Water Heater

[Timothy2001]

When in a park and plugged into electric, do most keep the hot water heater 'on' or switch the electric on when it's time to shower? Realizing of course that the frequency will vary dramatically camper to camper. 🙂

[tropical36]

rk911 wrote:
if plugged in the WH is on 24/7.

But of course and if without, then gas for 5 mins or so, before needed.
Once hot, ours stays that way, for a good long time.

[doxiemom11]

We keep it on 24/7, and except when driving down the road, it is on 365 days a year for the past 9 years.

[wa8yxm]

rk911 wrote:
if plugged in the WH is on 24/7.

Same here

[rockhillmanor]

dougrainer wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:
I leave it off.

Once you have experienced the thermostat malfunction, which they often do, and you come back to your RV and the whole wall of the RV is burning hot?

You won't leave it on either. :B

NONSENSE. Suburban and Atwood do not have a "common" tstat failure rate. There are THOUSANDS of fulltimers that leave their Water Heater on 120 24/7. They never have a bad problem. Doug

lol. I'll give you the number for the rv mobile repair guy that fixed mine and you can ask him how many he has repaired.

[dougrainer]

rockhillmanor wrote:
I leave it off.

Once you have experienced the thermostat malfunction, which they often do, and you come back to your RV and the whole wall of the RV is burning hot?

You won't leave it on either. :B

NONSENSE. Suburban and Atwood do not have a "common" tstat failure rate. There are THOUSANDS of fulltimers that leave their Water Heater on 120 24/7. They never have a bad problem. Doug

[rockhillmanor]

I leave it off.

Once you have experienced the thermostat malfunction, which they often do, and you come back to your RV and the whole wall of the RV is burning hot?

You won't leave it on either. :B

[chuckftboy]

When I had a LP water heater I always had the electric element on. I now have Aqua Heat and only occasionally turn on the electric element.

[cavie]

Do you turn your water heater on and off at home?

[dougrainer]

OK, Lets say you leave it OFF UNTIL you need Hot Water. Well the Heat up time is dramatically LONGER to heat the 6 or 10 gallons of water than on LP. So, If you have an HOUR before you need heat then leave it off and then turn it on when you need heat. As others have mentioned, the Water heater on both LP and 120 does NOT stay on all the time. The Tstat will shut it off when it reaches temp and then come back on as the water cools. Doug

[bigorange]

On when plugged in to electric...never even turn on the propane switch unless quick recovery needed between showers. Our electric on/off switch is on the heater itself, so it’s easy to set and forget. I did learn (almost the hard way) that I need to remember to turn it off before draining the water heater if I’m plugged in (usually at home after a trip prepping for storage)

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I generally do not use propane to run the water heater.

If you leave it on, and draw no water, the unit will cycle on for about 15 minutes every four hours, once the water is hot (mine is a 10 gallon US).

So, if I'm plugged in at a friends home, I'll turn the water heater on first thing in the morning. By the time I've finished breakfast there is ample warm water to do the dishes. Then I have a shower. Then the heater is turned off. That leaves enough water to do the dishes at lunch and supper as well as for hand washing.

At a campground where power is included in the lot rental, I'm a bit lazy and just leave the heater on.

Because I want full wattage from electric heating devices, I find myself using an autoformer a lot.

[opnspaces]

In my TT even when plugged in I leave it off unless needed. I think it's probably because I mostly boondock and the sight of an illuminated switch being left on bothers me.

[BB_TX]

If on 50 amp we always use electric and leave it on. And do not use propane unless the weather (and incoming water) is cold. Then we run both electric and propane for faster recovery rate.

If on 30 amp we use propane and not electric to reduce chance of tripping the 30 amp breaker.

[georgelesley]

If we have 50 amps available, on. If less on as needed.