Hot Water Heater on electric or gas

[ford_truck_guy]

Which way would the water heater be more efficient? Will be using my Onan this weekend and wondering if it matters what setting I use ??

I am new to the Onan, can you tell ?? :B

[DutchmenSport]

Rephrase: Gas!

[BarneyS]

ford truck guy wrote:
I should rephrase the question to better explain .

I will be running the Onan and both AC's this weekend at the track, would it be better to use the water heater on gas, or electric?

Last year ( first time on Onan ) I switched it to gas, figured it would be less draw on the generator... I have plenty of genny, Onan 6.5 so Thta is not a worry...

I would run it on gas.
Barney

[ford_truck_guy]

I should rephrase the question to better explain .

I will be running the Onan and both AC's this weekend at the track, would it be better to use the water heater on gas, or electric?

Last year ( first time on Onan ) I switched it to gas, figured it would be less draw on the generator... I have plenty of genny, Onan 6.5 so Thta is not a worry...

[DutchmenSport]

If you are powering with a generator, you'll probably want your water heater running on gas.

If you are plugged into shore power, it doesn't really matter which way you run your water heater, or even if you run both. Gas will recover faster than electric, and Gas will heat from cold faster than electric too. But gas and electric together are best for fastest recovery.

It's all a matter of how fast you want to heat your water and the available of electricity (shore power or generator).

[Old-Biscuit]

IF you are running Onan Gen for charging of batteries and OTHER needs then use the electric function on water heater.

Then when NOT running Onan Gen use propane when you want HOT water.


Electric is 6.2 gallon per hour recovery time (4778 btu)
Propane is 10.3 gallon per hour recovery time (8000-12000 btu depending on gal size and MFG)

[ScottG]

Not really a matter of efficiency, it's a matter what fuel do you want to use, propane or gasoline.

[Lynnmor]

If you heat up the Onan and the water heater, I'm sure that would be less efficient than just using propane in the water heater.