HOT WATER HEATER GAS OR ELECTRIC

Our 5th has two switches inside. One for electric and one for gas. The switch outside is always left in the on position. If you only have one switch inside, I would guess it is to turn on the electric. That is the way our old TT was. You should be able to tell if it comes on to gas, looking from outside, with the cover off, you can tell if the burner is on.

Mark

1. When I go outside, I can hear the burner running so I assume it is running off of gas.

We use the gas to quickly heat the hot water tank when we first set up in a full hookup park, then turn the gas off and switch to electric to save on gas. Electric takes a much longer time to start up from cold but once the tank is up to temp, you can save propane by switching over. One time I left both on and it tripped the over-temp sensor on the tank so I had to reset it.

Our tt has one switch inside and one switch outside. The outside switch turns on the electric element. The inside switch turns on the propane. We use propane to heat it when not hooked to electric.

I use both the electric and gas. If the electric can't keep up, the gas will also come on for a little faster recovery.

1. Okay, I guess that answers my question. I will initially heat with propane and switch over to electric...

Mine has a gas switch on the inside and an electric switch on the outside.. Makes more sense to me to have it the other way around, or both inside.

My switches are side by side inside. I use both when needed but leave it in the electric position when no demand is expected

I use electric for the most part. I will turn on when I want/need a quicker recovery time.
It is a good idea to use the gas periodically to keep the burner free of cob webs bugs etc. The critters and webs can clog the various ports and orifices and keep the gas from igniting.

Lantley wrote:
I use electric for the most part. I will turn on when I want/need a quicker recovery time.
It is a good idea to use the gas periodically to keep the burner free of cob webs bugs etc. The critters and webs can clog the various ports and orifices and keep the gas from igniting.

That's the best answer.


I always try to use electric when on shore power to conserve propane but burning some LP is a good idea from time to time. With a 10gallon water heater It is impossible for me to run out of hot water I am able to wash a load of clothes in the washing machine and still have enough hot water to take a shower without running out, heck even if you only have a 5 gallon water heater if you run through 5 gallons of hot water you are being wasteful (it is OK to be wasteful but it is important to learn how to get by without much water if it becomes necessary). Sometimes I may need to switch to LP because running the A/C or microwave while using electric to heat water will trip a breaker, the house I am parked in front of only has a 20 amp breaker so using LP is a way to ease the demand for electricity.. If I have not used LP to heat the water in a long time I will burn some LP to burn off bugs and spider webs. I filled up my 50 gallon tank on 6/3/13 and have been using bottled water for my dogs and myself to drink and hope to make it last another 10 to 14 days when I head home. Train yourself to be stingy with both hot and cold water. once you have learned how to streach out every single drop of water you can splurge and be wasteful when you have an endless supply