Forum Discussion

FSAD's avatar
FSAD
Explorer
Jun 18, 2013

On demand hot water, to replace regular 6 gal tank unit

School me on the on-demand units, worth the price? How much SHOULD I pay for one? any recommendations?

I am searching for a friend, they are a large family, 2 adults, 5 kids and due to unforseen cirsumstances, are most likely going to have to live in the camper for a while till things are more sorted out. The regular 6 gal unit is leaking anyways, so I thought I'd replace it with an on demand one.

Thanks for your help, I tried searching but for some reason not much came up. Perhaps my search terms weren't the best.

Was looking at ones like this:

Girard on demand
  • Hi Fsad,

    I'd measure carefully before I ordered. I'm sure you can find dimensions on line.
  • awesome info! thanks. wow, was not expecting the negative comments, I just figured they weren't too complicated, and that they should basically work. hmmmmmm...

    as to the 10 gallon, will it fit where a 6 was? I have not seen his compartment yet, but will be the one doing the work, so.....

    what exactly went wrong with the ones above, or why weren't they satisfactory?
  • I had a Precision Temp in my previous camper and had all the hot water I could want. Good company to work with if there is a problem. The only drawback I see with them is they only run on propane but they do not use as much as a heater with a tank. They also take a few extra seconds to get the hot water to the faucet so there is a bit of water wasted. Here is a link to their site.
    Precision Temp water heaters
  • FSAD wrote:
    School me on the on-demand units, worth the price? How much SHOULD I pay for one? any recommendations?

    I am searching for a friend, they are a large family, 2 adults, 5 kids and due to unforseen cirsumstances, are most likely going to have to live in the camper for a while till things are more sorted out. The regular 6 gal unit is leaking anyways, so I thought I'd replace it with an on demand one.

    Thanks for your help, I tried searching but for some reason not much came up. Perhaps my search terms weren't the best.

    Was looking at ones like this:

    Girard on demand


    We put a Girard in one of our RV's. Eventually after weeks of NOT working they reluctantly agreed to buy it back. We went with the 16 gal unit by either atwood or suburban. Don't remember now
  • We are going on our 3rd year with a Girard Tankless and will never own an RV without one. They have the same limitations as household units and should not be used if you boondock a lot. I took a 35 minute steaming hot shower the other day... Need I say more. Requires the same level of maintenance as a standard wh.
  • ScottG wrote:
    Historically these haven't performed very well and many who get them in new RV's make the dealer replace them with standard units.
    One company (forget who) was advertising the "second generation" of tankless WH's and I haven't heard anything about those.
    I would either install a 10 gallon unit and teach the family how to take quick showers or make sure I got one of the newest model tankless.

    X2 on what Scott says.

    If you do get a tankless, confirm that it's the absolute latest model!

    WoodGlue
  • Historically these haven't performed very well and many who get them in new RV's make the dealer replace them with standard units.
    One company (forget who) was advertising the "second generation" of tankless WH's and I haven't heard anything about those.
    I would either install a 10 gallon unit and teach the family how to take quick showers or make sure I got one of the newest model tankless.
  • Hi,

    I would look for a ten gallon unit instead of the "on demand" type.