On Demand Hot Water

[Judge]

And I love my Girard….. took a 10 minute shower and the temp held steady the entire time set at 106 and no cold water running.

Then the wife got in next and took a 15 minute shower.

[Bob Nodine]

Originally Posted by Judge

And I love my Girard….. took a 10 minute shower and the temp held steady the entire time set at 106 and no cold water running.

Then the wife got in next and took a 15 minute shower.

You lucky dog, my wife always has to go first leaving me to be the one to wipe down the shower.

The tankless takes some getting used to but after you learn not to turn on the cold and adjust the temp setting it works fine. I can see where it would be a problem dry camping because you need to leave the water running to maintain a constant temperature. That would waste a lot of water if your only source of water was the fresh water tank. We camped a few days on this trip without a sewer connection so I practiced doing a Navy shower with the tankless. It is doable but still wastes a little water because you need to let it warm up before rinsing off. Of course you could be tuff and take a cold shower. Did that for awhile during the Viet Nam days and would rather not anymore. I have heard of folks using a by-pass valve to feed the water back to the fresh tank to keep the water flowing while you are soaping up. Seems to me if you like to dry camp and have the old fashion tanked water heater you would be wise to keep it.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Bob Nodine

You lucky dog, my wife always has to go first leaving me to be the one to wipe down the shower.

The tankless takes some getting used to but after you learn not to turn on the cold and adjust the temp setting it works fine. I can see where it would be a problem dry camping because you need to leave the water running to maintain a constant temperature. That would waste a lot of water if your only source of water was the fresh water tank. We camped a few days on this trip without a sewer connection so I practiced doing a Navy shower with the tankless. It is doable but still wastes a little water because you need to let it warm up before rinsing off. Of course you could be tuff and take a cold shower. Did that for awhile during the Viet Nam days and would rather not anymore. I have heard of folks using a by-pass valve to feed the water back to the fresh tank to keep the water flowing while you are soaping up. Seems to me if you like to dry camp and have the old fashion tanked water heater you would be wise to keep it.

Some Seneca owners installed a recirculating system so when they flip a switch the water circulates through the hot water heater and if all faucets are closed the recirculated water goes back to the fresh water tank. This enables them to boondock without wasting water waiting for hot water.

[Scubawise]

Tankless wife goes first wets uses soap, stop water rinse.
Wet hair, shampoo , water off, rinse ..same for me

Not much water used temp 118

[Flwestcoast]

IMHO

First - aquahot by far
Second - tankless
Third - standard 6 gallon LP/electric

I have never had a problem with any of them. Aquahot was on DP’s and is the best ever in my mind.

Current RV has the tankless and I’ve not used it that much but I love it so far. Immediate hot water as hot as you can stand if you wish and uses less propane.

If I had to choose between second and third I’d go tankless every time.

[txc2936@yahoo.com]

I think i am going to stop fixing stuff that isnt broken. Just keep the 6 gal. and add hot water as needed.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by Flwestcoast

IMHO

First - aquahot by far
Second - tankless
Third - standard 6 gallon LP/electric

I have never had a problem with any of them. Aquahot was on DP’s and is the best ever in my mind.

Current RV has the tankless and I’ve not used it that much but I love it so far. Immediate hot water as hot as you can stand if you wish and uses less propane.

If I had to choose between second and third I’d go tankless every time.

Not sure what your definition of immediate is but the Girard is not immediate. Depending on how far the faucet/shower is it has to recognize adequate pressure and flow, fire the burner and delivery heated water. For the shower it's about 30 seconds of wasted water and adding to the grey tank. It's using propane that requires taking the motorhome to a refill not a portable tank. All my previous propane/electric, 6,10,+ gallon worked off electric not using propane. That is using LESS propane.

If you are "park bound" then water and grey tank usage are not issues, but if attempting to boon dock, it's a disaster.

[Flwestcoast]

Originally Posted by chunker21

Not sure what your definition of immediate is but the Girard is not immediate. Depending on how far the faucet/shower is it has to recognize adequate pressure and flow, fire the burner and delivery heated water. For the shower it's about 30 seconds of wasted water and adding to the grey tank. It's using propane that requires taking the motorhome to a refill not a portable tank. All my previous propane/electric, 6,10,+ gallon worked off electric not using propane. That is using LESS propane.

If you are "park bound" then water and grey tank usage are not issues, but if attempting to boon dock, it's a disaster.

I haven’t boondocked so that might be an issue. And I haven’t used for camping yet…. If I had to give a time for hot water I would say less than 10 seconds. Heater is within couple feet of bathroom and not much more to kitchen sink. Tiny RV… Plus it’s hot here and our water is never cold coming out of tap anyway. In different climates I imagine I might have different results. I’d still like it better because of the unlimited hot water issue even though I motorhome shower even at home. It’s just knowing I could run it forever if I wanted I guess. I also have propane on demand hot water at home and don’t think I could ever go back to a tank in a house again either.