Instant/tankless hot water heaters

[Mark]

I'm thinking of changing over to a tankless hot water heater. Does anyone here who uses one have an opinion either way? Good? Bad? Ugly?

I'll be replacing a 6 gallon tank heater. 

Thanks

 

[Trebor English]

I don't have one. I love the concept. Freezing is a problem. A regular heater keeps heating the water, tankless only heats when there is water flow. The outside air supply for combustion and the outside venting of exhaust expose the combustion chamber / heat exchanger to the outside temperature. Water can be drained. Some models can have combustion condensation accumulate in a spot where freezing causes damage.

If you ran a pipe around the baseboard and ran it all the time when it is cold then it wouldn't freeze and it would heat with outside venting of fumes, no condensation. There was a post here recently where the van had a small radiator, heater core, and a small fan to circulate air but he didn't have tankless. Dual purpose is always good. To take a hot shower you would only have to turn off the baseboard heat valve and adjust the temperature to the shower level. Ok, one more thing, turn off the circulating pump switch.

 

[MrNoodly]

I don't have one.  I love the concept.  Freezing is a problem.

If it's 32°F/0°C or colder inside your rig, then you have other problems. 

On-demand water heaters don't need an outside air source, just like a stove doesn't need one. And if the top of the heater is beneath a vent, heat from the heater (because, you know, that's what they create) would counteract any cold air trying to get in the vent. Or you could even do a fancy duct with a damper right off the top of the heater.

 

[bullfrog]

I like the idea but also worry about freezing as my trailer is heated only when I'm in it. I only carry water in jugs when I'm going to use it. I'm using a Coleman Hot Water Machine now but because it is not permanently mounted I have been able to get most if not all the water drained, it has been in freezing temps with no damage, but is made for use in a vented area and run times are limited.

 

[Stargazer]

Check out RV owners forums for good info, like this one.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f68/instant-hot-water-heaters-103411.html

 

[ahh_me2]

I have a tankless demand water heater.

I'm happy with it.

They can be finicky because they do require a certain flow rate, and if you vary the rate the water temp will vary also.

Mine is a Girard unit that is meant to replace an existing 6-10 gallon RV water heater tank system, therefore it requires venting exhaust to the outside as well as providing fresh air for the burner.

I built mine into an inset cove that has an external insulated door on it so I wouldn't have to worry about it freezing up as I am in an area with long cold winters. When I want to use it I simply pop open the door on it and use it as needed.

Mine does have the WUD (winter utilization device) mode on it, but it is not practical for me in the extended cold temps, it would be fine for the odd overnight where the temp drops to freezing though.

 

[LeeRevell]

Opinion......
I never understood the concept of heating...... HOT water.

Just me, I guess.

 

[BradKW]

Mine will also heat cold water...I paid extra.

 

[closeanuf]

I don't have on, but have a good friend who has been a plumber for 40 years tells people not to do it.  His reason is because the water passages in it are small to heat the water faster and if your water has high mineral content these passages will clog up.  Just another thought.

 

[Mark]

Thanks!

Cold temps are not a problem since if it's that cold, I'll go somewhere else. I winter in Mexico.
My hot water demands are not severe, hot water to wash my face and hands, dishes, a shower every now and then.
It's almost one of those things that "would be nice".

The Girard fits right into where my present tank and heater are, so installation wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Vagabound]

I don't have on, but have a good friend who has been a plumber for 40 years tells people not to do it.  His reason is because the water passages in it are small to heat the water faster and if your water has high mineral content these passages will clog up.  Just another thought.

On the other hand, there are some places in the world which don't have hot water heater tanks at all. In the places that I am familiar with, they all use tankless, on-demand water heaters. After living in a place where I used those for over 10 years, I've never heard of any sort of mineral deposits/clogging problem. I'm not saying it doesn't ever happen, but I doubt that it's very common unless you have some unusually hard water source. 

The only problem we ever experienced is that every once in awhile the D battery in the unit would die, and the water would be cold. That happened once every 6 months to a year. The battery is used to generate a spark to ignite the heater as far as I recall.

I don't have one now for use on the road. I did research it, and main obstacle seems to be that even the smallest ones intended for household use or similar require a certain amount of water pressure to work properly. That requirement is usually somewhere in the footnotes, so you have to look carefully. The point is that that amount of water pressure cannot usually be generated in a mobile situation.

Coleman and others make heaters intended to be used in a mobile situation. I'm going to give those a hard look.

