Water heater - leave it on while camping?

SteveMM

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2016
Messages
241
Location
Near Richmond, VA
When I went through my dealer orientation for our new-to-us 2013 X17Z, the person doing the orientation said I shouldn't leave the electric water heater on the whole time we're camping. She said that instead we should turn it on when we get to the campsite for 20-30 minutes, and then turn it off until we're using hot water. When we're using hot water, she said, we should turn it on to replace the hot water, and then turn it off afterward. This really didn't seem right to me. Is that how all of you do it?
 
I turn on the electric when I setup camp. I leave it on until we break down and get ready to leave. I turn on the propane in addition to the electric before shower time just for a quicker recovery time.
 
I turn on the electric when I setup camp. I leave it on until we break down and get ready to leave. I turn on the propane in addition to the electric before shower time just for a quicker recovery time.

This is what I do too.

To the OP, the only 2 times I can think of when you want to be careful about running your water heater is if you run your tanks dry. If your water heater were to run out of water, you'd fry the heating element... and the other obvious one is if you are off grid trying to conserve your 'energy' sources. Other than that, I don't view using my hot water in the camper any differently than my hot water tank at home, it's always on.
 
When I went through my dealer orientation for our new-to-us 2013 X17Z, the person doing the orientation said I shouldn't leave the electric water heater on the whole time we're camping. She said that instead we should turn it on when we get to the campsite for 20-30 minutes, and then turn it off until we're using hot water. When we're using hot water, she said, we should turn it on to replace the hot water, and then turn it off afterward. This really didn't seem right to me. Is that how all of you do it?

That's the water heaters job...it turns on when we use hot water, and off when we don't. Unless really cold outside, it rarely comes on when not in use.

I don't turn our water off at the post when were not using it either, or the propane.

I do turn our water off at home when were on the road...if you ever saw the results of a pipe bursting and running for a few days, you would never leave home with the water on again..
 
Thanks, everyone. That explanation from the dealer didn't make any sense at the time, but I followed her directions the first time I camped. As a result, when I took a shower I only had lukewarm water. If I'm paying the money for a camper, I want hot water! :D
 
Leave it on for a day or a year. Only time I might turn mine off is if I went somewhere for a day trip. Then I would turn the water off also.
 
I don't turn our water off at the post when were not using it either, or the propane.

I do turn our water off at home when were on the road...if you ever saw the results of a pipe bursting and running for a few days, you would never leave home with the water on again..
Isn't that a contradiction in philosophy?
 
We turn our electric on when we're setting up, and off when we're tearing down. The only time we used propane was at one campground with older infrastructure, and having the electric water heater and air conditioning on at the same time blew the pedestal breaker. We were about to talk to the office about it when DW saw a message posted in the campground saying that if this happens, turn your electric water heater off. Okay, no problem. We switched it to propane for the rest of our stay there. It wasn't a big deal for us.
 
At our seasonal site, we turn it on when we arrive (electric) and it's on the whole time we're there, whether it be a weekend or an entire week or longer. We shut it off when we leave. Since we're connected all the time, I don't use the propane for hot water, but I do test it occasionally throughout the camping season.
 
This is one of those "depends" topics.
We boondock A LOT!!! So in the interest of conserving consumables we have learned some lessons over the years. Generally, we look at how long we will be camping. Generally, like the refrigerator, we use the electric and pre-heat the water at the house while it is plugged in. On the road, everything is off until we get to the campsite, then we turn the water heater back on using propane to ensure the water is hot. At a campsite while boondocking we do not use the electric option of the water heater because of the battery draw. If we are at a campground/campsite with hookups, then it is on all the time (in electric mode).
When operating on gas we always shut down at night and turn on first thing in the morning. After breakfast and dishes we turn it back off again. While cooking dinner, we turn it on, and once dishes are done we turn it off.
Of course if we are going to be bathing or washing up, then we will turn it on for about 10 minutes before we do so and turn it off when done.
Like you, we bought this thing so if we take a shower; we want that shower hot (even if we are taking a "navy" shower). So a little planning goes a long way.

Times have changed and things are convenient with the options for electric and/or gas, and being able to just flip a switch. Who remembers the old RVs where you had to turn the gas on and light the pilot light on the water heater AND the refrigerator once you got to the campsite?
 
For the sake of knowledge and the story, I recently completed a 7 day hunt with the RV completely off the grid wherein night temperatures dropped down below 30 degrees. Do to a mishap which resulted in a flooded generator we were not able to get the generator started (which was on day 4). Nevertheless, through highly disciplined and judicious use of power, water, and propane, we managed the whole time on nothing but battery power and the batteries never dropped below 2/3 according the control panel.
The stupidity on my part was wanting one of two things for the generator. Either a can of starting fluid or a spark plug wrench (of the correct size, because I have on in the trucks tool kit). Turns out, once we got home and I decided to tackle the generator, all it needed was either the starting fluid or the spark plug wrench to clean the spark plug. After looking in the TT tool kit (which I looked in while at camp) there was a spark plug wrench for the generator there. I can't figure out why I didn't see it up there at the hunt camp.
Even though the battery power lasted, we just wanted to run the generator so we could run the RV heater in order to dry some boots and clothes out. Without the generator, we don't dare run the RV heater when we are staying that long.
 
Hey Gunny - that's a "sea shower". We Coasties would NEVER take a "navy shower" !
 
... At a campsite while boondocking we do not use the electric option of the water heater because of the battery draw. ...

Just for the record it is not possible to use the electric option when on battery. There is no 12V heating element in the water heater.
 
Just for the record it is not possible to use the electric option when on battery. There is no 12V heating element in the water heater.

Wow, thank you. In all my years of working with RV's I just learned something I probably should have put together and known a long time ago. I was aware that the electric heating element was 110VAC. I was aware that both propane and electric can be used together while plugged in to decrease reheat time. For some reason it never clicked in my grey matter that the electric heating element would not work on battery. Probably because the lighted switch lights up whenever the electric switch is turned on whether the RV is plugged in or on battery. I feel kind of foolish.... lol
 
12VDC is required for the HWH control board whether using the propane or electric heating elements. But when the converter is powered it supplies the 12VDC.
Fridge and furnace operate the same way. Of course the furnace only heats using propane.
 
Wow, thank you. In all my years of working with RV's I just learned something I probably should have put together and known a long time ago. I was aware that the electric heating element was 110VAC. I was aware that both propane and electric can be used together while plugged in to decrease reheat time. For some reason it never clicked in my grey matter that the electric heating element would not work on battery. Probably because the lighted switch lights up whenever the electric switch is turned on whether the RV is plugged in or on battery. I feel kind of foolish.... lol



Don't feel foolish, I just figured you might have an inverter, based on how much boondocking you do. So when you said you don't like running the electric water heater it made sense.


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Don't feel foolish, I just figured you might have an inverter, based on how much boondocking you do. So when you said you don't like running the electric water heater it made sense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I don't have an inverter. Using an inverter to power things like the television or other electrical appliance draws to much on the batteries.


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