More and more instant hot water systems

We have a tankless at home, going on 7 years now. We love it and since it's on the other side of the wall from the shower, hot water comes about the same time as it did with a tank....very quickly.

For our RV's we've owned, they have always had 6 gal tank heaters. I do like the tank heater in an RV since I can heat the 6 gal in the morning, and it tends to stay hot all day for when you need it (like dishes or hand washing) without using more gas.

80% plus of our camping is in summer. Can't tell you how many times I took a shower without hot water at all...because I never turned it on. Usually in the summer months the water is warm (for me) already.

Lastly I'll say this: I can see the value of tankless and tank....most likely one of 2 things is happening: (1) its a cost savings of some kind for RV manufacturers to install or (2) its a feature being put in to show RV's are keeping up with the times (so to speak).

If the tankless units don't send the unused water back to the source that's a huge problem with CGs that don't have sewer hookups.

We removed the 6 gallon water tank water heater from my daughter's truck camper. I hung a small lp EccoTemp L5 tankless water heater that we used to use on a food cart. We do have to turn the water on more than a dribble to kick the burner on. It's set pretty low. Makes a really hot shower. We only use the water thru the 12vDC water pump which exceeds the gpm water flow the water heater requires for the burner to kick on. Takes about 3 seconds to get hot water to the bathroom sink/shower head. Takes about 5 seconds to get hot water to the galley sink. You need to leave the water running or the burner kicks off. So if you do "navy" showers, a tankless probably won't suit you.

In the winter, I disconnect the water heater inlet water hose and drain the hose onto the shower floor. I pull the "pin" to release any water that may be in the tank still. And that's it. It's easy to reconnect since it just hangs on the wall in the wet bath. It also heats up the wet bath while showering too (the rooftop vent stays open 24/7).

TurnThePage wrote:
I can't figure out why people would want them in an RV unless they always camp with hookups where it's always warm.

At least some brands are including the water miser feature that recycles the "unused hot" water back into the fresh tank.

Am I making too big a deal about this?

I totally agree. We've rented cabins that have those and I can't imagine why they'd put one in an RV. You have to have the water running constantly - it works in a shower (if you have lots of water), but not washing dishes (unless you leave the water running). Tremendous waste of water IMO. :R

Lantley wrote:

time2roll wrote:
I added a small circulating pump to move the hot water around as needed. Works great with my 6 gallon W/H. Can't imagine needing anything else.

If you are using a pump in conjunction with a tank water heater your system is different than what the OP is referring to.

I know that and like mine better. Just saying, don't need every new gizmo.

time2roll wrote:
I added a small circulating pump to move the hot water around as needed. Works great with my 6 gallon W/H. Can't imagine needing anything else.

If you are using a pump in conjunction with a tank water heater your system is different than what the OP is referring to.

I added a small circulating pump to move the hot water around as needed. Works great with my 6 gallon W/H. Can't imagine needing anything else.

Our new 2023 Wolf Pup 14CC came with an on demand water heater, that's new for 2023. Wish we had a 2022 that still had the conventional one. I have two gripes: It has trouble getting up to 120 for high demand things like the sink, it seems to top out at 105-110 degrees. It seems the strategy is to dial it down to a comfortable shower temperature and plan on only turning the hot water on for a shower. The second is you have to stick to just taking a quick shower and don't turn the water off. I found out the hard way that you can't warm it up, get wet, and turn it off while you wash up. When you turn it back on, the water will still be warm all right, but it gets cold fast and then you have to wait for it to light up and heat the water up again.

My personal choice would be a ten us gallon propane/electric. It would be nice if it could use engine heat.