We recently acquired a 2014 fifth wheel.During the walk around, the tech showed us it had switches for gas and electric water heaters. He said the electric heated faster, but over a longer period we may want to use propane. This weekend was our first trip. We set up, and I click on the electric water heater. We had ample hot water. In my mind I am thinking, "electricity is included in my nightly rate, propane is not." So I left it on electric with no issues. Do you have a preference?Any advantage to one or the other? Obviously if we were boondocking it would be propane. This was a 50 amp site though.

Electric will always be cheaper. My last water heater lasted 11 years using primarialy electric.

With a 50 amp RV you may as well use electric.With a 30 amp RV(or 30 amp service) you may want to use propane if running the air conditioner or a space heater.

No real big advantage of one over the other. If you have access to electricity use it, save the propane for the stove and furnace.

It's nice to not hear a gas WH firing off at 3am. For some reason people tend to leave them on 24/7. They must be deaf.

Most RV water heaters will heat faster with just propane than with just electric, or so I an led to believe. Using both simultaneously will give the fastest hot water.There's no particular advantage to one or the other except as circumstances dictate. If your electricity is not costing extra and the supply is sufficient, then electric will naturally be a bit cheaper for you. If you don't have adequate electricity available, then propane is the only choice available. Electric is quieter than propane.

Propane or Electric water heater | Good Sam Community

wa8yxm
Explorer III
Oct 05, 2016
Generally PROPANE heats faster however your millage may vary. The reason is there is a limit to how much power they can feed the beast on Electric.

That said.. Campsites come in two flavors
Electricity included or flat rate billed,, Electricity metered and billed.

In addition some campgrounds "mark up" the electric (illegal in some states).

So in assorted places on the web, including this forum, (Though I do not have a link handy) they have charts that show assorted prices for Gas (propane) and electric (KWH) and if you run your finger down and across and are Above a linem, One is cheaper, below that same line the other is.

Oh and in some cases.. if you need hot water very fast or more than the heater holds, IF your heater allows, You can use both Gas and Electric at the same time for Fastest recovery.
D_E_Bishop
Explorer
Oct 04, 2016
2oldman wrote:
It's nice to not hear a gas WH firing off at 3am. For some reason people tend to leave them on 24/7. They must be deaf.

Some of us are thank you. And many of us became that way serving you!
Boon_Docker
Explorer III
Oct 04, 2016
Old-Biscuit wrote:
Suburban or Atwood (based on initial startup temps)

Electric has the slowest recovery rate (~6 gal/hr)
Propane has a higher recovery rate (~11.5--13.5 gal/hr depending on burner btu)
Electric/propane together (~18--20 gal/hr)

Atwood uses SAME set of 12V DC t-stats for both electric/propane (since 2004) so they both turn on/off at same time (ON ~110*F OFF ~140*F)

Suburban has separate sets of t-stats..120V AC for electric and 12V DC for propane ----SAME set point (ON ~100*F OFF ~130*F)---might be slight delay between the two due to +/- variances from mfg.

My 6 gal Atwood takes 20 mins from cold water start up to hot water shutdown on propane. I have no idea how long on AC as I am always boon docking.
PawPaw_n_Gram
Explorer
Oct 04, 2016
Our rule is pretty simple.

1) Elec when we have paid power, and outside temps are below 90 (we've had 113 days over 90 so far this year).

2) Propane when we have to pay for electricity.

3) Propane when we have 30 amp power.

4) Our water heater is under the kitchen counter. We have found that when we have typical normal Texas temps - over 90 often from early April to late October - having the water heater on raises the interior temperature. We have an external switch on the water heater to turn on electrical power, and an internal switch to turn on propane water heating. Much of the year, we will only turn on the propane switch when we need hot water.

We have water warm enough to shower, wash dishes, in less than five minutes. Then we turn off the water heating.
Doss
Explorer
Oct 04, 2016
My experience in home water heaters is that NG is faster than electric, I didn't understand why an RV would be different. Apparently it isn't.
tinner12002
Explorer
Oct 04, 2016
I used both, propane with no power then electric when I had power.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Oct 04, 2016
Suburban or Atwood (based on initial startup temps)

Electric has the slowest recovery rate (~6 gal/hr)
Propane has a higher recovery rate (~11.5--13.5 gal/hr depending on burner btu)
Electric/propane together (~18--20 gal/hr)

Atwood uses SAME set of 12V DC t-stats for both electric/propane (since 2004) so they both turn on/off at same time (ON ~110*F OFF ~140*F)

Suburban has separate sets of t-stats..120V AC for electric and 12V DC for propane ----SAME set point (ON ~100*F OFF ~130*F)---might be slight delay between the two due to +/- variances from mfg.
bikendan
Explorer
Oct 04, 2016
ktmrfs wrote:
well, unless yours is a very unusual water heater, propane will heat much faster than electric. However, usually electricity is "free" at campsites unless you stay for weeks/months, then they may charge.

x2! The tech is wrong.

If you have electricity, use the electric side.

But we almost always dry camp, so the electric side is a no go.
The propane is much faster heating than the electric.
noplace2
Explorer
Oct 04, 2016
If you are paying for both propane and electric, propane is frequently less expensive. The following is very handy for comparing your situations:

http://www.propane101.com/propanevselectricity.htm
Boon_Docker
Explorer III
Oct 03, 2016
pitch wrote:
Where is WesternRV parkowner to chastise us for using the poor businessmans electricity? You have propane why do you expect the camp ground owner to shoulder your excesses?

Probably because you are paying for the electricity in the camping fee. The same goes for water. Just because you have a fresh water tank doesn't mean you shouldn't use the water that is available at the site. :B