| Author | Message | ||
| RickMock (Rjmock) (198.77.116.58)
Rating: |
Dose anyone use tankless water heaters looks good to me and could save some space price not bad any (pros or cons)?? 4104 my first project need all the help I can get. thanks | ||
| madbrit (216.67.197.189) Rating: N/A |
Rick, I looked into using a Paloma unit and their website stated that under no circumstances should their unit be used in any RV vehicle. They don't say why, perhaps it doesn't conform to the neccessary regulations. There may be others that will work. Peter. | ||
| JJ (205.188.198.172) Rating: N/A |
When I did my coach, I looked at them and found that they use far too much amperage, and unless you have a high volume, high pressure water flow they tend to over heat or boil dry and become a fire hazard....JJ | ||
| FAST FRED (209.26.87.32) Rating: N/A |
THE Biggest problem , is that they don't like HARD water. This reduces the efficency , and slowly plugs them up. ALL brands are similar. AS we travel a good deal ,its hard not to get hard water . I went with the marine 120V with heater coil. A water cooled gen set could be source of heat , for domestic water and coach heat while boondockin. Big advantage of marine unit is there is switch that saves heater element if used with no water in tank. Just push button. There are 50W 12V elements avil if you have solar , really slow recovery , but 6 to 10 gal is a good deal of hot water. FAST FRED | ||
| C. Ray Powell (Raypowell) (64.12.106.37)
Rating: N/A |
Fred, Where are the 12 volt water heater elements? Thanks C Ray | ||
| FAST FRED (209.26.87.45) Rating: N/A |
Alternative Energy Engineering at 1-800-777-6609, or at www.alt-energy.com These folks have a great deal of usefull stuff, Wall mounted 12V DC rated switches, 12V24V 48V dc hot water elements and a good assessment of info on composting toilets. Plus hundreds of items for the off grid folks. A very usefyll catalog for any serious boondockers { more than a couple of nights in a row}. Only the off grid folks take electrical manufacture and consumption seriously , so the equippment they use is vital. Home Power Magasine takes a pro approach and is on line for FREE. FAST FRED | ||
| CoryDaneRTSII (4.17.253.70) Rating: N/A |
Hard water is a problem you can cope with yearly flushes to clean them out. But you have to build carefully in an RV because tankless water heaters only heat when water is moving. There is NO HOT WATER STORED in the heater which means it will freeze in freezing weather unless you build it in a warm area of the bus. The electric unit is an amp hog and would be difficult to supply while booning though it only calls for power when you need hot water. The propane unit is another choice but if you install inside the bus, you have to build in ventilation too. I have a tankless in my home now for 7 years and I would never have a tank unit again. My bus has the provision for a tankless in the future but it would have to be electric and I need to design the inverter/battery system yet. I think the home unit is priceless and I think if you can supply the power to the electric unit in the RV, that would be a good system also. - cd | ||
| Janet Lewis (216.202.56.3) Rating: N/A |
We completed our conversion in '99 and live in it full time, unfortunately mostly stationery as I am still working. We installed an RV-500 water heater. In our area, hard water is not a problem, but I have been thinking about how to deal with it in the future. The heater is installed in a cabinet between the galley and bathroom strategically placed so we could install the outside vent without compromising the frames. It's great not to have a tank heating up and cooling down whether or not the water is being used. We had a boat with a Paloma, but it had a pilot which was a no-no unless installed outside. The downside from my point of view is that water pressure is reduced in order to heat the water, and also that I have some difficulty keeping the temperature adjusted when showering. The following is the website address for the heater we have. www.precisiontemp.com | ||
| FAST FRED (209.26.87.57) Rating: N/A |
The only method I know on a tankless system , to have water of a consistant temp when showering , is to have a return to tank line. You install a pipe that goes from the shower room , back to the fresh water tank. When showering instead of turning the water off ,just let the shower water return to the tank, via the special pipe. IT should be mounted so that in normal use nothing will find its way back into the fresh water tank, but when you need to , the telephone end of the shower is inserted. No change in water flow , no change in water temp, and no water is waisted. Although it does cost a bit of propane. FAST FRED | ||
| Leslie A. Robinson Les. R. (24.113.31.229)
Rating: N/A |
addendum to Fast Fred; the url for hompower's online magazine is: http://www.homepower.com/ this looks like a very informative site |