Tom

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I've been remodeling my house since September and had it gutted to the studs, thus no bathroom. My trailer bathroom is so small, I avoided using it at all costs. So I built a 4' by 4' frame outside out of some 2x4's wrapped a blue tarp around it and hung a Portable hot water heater in there. It hooks up to a 20lb propane tank and garden hose. Uses 2 D batteries to ignite. I absolutely love it!, I used it for 4 months until the house hot water heater was finally installed. I still take outdoor showers with it from time to time with it, as I love the feeling of the cold winter air and steaming hot water combined.

I'd like to incorporate it into my cargo trailer conversion once I start it. It does need at least 20 psi of water pressure, and think I can get that with a small RV water pump. I noticed Lou uses the same one in his trailer in one of Enigmatic Nomadic's You Tube Videos.

Amazon Link
https://www.amazon.com/Eccotemp-L5-...1&keywords=on+demand+camping+hot+water+heater

Enigmatic Nomadic's Video of Lou's Homemade custom built trailer. You can see the heater in his bathroom starting at 32:23

 

[INTJohn]

OK - I did one helluvalot of research before I sold all of my worldly possessions and went fulltime boondocking...........

That said 1 of the items I took one long hard look at was 'Hot Water on Demand vs. Hot water Tank and I went with Hot Water on Demand and have no regrets what so ever - wouldn't have a hot water tank again at all. In fact IF i were ever to build a stick house again to live in I would have it there as well.......

Like anything new - there are a few things different from what we've spent years getting accustomed to with a tank system vs tankless but a little familiarization & experience & you'll likely be an advocate as well unless you're the type of person that just doesn't like anything 'new' & different - even if it is an improvement - function , efficiency and cost.

The main things I found out to keep in mind:
the system will essentially warm the water by about 40 to 60 degrees so if the ambient temperature is WARM - 80 degrees say; and the water in your fresh tank is then say 65 degrees or warmer and you have the temperature control set High, the water will be warmed to a temperature exceeding 120 degrees which will caUSE the system to begin cycling cold, hot, cold, hot, to prevent scalding - so you'll need to turn the temp down.

If, say, its 25 to 30 degrees outside, now you may want the temp control set higher........

Also, the system needs a flow pressure of about 45psi; so if your water pump doesn't produce this amount of pressure, the system won't work; BUT If your battery(s) are low on power and can't produce enough amps to operate the water pump fully this can cause the system to not function properly.

And if you are low on propane, you know its going to run out while you're taking the shower.
The brand I have is made by Girard & I'm very satisfied with it.
Also, I boondock fulltime in Michigan till late November and have experienced temperatures into single digits and have never had any issues. I love it.

Jus sayin.............INTJohn

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks for the review INTJohn. I have been looking into the Girard. do you have the cold weather package on yours? highdesertranger

 

[Mark]

Thanks INTJohn, great info.

 

[INTJohn]

thanks for the review INTJohn.  I have been looking into the Girard.  do you have the cold weather package on yours?  highdesertranger

Yes! Knowing I was intending to boondock fulltime in the trailer and that I would spend 7 or 8 months a year in Michigan I got the trailer with every cold weather arctic package option I could get.

Also, 1 more thing with the tankless system, you'll know you've gotten the hang of it when you never use the cold water knob on the shower. And you can take as long a shower as you want because you don't have to worry about running the tank out of hot water. Length of shower is determined by your fresh water capacity, how much propane you have and how long you want to use each to shower.

Singin in the (warm) rain..............INTJohn

 

[Svenn]

So why are you guys recommending the $500-$1200 Girards, Atwoods, PrecisionTemps, etc when there are the ~$150 Eccotemp L10's etc out there? I don't understand the difference between these two types of on-demand propane water heaters. In fact, the Eccotemp has more BTUs and wayyy more satisfied customers than the expensive ones.

 

[highdesertranger]

I can't speak for anybody else but the Girards, Atwoods, Presicion are all RV models the others are for outdoor use only, not for permanent mounting and are basically not for anything but occasional use. some of them have their own batteries and pumps but some are not 12 volt witch adds to the complexity of the system. right now I have a Coleman portable and although it works fine, when I do my trailer build out I will put one of the RV units in. highdesertranger

 

[Svenn]

These schoolbusdwellers have had success with the cheap eccotemps: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/tankless-lp-water-heater-11400-2.html