Water Heater....leave on or as needed?

Maybe to clarify a bit more our "RV" is a horse trailer so the places we stay people have horses tied to the trailer so lots of horses pooping and peeing in the area that's why I figured maybe ok just to dump grey where we sit.

Dumping gray water is not permitted in any organized camping area I've ever seen. What you need is one of these:

No on dumping gray water, but h*ll NO!

Lwiddis wrote:
"How does everyone feel about dumping grey water on the ground?"

No, no, no. Take pictures, leave footprints...and nothing else.

On my RV the sink water goes to the gray tank. The sink water has food particles from washing your dishes. So you are dumping your garbage as well as water if you dump on the ground. Gray water/food particles have a real strong stinky odor!!!!

JimK-NY wrote:

blackcows wrote:

MarkTwain wrote:

blackcows wrote:
Do you leave your hot water heater on when camping or on and off as needed?

Turn it on and leave it on! 1 person can use 4-5 gallons of heat water per shower, so the rest of the family will have to wait for your water heater to heat up the tank again:( The savings by turning off the heater after your shower is minimal but the inconvenience of waiting for hot water is maximum.

Well that makes me a bit nervous. I only have a 45 gallon tank and 3 ladies that shower. I guess I need to be more worried about water than Propane ?? Most of the horse shows we go to have electric but no water so we only have the water we haul. Guess Propane is the least of my worries.

.

One of the most effective methods for conserving water usuage is using the old "NAVY SHOWER". Use water to wet your whole body. Turn your water off. Soap up your whole body and hair. Turn water back on and rinse. This method will save and limit the amount of water you use.

To me it depends on how you are using your camper.
I'll turn ours on electric when I wake up in the morning. After breakfast, showers and it recovers I'll turn off the water and heater before we leave for the day. I'll turn the water on when we return in the evening but generally will not turn the water heater on again until the next morning.

Electric element on all the time that I have free electricity. Propane on only if I don't have free electricity, or, during showers for faster heating with the electric element also on.

Mandalay Parr wrote:
What do you do with your one at home?
Mine is on all the time.

Exactly. It has a built in thermostat. It will turn itself on and off as needed.

"How does everyone feel about dumping grey water on the ground?"

No, no, no. Take pictures, leave footprints...and nothing else.

Certainly going to have to pay attention to that. Our "RV" is actually a horse trailer with a living quarters which we take to horse shows so lots of times very dirty people showering. Also we show with people that don't have showers so st times the kids bring friends over to share the shower. Guess we are going to have to watch a little closer.

How does everyone feel about dumping grey water on the ground? We are either camped in the grass at a fair grounds or in a camp grounds that is just rock with lots of hook ups. Nothing formal like a KOA or similar. We have an extra tank on the hay rack with water for the horses (110 gallons) and we could put some of that water in the fresh tank.