostat.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by USMarineNCO

I don’t have a problem with the water getting hot. I do have a problem with running out of hot water after the kid and wife take showers. Sometimes you just want a 20 minute hot shower to wash away the day.

The Atwood's one hour recovery rate is 11.6 gal/hr for electric and gas. Starting with 6 gallons of 140 F degree water that is enough for a couple mermaids with long hair. That said, Truma Aqua Go's are 12.5 x 12.5x 17.5" with 3, 5 and 7 inch wide adapters and use about 2/3 gal per hour of propane wide open in the small size.