Water heater recovery time?

[Kayteg1]

Did anybody actually timed water heater recovery time?
We do have not-metered electricity at the park, so anticipating it, I added electric element to my gas WH.
When I start the electric first time, after 20 minutes the water was still FREEZING.
Anyway, I set the thermostat to pretty high and add some insulation to WH, where manufacturer left holes, so we are comfortable with taking several minutes long shower, even back to back, but once the water turn cold, it takes very long time to recover.
I read that some owners, to get fast recovery turn the electric at gas at the same time, but how much that actually helps?

[Dusty_R]

We ar at Zepherhills, East and North of Tampa.

Dusty

[rhagfo]

Dusty R wrote:
We spend about 3-1/2 months in central Florida in the winter. We use LP for cooking, water heater, and a little heating when the electric can't keep up.
In that 3-1/2 months we use a-bought 60lb. of LP.

Dusty

Got to ask, what part of Florida?
Seems your usage is about the same as us, but you use some gas for heating, just how cold did it get in your area. I know the panhandle can get a bit chilly.

[Dusty_R]

We spend about 3-1/2 months in central Florida in the winter. We use LP for cooking, water heater, and a little heating when the electric can't keep up.
In that 3-1/2 months we use a-bought 60lb. of LP.

Dusty

[rhagfo]

rhagfo wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You need to buy a new water heater with an included electric option to get 1440 watts of electric heat.
Otherwise be patient with your 350 watt if you want to reduce propane use.

Just how much gas do you think it takes to heat water? Just spent a month on the Oregon Coast, electric heat, but used electric and gas for Hot Water, and gas for cooking with gas oven used often. we showered most every day, washed dishes at least once a day, we still have not used a 30# gas tank, I will likely refill today will be interesting to see just how much we used.

Update to this post!
I filled the Propane cylinder that we ran off for the last 30 days while on the Oregon Coast in weather down to 20 degrees.
We used propane only for cooking, baking oven used a good deal, and hot water heating with electric assist. We also ran the gas side of the furnace for the two hour and thirty minute trip to the coast, and running the refer on the while on the road. Total usage for 30 days was 4.05 gallons.

[DrewE]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Want hot water......

Turn on that aftermarket heat rod \ turn on your propane and LEAVE them BOTH ON.

Then you will have hot water when you open a faucet AND the fastest recovery available for your WH

That aftermarket rod/t-stat can maintain hot water during low usage periods and the propane will help to recover lost heat during high usage periods.
Propane is NOT that expensive and last a long time.
6 gal Atwood uses an 8800 btu burner.......1 gal propane is 91,000 btu

Just for comparison, 450 W is 1535 btu. The burner is over five times as powerful as the element. Offsetting that somewhat is the greater thermal efficiency of an electric immersion element--more of the heat goes to heating the water vs. escaping into the environment. In practice, the burner is likely still at least four times as fast at heating water.

[Old-Biscuit]

Want hot water......

Turn on that aftermarket heat rod \ turn on your propane and LEAVE them BOTH ON.

Then you will have hot water when you open a faucet AND the fastest recovery available for your WH

That aftermarket rod/t-stat can maintain hot water during low usage periods and the propane will help to recover lost heat during high usage periods.
Propane is NOT that expensive and last a long time.
6 gal Atwood uses an 8800 btu burner.......1 gal propane is 91,000 btu

[Kayteg1]

My WH is 13 years old Atwood, so no worry about warranty.
I don't remember the printed rating on the element I used, but it was standard part, so likely 450W.
As I mention - we do have enough hot water for normal use, so I started the thread with planing on those rare occasions when we need a lot of hot water.
In the past, with gas heater when water got cold, we could wait 20 minutes and it got warm again, but that was in summer with 80-90F.
Evidently we can't expect HW soon on electric element alone, especially this time of the year with 40's F.
So it all boils to planning, or firing up propane burner.
Thanks to everyone for feedback.
Side note - during element installation I found out that factory insulation has a lot to desire.
Back of the tank had like 3" x5" hole in insulation for 1/2" piping.
Front of the tank has no insulation touching up the steel panel.
I used polyurethane foam sold under "Great stuff" to fill up the voids and even I can't measure the difference, I think my recovery time shorten quite a bit thanks to that.
The added insulation should also keep the camper colder in summer as WH sitting under counter-top was transferring some heat to the living space.

