Engine powered water heater?

[Spaceman Spiff]

All I was pointing out is that there is a cost involved in starting and running your engine for a short period of time every day: it does shorten the life of not only the rings and valves, but also the lubricants, battery, starter, alternator, transmission, exhaust.  

I would bet that most of us here do not run their vehicle every day.  My truck can sit for weeks at a time and I keep them for 20+ years, 300,000 miles; my engines are getting pretty tired by then.  I don't want to do major engine work in that time, so 10 minute runs to heat water would be a non-starter for me.

If you idle your engine a lot I would recommend getting an hour meter for your engine.  Odometer reading is no longer valid for fluid change cycles.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

You could probably argue that having your engine sit for weeks at a time without running is also detrimental, all the fluid draining to the pan, that has to shorten it’s lifespan by some minute amount. I think having a hot water system that works off your engine would be sweet, all you have to do is time your showers when you come back from your food runs, water runs, or dump runs or after you stop from a move, in between if you didn’t want to run your engine, you could heat water on your stove. I don’t shower everyday so it work for me.

 

[Vannautical engineer]

All I was pointing out is that there is a cost involved in starting and running your engine for a short period of time every day: it does shorten the life of not only the rings and valves, but also the lubricants, battery, starter, alternator, transmission, exhaust.  

I would bet that most of us here do not run their vehicle every day.  My truck can sit for weeks at a time and I keep them for 20+ years, 300,000 miles; my engines are getting pretty tired by then.  I don't want to do major engine work in that time, so 10 minute runs to heat water would be a non-starter for me.

If you idle your engine a lot I would recommend getting an hour meter for your engine.  Odometer reading is no longer valid for fluid change cycles.

And all I'm pointing out is that if you run your engine so little that it rarely gets warmed up during your normal daily use of the vehicle, your engine is getting used so little overall that there are a myriad of other parts of your vehicle that will wear out and ultimately be the end of your vehicle far before your engine physically wears out. And starting and running the engine 10min per day will not change that. Not to mention again all of the plastic and rubber parts that will deteriorate over time regardless of how much they're being used.

Citing academic studies where engines were fitted with special radioactive piston rings to measure wear is going extremely far off into the weeds in relation to the actual practical issue at hand.

As for my own van, I have put about 8,000 miles on it traveling within the last two months. In that time, I think I started and idled the engine for about 10mins at most five times. So I can assure you that less than one hour of additional idling is making zero difference on when I need to change my fluids.

 

[Vannautical engineer]

I think having a hot water system that works off your engine would be sweet, all you have to do is time your showers when you come back from your food runs, water runs, or dump runs or after you stop from a move

This is exactly what I usually do. If I find a place to park and I know I just ran my engine to drive there, then that's when I'll get a shower. I rarely run the engine just to make hot water. And what could be better than actually making use of the engine heat after you park your vehicle vs. just letting it radiate out into thin air after you park?