On Demand Hot Water Heater

artpe54 · 06-18-2016, 04:59 AM

Anyone install an on demand hot water heater in their unit? I've just purchased Suburban unit for my 2015 Forza and plan to install it shortly. Interested in hearing about others experiences with these units.

Ranger Smith · 06-18-2016, 05:01 AM

Ours was a Girard. Took it out hated it. The less you open the faucet the hotter the water. Ours would never regulate properly. They might be better now. This was 5 years ago.

peterson · 06-18-2016, 06:08 AM

We installed a cold water heater - also known as a water heater. It is difficult to control the super heated steam from the hot water heater and we aren't launching aircraft off the deck with a steam catapult.

azpete · 06-18-2016, 09:17 AM

i have the newest girard tankless.water heater. it has a digital thermostat, and you can set it where you want it. i had the older girard, and it was ok, but not great. you had to adjust the temp each time you used it.
this new girard is great. it works as designed, does what it is advertised to do. endless hot water at my choice of warmth
i installed it myself. it was very easy to install, using the current wiring for the atwood water heater.
in my book thats great.
btw, peterson is right if you have a hot water heater, its overkill.

artpe54 · 06-18-2016, 02:55 PM

I'd respond but I have better things to do with my time than entertaining rude and inconsiderate people!

NYBobbo · 06-18-2016, 04:32 PM

I have a 2016 24J and love the instant hot water. On Eco mode it takes a bit for the hot water to get to the faucet/shower, however on reg. mode it is less a few seconds. Saves running lots of water down the drain waiting for it to get hot.

Only works on propane but you can get 130degree water all day.

With a diesel gen I don't worry about being out of LP

ChasA · 06-18-2016, 06:51 PM

So, it's rude and inconsiderate to refer to a water heater by its proper nomenclature? My coach has a water heater and so does my house. Although, if you're camping in the southwest right now, the water coming in through the hose is already hot and your water heater has become a hot water heater.
😎

peterson · 06-18-2016, 11:00 PM

artpe54, I apologize for getting under your skin. It was meant in fun. Cheers

peterson · 06-18-2016, 11:06 PM

By the way, Daphne is a lovely place. I lived in Fairhope several years taking care of my father and then my mother. Go visit the blueberry farm just east of Fairhope. The best berries are on the first trees on the right as you go in.

Arch Hoagland · 06-18-2016, 11:14 PM

A local RV dealer told me he quit ordering RV's with on demand water heaters.

He said they had a lot of problems with them.

Hope yours is a good one.

I have a friend with one that is run on propane.

She turns her propane tank off when she drives and forgot to turn it back on. Then she couldn't figure out why she couldn't get any hot water.

Mr_D · 06-19-2016, 12:35 AM

Parents had one factory installed when they ordered their 1958 KenCraft TT. It was a European apartment unit and, for the time, it worked fairly well. Yep, Europe had them for that long.

guardrail53 · 06-19-2016, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Parents had one factory installed when they ordered their 1958 KenCraft TT. It was a European apartment unit and, for the time, it worked fairly well. Yep, Europe had them for that long.

Not trying to be a SA, but how did they get the 230 volts to run it? All we have are tankless demand water heaters here in Thailand, but they are all 230 volts! If I am not mistaken, Europe is the same as here, 230 volts! Just wondering? Rail!

Rockwood27 · 06-19-2016, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guardrail53

Not trying to be a SA, but how did they get the 230 volts to run it? All we have are tankless demand water heaters here in Thailand, but they are all 230 volts! If I am not mistaken, Europe is the same as here, 230 volts! Just wondering? Rail!

If your RV has 50 amp service, then you can use a double pole circuit breaker to get the 240V needed for the W/H.

Jupiter · 06-19-2016, 07:59 AM

Our 2016 Journey came with an on-demand water heater and I'm seriously considering retrofitting to a tank water heater. I absolutely hate this model. Why? Well, you need to have nearly full flow of hot water at the fixture (lav, sink, shower, etc.) before the propane kicks in. Any level of restricted flow on the hot water side will shutoff the propane. In other words, it's nearly impossible to blend hot & cold for warm water. It's either full hot or not at all. I've set the temperature adjustment both directions (max to min hot) trying to get a happy medium but with little success. I need to have the shower on full hot water flow for the propane to stay energized. Blending hot with cold even a slight bit shuts off the propane.

I've read through the manual many times and I'm pretty experienced at working with mechanical systems. But, this piece is way too impractical for this application. Did I mention that I hate it?

I'll be surprised if I still have this device another year. There may be better models available but if so, WGO didn't use them

cheers,
Joopy

peterson · 06-19-2016, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChasA

So, it's rude and inconsiderate to refer to a water heater by its proper nomenclature? My coach has a water heater and so does my house. Although, if you're camping in the southwest right now, the water coming in through the hose is already hot and your water heater has become a hot water heater.
😎

Well said ChasA!

artpe54 · 06-19-2016, 11:51 AM

Sorry but I was raised differently, taught that if I couldn't say anything nice to not say anything at all. And by the way where I was raised in the north they are commonly referred to as "hot water heaters".

LVJ58 · 06-19-2016, 12:04 PM

Our old propane/electric 10 gal water heater works just fine for our needs so think we'll keep it.

Best regards to all & safe travels.....

Mr_D · 06-19-2016, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guardrail53

Not trying to be a SA, but how did they get the 230 volts to run it? All we have are tankless demand water heaters here in Thailand, but they are all 230 volts! If I am not mistaken, Europe is the same as here, 230 volts! Just wondering? Rail!

Never heard of propane?

guardrail53 · 06-19-2016, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Never heard of propane?

Well, that clears that up, Thanks! When you said European apt. demand water heater, nope, all the ones I have ever seen were 230 volt! Rail!

Bompa13 · 06-19-2016, 08:07 PM

Just bought a new Navion 24G that came with the Truma Aqua-Go Comfort
We had been looking at upgrading our old MH to this unit.
With it factory installed it has the closed loop that when set to the proper mode will circulate hot water to all faucets and runs on Propane with 12VDC control.
So far we turn it on for about 10 min prior to shower, etc and HW is almost instant.
When done we turn off the LP to the unit and propane usage is kept to a very low minimum.
Water usage is also much lower as it uses much less H2O to prime the lines to the shower which was the longest point in the plumbing