RegularGas/Electric or Tanlkess Hot Water Heater

[RAurand]

My nieces hot water went on the frizz. She is looking into replacing the hot water heater.
If you had a choice, would you go with a tankless gas/electric hot water heater of replace the hot water heater with a 6 gallon Atwood or Suburban 6 gallon tank Gas/Electric hot water heater? Why or why not?

Thank you.

[EA37TS]

I have tankless in the house and wouldn't dream of putting one in an RV. Too many issues with low flow and the lack of hot water as a result of low flow issues.

The must be a reason why some RV manufacturers haven abandoned tankless and started going back to a hot water tank system.

[Magnolia Tom]

I would say it depends on how they camp. If they’re going to parks with full hook ups or if they have members that like to take long showers, a tankless could be fine. If they boondock a lot, the tankless wastes more water than a tank. In my experience propane usage is about the same with the slight advantage to tankless (unless DW and DD are taking 20 minute+ showers [emoji23])

We changed to a tankless and have been very happy with it.

[stateboy]

I think Magnolia Tom hit it on the head about the water use. I just installed a tankless in the house and love it BUT it does take longer (more water) to get it to temp at the shower head/spigot. I love it at the house and wouldn't go back to a tank. I DO see problems in a camper though with the extra water needed. I have not had a water flow issue at home (even with colder ground water temps here in MI verses southern states). My son calls it "infinity" hot water now.

[DonaandDon]

Additionally, ground water temps effect hot water discharge temperatures for the tankless. So if your camping in the cold (at or below freezing) then I would go with the tank.

[Jagiven]

Lots of good comments. A lot depends on how you camp. If you always have full hookups, a tankless would be fine. Boondocking I don't think I would ever want a tankless, unless the water heater was right next to the shower and kitchen sink.

I too have a tankless in my SB house, would never go back to a tank. In the TT, I would only go with a tank system. My current water heater is as far away from the kitchen and shower as physically possible. Currently it takes a long time to get hot water to my kitchen. Because of that, we often boil water to do dishes, just to save water.

Another thing about tankless. Every time you turn on the water, you will get a surge of cold water, as the flame chamber is purged first, ignition is fired. In out SB house that is probably a 1/4 gallon of ice cold water. So when doing dishes at home, we leave the hot water running while rinsing dishes, never turn it off, just turn down in volume to keep the water hot. That technique would drain our FW tank fast, and fill our grey tank just as fast.

[RAurand]

Thank you all for the very interesting facts. I really appreciate it.

[Thomson]

Personally, I stay away from tankless as they will fill up with hard water deposits. Atwood uses an aluminum tank. It has to have a magnesium anode, and can switch to electric from inside if you have the right control box. Suburban uses a glass lined steel tank meaning you can use zinc or magnesium anodes. However, the electric switch has mounted outside on the inside wall of the heater. Sometimes it's mounted upside down meaning you could have it on when the tank is empty burning out the electric element. After all that the easiest solution is to put in what you have as the electric doesn't change.

[hoppers4]

It only took me a couple of months to decide to remove my tankless and replace it with a standard 6 gallon Suburban. Fits fine in the space.

My biggest complaint was how fiddly the device was. And the temp control was in the head across the passageway from the shower. Arrrrrgggg, what kinda design is that.

[Thomson]

Don, we agree. However, Surburban didn't tell the RV maker where to put the switch. I'm surprised that they allowed it to be moved from the front plate behind the door to elsewhere. All things considered we would go with Atwood even though it's aluminum.

[hoppers4]

Originally Posted by Thomson

Don, we agree. However, Surburban didn't tell the RV maker where to put the switch. I'm surprised that they allowed it to be moved from the front plate behind the door to elsewhere. All things considered we would go with Atwood even though it's aluminum.

I would have preferred Atwood also as it doesn't need an anode rod. However, the Suburban was a better fit (so I was told) so I went with that. I didn't replace it myself. Our rig had sufficient space to put an AC power and 12VDC switch next to the fridge. This was all very close to the water heater and available power. I picked up AC power coming from the inverter. I just have to remember to shut off the water heater before I disconnect from shore power so I don't get an inverter overload.

[JimD]

Ripped out my tankless and installed a tank version with added 120 volt capability. I would never go back as I absolutely hated that tankless. We boondock 90% of the time and are used to conserving water and holding tank space. The tankless simply wastes water up the kazoo (thank goodness I was able to throw out that kazoo).

Also, it never really got all that hot. The control panel was set at max which was 124 degrees. The only place that actually got somewhat hot was the kitchen sink. I was never able to rinse dishes with warm water unless I wanted to push the flow up. A lot of flow is needed to get the heater to fire up. Now I can just have a trickle of HOT water that will burn you if needed.

Living in Southern California with drought concerns I have become accustomed to never wanting to waste water. Even when we were hooked up I would try to conserve water.

Now with my tank I am a happy camper.