Water Heater....leave on or as needed?

[blackcows]

Do you leave your hot water heater on when camping or on and off as needed?

[csh_2088]

My 6 gallon Atwood water heater is very well insulated. If I turn it on in the morning by noon it will still be warm.

[suprz]

I always turn it off when not needed. As a matter of habit, when leaving the coach for sight seeing, etc, if plugged in, I will shut off the water, and the propane. Only thing I leave on is the electricity for the fridge.

[Lantley]

CharlesinGA wrote:
RV water heaters have a fixed (generally) thermostat setting that is around 130°F which is dangerously hot. This is a closed system and heating water in a closed system builds pressure. In an RV it is relieved either by the pressure relief or to some extent by expansion of the the plastic/pex tubing used in the construction of the rig (similar to the way a garden hose holds pressure, and when you open the nozzle the hose actually shrinks in diameter somewhat)

My 6 gal heater heats water very quickly when I turn the 120V on, or same with propane, or super fast with both. I can heat the water and take a shower and turn it all off, and the next morning have all the hot water I need for a "wake up" shower or dishes or whatever.

This is all totally different than a house, where you have (typically) a 40 or 50 gallon tank heater and a 3850 or 4200 watt heating element, which gives you typically, 80 to 100 watts per gallon of heating capacity, vs the 6 gal/1500 watt RV heater which gives you 250 watts of heating capacity per gallon.

There is no good reason to leave the water heater on all day if you are out and about and not using it, but several safety reasons for turning it off (think runaway thermostats, fire, instant scalding water the moment you open the faucet, etc)

Charles

I see no difference. They both have thermostats that allow water to heat to set temperature. RV water is hotter to allow it to last longer a recover quicker. I leave them both on and allow the thermostats to control the temperature.
If I thought my water heater were a fire hazard I'd get rid of it, not just turn it off.

[CharlesinGA]

RV water heaters have a fixed (generally) thermostat setting that is around 130°F which is dangerously hot. This is a closed system and heating water in a closed system builds pressure. In an RV it is relieved either by the pressure relief or to some extent by expansion of the the plastic/pex tubing used in the construction of the rig (similar to the way a garden hose holds pressure, and when you open the nozzle the hose actually shrinks in diameter somewhat)

My 6 gal heater heats water very quickly when I turn the 120V on, or same with propane, or super fast with both. I can heat the water and take a shower and turn it all off, and the next morning have all the hot water I need for a "wake up" shower or dishes or whatever.

This is all totally different than a house, where you have (typically) a 40 or 50 gallon tank heater and a 3850 or 4200 watt heating element, which gives you typically, 80 to 100 watts per gallon of heating capacity, vs the 6 gal/1500 watt RV heater which gives you 250 watts of heating capacity per gallon.

There is no good reason to leave the water heater on all day if you are out and about and not using it, but several safety reasons for turning it off (think runaway thermostats, fire, instant scalding water the moment you open the faucet, etc)

Charles

[MitchF150]

Never mind... too harsh and decided to not say anything... 🙂

[paddykernahan]

Depends.
Four weeks in a pop-up with a 20 pound tank, I turned off when I knew I was not going to need it for awhile.
Weekend, leave it on.

Now have a class C with a large tank so would leave on.

[MarkTwain]

blackcows wrote:
Maybe to clarify a bit more our "RV" is a horse trailer so the places we stay people have horses tied to the trailer so lots of horses pooping and peeing in the area that's why I figured maybe ok just to dump grey where we sit.

1 stink is bad but 2 stinks are better:):):) RVing with horses is real different than the kind of RVing most RVers do and thats why you getting so many "NO" responses. Now that you have given more information, I understand why you asked the question.

[Old-Biscuit]

1 gallon of propane has 91,600 btus


Atwood water heater
6 gal uses a 8800 btu/hr burner--------10.4 TOTAL hrs burn time
10 gal uses a 10,000 btu/hr burner----- 9.1 TOTAL hrs burn time

Suburban water heater
6,10,12 gal...all use 12,000 btu/hr burner-----7.6 TOTAL hrs burn time

Propane fries up when temp drops to 110*F (Atwood) 100*F (Suburban)
Shuts down when temp reaches 140*F (Atwood) 130*F (Suburban)

Roughly 20 mins of burn time.

So propane usage is MINIMAL

[wa8yxm]

Park gives me electricity as part of the rent.> ON ELECTRIC
I pay for electricity (Generator or metered site) OFF less needed

No electricity (Propane mode) OFF less needed.

Since I can go 2 or 3 days without needing hot water save for small amounts, easier to use a "hot pot" than the water heater less I am taking an on-board shower or doing dishes

[JimK-NY]

blackcows wrote:
.....

How does everyone feel about dumping grey water on the ground? ......

Grey water can really stink, not so much from showers but from dishwashing. I have a fine mess screen on each of my drains to keep the grey water as clean as possible. I also frequently add bleach and periodically use a heavy bleach treatment to clean the tank. Even so the grey water can stink. I don't dump it on the ground anywhere near a campground or other people. There are often regulations that prohibit dumping grey water on the ground. In addition, a casual observer does not know what you are doing and may think you are dumping black water.

I have a 5 gallon bucket with a handle that serves as my trash can. When needed, I will fill the bucket with grey water and dump it in a designated area. Sometimes I needed to make 2-3 trips. It is a nuisance but helps keep the campground area clean.

[blackcows]

Maybe to clarify a bit more our "RV" is a horse trailer so the places we stay people have horses tied to the trailer so lots of horses pooping and peeing in the area that's why I figured maybe ok just to dump grey where we sit.

[drsteve]

Dumping gray water is not permitted in any organized camping area I've ever seen. What you need is one of these:

[enblethen]

No on dumping gray water, but h*ll NO!

[MarkTwain]

Lwiddis wrote:
"How does everyone feel about dumping grey water on the ground?"

No, no, no. Take pictures, leave footprints...and nothing else.

On my RV the sink water goes to the gray tank. The sink water has food particles from washing your dishes. So you are dumping your garbage as well as water if you dump on the ground. Gray water/food particles have a real strong stinky odor!!!!