Water Heater

[Jdawg123]

Anyone install a instant water heater in a jay flight

[Jagiven]

Welcome Aboard!

Seems like most people take them out. Question what type of camping do you do? Are you always in a CG with full hookups? If so, you might like it. If not, you may hate it. Every time you turn off the water, the flame turns off, every time you turn on the water, before the flame ignites, the burner assembly purges out any potential residue gas. Hence you get a slug of cold water at your faucet (maybe 1/2 gallon). So you have a tendency to keep the water flowing, while taking a shower or doing dishes as you do not want that slug of cold. Leaving the water flowing empties one tank fast and fills the other just as fast.

[JimD]

Hated my on-demand water heater from the beginning. Finally ripped it out and put in a tank model. It is hands and fists better than the tankless.

My tankless was set at its max temp of 124 degrees. Getting hot water to anything but the kitchen sink was iffy. You have to run the faucets at a high output to get the water heater to turn on. Then you have to wait for it to get to the faucet. Turn off the faucet for a second and the heater shuts off. Then you get cold water in a section that will be coming next.

If you dry camp at all, GO WITH THE TANK MODEL. Otherwise you will waste a lot of water and holding tank space while standing there swearing at your hot water availability. My tank model puts out 135 degrees and can now burn your dish washing hands which is nice.

If you are always hooked up the only thing you need to think about is how much water you feel comfortable wasting. Since I am in Southern California and we are basically in and out of drought conditions all the time, I have grown to have a great respect for water and wasting it just pisses me off.

[Jdawg123]

Thinking of an electric on demand

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by Jdawg123

Thinking of an electric on demand

Better check the necessary electric requirement, they can pull a lot of amps, and your rig may not be able to supply that current.

[muckinfuss]

I plumbed two of my rental homes with tankless. Based on how they perform, there's no way I would put one in my house or in my trailer. Whatever size you calculate to....double it. Now your price just doubles as well. They require purging a lot more than tank type heaters. If the water source is really hard, it can scale the narrow tubes in the burner head almost to the point of clogging. Most campground hookups are not soft water sources. If someone is telling you the propane savings will pay for it, well, I say B/S. Electric Amps are way beyond what you can supply without a separate panel.

My wife takes looooong showers and the tank unit in our White Hawk has never let her down. Once it's filled and the gas is on, we flip the electric heater on as well and the recovery rivals any tankless and the hot shows up at the faucet, shower head as fast or faster.