[SoundGuy]

Kayteg1 wrote:
We do have not-metered electricity at the park, so anticipating it, I added electric element to my gas WH.

I read that some owners, to get fast recovery turn the electric at gas at the same time, but how much that actually helps?

And in the process voided any warranty you may have left on your water heater - if you care. 😉

Unfortunately you haven't told us just which aftermarket heating element you installed but the most common is the Hott Rod XP which is rated @ 450 watts & 675 watts respectively for the 6 & 10 gal versions. Not only do Atwood & Suburban both void warranty on their water heaters if any of these aftermarket heating elements are used but there's also no way (as you've discovered) that a Hott Rod (or similar) will heat water anywhere near as quickly as will the manufacturer elements which are rated around 1400 watts.

Our current Coachmen has an Atwood gas/electric 6 gal water heater that unquestionably offers a quicker recovery time than the Suburban 6 gal we had in a previous trailer, even on gas alone. Normally I run it on gas only, thereby avoiding the additional load of the electric heating element that can under some circumstances trip the campsite breaker, but occasionally do turn it on so we can both shower one after the other as doing so does substantially shorten recovery time. Otherwise, the amount of gas used for normal operation is minimal and IMO not worth worrying about, especially if I remember to turn it off during the day when we're not using hot water anyway.

JMO, but if your goal is quickest recovery time you want an Atwood gas / electric model water heater as no aftermarket solution is going to work anywhere near as effectively.

[rhagfo]

time2roll wrote:
You need to buy a new water heater with an included electric option to get 1440 watts of electric heat.
Otherwise be patient with your 350 watt if you want to reduce propane use.

Just how much gas do you think it takes to heat water? Just spent a month on the Oregon Coast, electric heat, but used electric and gas for Hot Water, and gas for cooking with gas oven used often. we showered most every day, washed dishes at least once a day, we still have not used a 30# gas tank, I will likely refill today will be interesting to see just how much we used.

[DrewE]

Based on your 350 watt element, a 6 gallon tank, and about a 100 degree temperature rise, it would theoretically take about four hours to heat a tankful of water up to full temperature with the electric element alone assuming I've done all the unit conversions properly. In practice it's probably pretty close to that, differing mainly due to the heat lost by the tank to the environment (which is not overly much thanks to its being insulated).

[dougrainer]

This is the recovery times for the Atwood. Doug

LP Gas-----13.5 gallons per hour
120 electric(1400 watt) 6.2 gallons per hour
LP/Electric 17.8 gallons per hour

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[Kayteg1]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi KayTeg1,

There are "on demand" 120 volt electric heaters intended to be installed at the tap. I think they might be used in series with the existing water tank to extend the length of a shower.

https://www.amazon.com/Hydro-Quip-Compact-Whirlpool-Heater-PH101-15UV/dp/B003ANJ8ZW/ref=sr_1_12?ie=U...

This is whirpool heater, that works with big water flow only.
Having European roots I am familiar with using electricity for heating.
Small 2 bdrm condo has 5 kw WH under kitchen sink and 7-9 kW WH in the bathroom.
Add room heaters, coffee makers and other stuff and the condo ends with 70 kW electric panel.
Not something you can easily do in USA, although they do that in Canada.
Still to save customers from sticker shock, they spread winter heating payments for 12 months.
One day I will take my time to make recovery time, but for now we don't plan on 2 long showers in the same morning.
Still electric element, being at the bottom of the tank gives you more heated volume than gas burner, so we are doing 2 quick showers back to back.

[time2roll]

You need to buy a new water heater with an included electric option to get 1440 watts of electric heat.
Otherwise be patient with your 350 watt if you want to reduce propane use.