Options to upgrade water heater?
Recently purchased a new to us 5th wheel TH. All of the research I did prior to purchase showed a 12 gal water heater. Coming from a 10 gal in previous rig, I was looking forward to a bigger tank. Unf...
Forum Discussion
TakingThe5th wrote:
I would go with a Suburban gas/electric model. Old-Biscuit's Suburban numbers shows a 50% better recovery rate (BTUs) over the Atwood. If you run the propane and electric simultaneously then recovery will be impressive. Buy the largest heater that will fit in your space and you'll have a good amount of nearly continuous hot water.
Also spend a little time looking at your shower head. You might want to upgrade to something more efficient with water usage. We like our Oxygenetics-it mixes air in with the water to give more flow volume while using less water.
Suburban uses a higher BTU burner BUT the combustion/exhaust chamber is stack vertically on right side of tank
Atwood combustion/exhaust chamber is diagonal 'U' tube thru tank...more surface area
Both brands are very similar in recovery times (advantage Atwood)
Atwood
6.2 gal/hr electric
11.5--13.5 gal/hr propane (6-10 gal)
17.8--19.7 gal/hr combo gas/electric (6-10 gal)
Suburban
6 gal/hr electric
10.2 gal/hr propane
16.2 gal/hr combo gas/electric
