Hot Shower

Thanks everyone! I got the message!

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Or you can do what we did and have endless hot water.

Click here

A RV park with a pedestal and full shower facilities is in your future.

Using a shower head that aerates the water (Oxygenetics?) is a big help, but it still will NEVER allow a traditional "house-type" shower! We never have the water on full power. Turn the hot water on until there is just enough pressure from the shower head, then a small amount of cold water to make the temp comfortable, then turn the flow down even more until it's enough to do the job. It's not the place to massage your back with a waterpic shower massage! DH and I have always allowed for recovery time between showers, and neither of us is ever 'under water' for more than 5 minutes tops. Long hair, shampoo and conditioner? Make sure your shower head can be turned off while doing each step. Get wet, water off. Lather up, water off. Rinse off, then you're done! Another post was also right about warning of moisture and mold. Make sure exhaust fan is on and roof skylight is open to allow steam to escape. We once had severe mold problems from moisture that never had a chance to go anywhere in our RV bathroom. Bottom line, even with endless hot water there are considerations and accommodations that have to be made in an RV. Gray water holding tanks fill up very fast from a shower! Can't always guarantee a sewered site!

+1 on the Oxygenics shower head. It made a world of difference.

Water heaters come in basically 3 RV sizes
Six gallon (enough for one person to take a shower if they do not dwadle or use a cut off valve, more on those in a second)

10 gallons, (Also 10 gallon in a six gallon hat, But that need not be explained her) Two people might get lucky with a cut off valve or one longer shower.

Demand (Tankless) all the how water your propane tank can heat. Nice LONG hot showers. However at low flow they sometimes fail. These units only eat Propane (The others can eat electric or Propane).

The cut off valve:
Cut off valves come in two flavors. TOTAL cutoff, (I used to use one) and what Oxygenics calls "Smart Pulse" (lets water trickle/drip when turned off (What I use now).

The problem with the full cut off is often when flow is restored there is eitehr a HOT or COLD "Burst" before normal temps return.. The trickle seems to prevent that.

The 10 Gallon in a six gallon hat (This is an Atwood product) heats the water much hotter than noraml (normal is 120 degrees) and then uses a thermostatic valve to mix cold and hot together as it leaves the water heater so you get 10 gallons of hot (120 degree) water out of six gallons of Very hot (160 or 180, not sure) Degree water. Nice... Unless the mixing valve fails.

Boon Docker wrote:
Yes, that is normal if you shower longer than 5 mins.
Best way to do it is a "navy shower". Soak down, turn shower off, laver up, wash hair, turn shower back on and rinse off until water cools down, done.

I thought that wash was with salt water and only the rinse was fresh water. And no daily shower. Such luxury in an RV.

Yes use both the propane and electric for best results. Also if she has second shift wait for full recovery before starting.

We also use Oxygenics with good results.

Get an RV with a Suburban 12 gallon water heater.

Or

Get an RV with an Atwood XT model.....equivalent of 16 gallon water heater


Tankless is an option but 'proper water flow' is an issue with them.

Another option.......learn to conserve RV water usage.

smkettner wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:
Yes, that is normal if you shower longer than 5 mins.
Best way to do it is a "navy shower". Soak down, turn shower off, laver up, wash hair, turn shower back on and rinse off until water cools down, done.

I thought that wash was with salt water and only the rinse was fresh water. And no daily shower. Such luxury in an RV.

Yes use both the propane and electric for best results. Also if she has second shift wait for full recovery before starting.

We also use Oxygenics with good results.

:B NAVY Showers

Potable water was precious. Boilers had priority!
Get wet, turn off, wash/rinse, get out

Salt water......used only when potable storage was critical and it was an endless supply via separate system
Shower as long as you wanted to.....which wasn't all that long due to the salts, lack of suds and crust left behind when you dried.
Then go back to work in hot engine room. Fun Fun FUN :E