Instant hot water seems to be a pain

[pearcec]

While the idea of instant hot water sounds great. But when you turn off the water in the shower with the shower head and turn it back on you get a little bit of hot water (residual in the line?). But then it just runs cold and never heats up again. What i have to do is turn OFF the cold and let the hot water kick on and heat up. Is this normal? Is there a better way?

[coachray]

Do you have a tankless hot water heater. If so, we set our hot at a desired temp, and don't even turn on the cold water.

[Matthew]

The tricks are:
-need enough water pressure for the system to work
and
-set the temperature to desired warmth and use only the hot water knob (don't turn the cold side at all)
For dishes, crank up the heat (makes it faster and cleaner).
For showers, my wife likes 106 range, me about 96.
Wouldn't go back to a tank after the learning curve.

[16ACE27]

Yes, it is a pain, especially when conserving shower water. Most people have found that setting the water temp to a comfortable shower level and not using a mix of cold water in the shower is the best way to go,

[Judge]

The Search Function is your friend…. Myself and others have posted a gazillion times about the Girard Tankless.

Read my post #3 in this thread…


https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f8...tml#post342434


For the record…. my wife and I love the Girard Tankless and are on our second coach with one. When we have full hook-ups we can each tank a 20 minute shower if we want and the temp holds perfectly. My wife uses about 106 and I use 102 on the thermostat.

We also just boondocked five days on a 60 gallons fresh water tank and took a few hot showers, did dishes, etc.

[pearcec]

Thanks everyone. Looks like good advice. I read the manual it says maximum flow is the default. I checked and mine was turned down. Any good reason for it being turned down or should I just start with default.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by coachray

Do you have a tankless hot water heater. If so, we set our hot at a desired temp, and don't even turn on the cold water.

Same here

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by Matthew

The tricks are:
-need enough water pressure for the system to work
and
-set the temperature to desired warmth and use only the hot water knob (don't turn the cold side at all)
For dishes, crank up the heat (makes it faster and cleaner).
For showers, my wife likes 106 range, me about 96.
Wouldn't go back to a tank after the learning curve.

Same here..on road 7 months..22k miles ..changed shower head to on off. Set temp for us and now can't go back to tank

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by pearcec

Thanks everyone. Looks like good advice. I read the manual it says maximum flow is the default. I checked and mine was turned down. Any good reason for it being turned down or should I just start with default.

I never checked my flow..will look for the adjustment

[Judge]

Originally Posted by pearcec

Thanks everyone. Looks like good advice. I read the manual it says maximum flow is the default. I checked and mine was turned down. Any good reason for it being turned down or should I just start with default.

There is only one reason for flow to be slightly turned down……

Assuming there is ample pressure…. over 45 psi….. flow can be turned down slightly in colder months where the incoming water temperature can be very cold and it needs to spend more time in the heat exchanger to get very hot.

That being said…. I can almost guarantee that is a setting Thor never checks when they install it.

But if you follow my instructions, the Girard should work almost flawlessly.

[thisoldman]

When we have sewer hookups or don't have to go more than a day or two without them then I love the Girard. But when we have to go more than a couple of days without access to sewer hookups then I hate the Girard, because the gray water holding tank fills up too quickly unless we take all kinds of inconvenient actions to minimize the amount of water that drains into it.

[Chateau_Nomad]

We often have electric only, and 80% of our glamping is without water/sewer at the site. With "only" 40 gallons in the fresh tank, we conserve water as much as possible in this situation. Other than the shower, it just doesn't make sense to have the water on full blast to get hot water... especially washing/sanitizing dishes by hand. One can blow through several gallons of wasted water with the tap unnecessarily on full. I can typically wash a dinner's worth of dishes/utensils in about a gallon of water... by controlling the flow to a trickle when rinsing.

Now I understand many people don't even cook in their RV, let alone wash dishes. So this is probably a niche case. But until "instant - tankless - unlimited" develops a way to control water usage, I'm sticking with my old school 6-gallon tank.

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by pearcec

While the idea of instant hot water sounds great. But when you turn off the water in the shower with the shower head and turn it back on you get a little bit of hot water (residual in the line?). But then it just runs cold and never heats up again. What i have to do is turn OFF the cold and let the hot water kick on and heat up. Is this normal? Is there a better way?

My solution on my 2017 Thor Axix 25.1 was to find the temp. I prefered and set that into the panel read-out. Then you only need to open the hot water outlet, no mixing or hot/cold temps anymore just consistent water temp!!!! Bob

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by Matthew

The tricks are:
-need enough water pressure for the system to work
and
-set the temperature to desired warmth and use only the hot water knob (don't turn the cold side at all)
For dishes, crank up the heat (makes it faster and cleaner).
For showers, my wife likes 106 range, me about 96.
Wouldn't go back to a tank after the learning curve.

If my 6 gal. water heater tank ever fails, I'm changing to the tankless with a wall mount readout like my Axis had-----LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EA37TS]

Seneca owners are installing recirculating systems in their units. 5 minutes before dish washing or showers the turn on the recirculating system which runs water through the water heater and back into the fresh water tank until a hot water faucet is open and the recirculating pump is turned off.

This was their solution to water usage, tankless water heaters and boondocking.

[wrapped]

Shower Miser Valve by Aqua View, recirculates back to fresh water tank, saves water and cuts down on Grey water.

[thisoldman]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

We often have electric only, and 80% of our glamping is without water/sewer at the site. With "only" 40 gallons in the fresh tank, we conserve water as much as possible in this situation. Other than the shower, it just doesn't make sense to have the water on full blast to get hot water... especially washing/sanitizing dishes by hand. One can blow through several gallons of wasted water with the tap unnecessarily on full. I can typically wash a dinner's worth of dishes/utensils in about a gallon of water... by controlling the flow to a trickle when rinsing.

Now I understand many people don't even cook in their RV, let alone wash dishes. So this is probably a niche case. But until "instant - tankless - unlimited" develops a way to control water usage, I'm sticking with my old school 6-gallon tank.

Given my druthers, I'd much rather have a six-gallon slow recovery water heater than the tankless Girard. In 30 years of travel trailer camping prior to buying my current motorhome in 2019 I had no issues with hot water usage or with gray water holding tank capacity. I've learned to adapt to the Girard, but I'm definitely not fond of it.

[Chateau_Nomad]

I'm seriously considering the Shower Miser setup as a next season project. I currently use the "poor man's water miser"... run the water into a plastic pitcher until hot. The pitcher water goes into the Berkey water filter.

Actually the "recycle to tank" principle is fairly simple. I'd really like to DIY with an electric (12 volt) solenoid valve (or two), then control from a single master switch... or even a Bluetooth phone app. Hmmmmm...

[Daffy]

We installed a hot water circulating system. It wasn’t easy but works great.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by thisoldman

Given my druthers, I'd much rather have a six-gallon slow recovery water heater than the tankless Girard. In 30 years of travel trailer camping prior to buying my current motorhome in 2019 I had no issues with hot water usage or with gray water holding tank capacity. I've learned to adapt to the Girard, but I'm definitely not fond of it.

I'm on my second coach with the Girard Tankless. We don't boondock much or for very long periods of time but my wife and I boondocked at my in-laws from Thursday afternoon until Monday afternoon over July 4th weekend. I have 60 gallons fresh and 40 gallons black and grey. We took a few showers, washed dishes and flushed the toilet as we always do (a couple bowls of water usually).

We didn't change our habits much other than maybe a quicker shower and we made it through fine. Perhaps that is not long enough for some folks but I was very happy with the water usage when it comes to the tankless.