Hot water heater... turn off & on??? gas or electric???

[PatRenee]

OK it's just me and my wife and I was wondering about the efficiency of the hot water heater... we only use hot water in the evening when we wash dishes, take showers and that is all we use it... Should I turn off afterward and turn it on every evening or will this "wear out" the unit???? It might be easier on it to keep it at temp all day... Since we pay for our electricity is it more efficient to run it on the propane? I know at RV parks where electric is part of it..... but at home gas is cheaper to heat with than electric? Thanks...

[hohenwald48]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

The savings are 1.8 kwh per day.

In our area that's like 11 cents. To me, it's not worth the effort to manage. Turn it on and leave it on. That's what the thermostat is for. 🙂

[Tvov]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Just wondering, those of you that turn your water heaters off, and on only when in use, do you turn your water heater off at home when you go camping?

For us, if it's a week-end or even a 4 day camp, we leave the water heater on at home. If it's longer, we turn it off. We actually have 2 water heaters in our house, both are 30 gallon and set to 160 degrees. (hot yes and both electric). I also flip the water pump breaker in the house to off. We're on a well.

Sounds pretty much the same that we do.

[CavemanCharlie]

I have a gas only water heater with a pilot light you light by hand. I always leave it on. To hard to start and stop it. Besides, if I'm not using the water the pilot light seems to provide enough heat to keep the water hot. And it is such a small flame it doesn't use much propane.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

It takes 90 minutes for my ten gallon water heater to cycle. It draws 1200 watts. If no water is used in four hours it will heat again and takes 15 minutes to cycle. So if you are paying for electricity or gas it is best to warm it up, then shut it down until the next use. I find that running it first thing in the morning works well for my camping lifestyle.

The savings are 1.8 kwh per day.

When I was part time I'd use the water heater to deliberately discharge the battery bank so that my solar harvest would not go to waste. Now that I'm full time, I do not have that luxury.

[SoundGuy]

hohenwald48 wrote:
Yeah, I was kind of wondering that myself. Why would anyone operate their RV water heater any differently than their home water heater?

Different situation. While camping most would be sitting on a 30 amp campsite so anytime that water heater is running on electric power it's drawing a significant percentage of available campsite power, enough that if you're also running a couple of other high draw devices at the same time you can easily pull a breaker. Not so much of a problem if that breaker happens to be in the trailer or even the campsite power post but if it's located in a campground distribution box behind a locked fence and no one seems to be able to find the key to unlock it and get in there it can be really annoying :M ... not that it's ever happened to me! :W Power management is the key - run the WH on electric when you need it and when along with running it on gas you want a quicker recovery time, otherwise turn it off and reduce the chances of tripping a breaker.

I suppose the other argument in favour of turning a trailer WH heater on/off as needed is it's so simple, particularly if you have an Atwood water heater which can be switched on/off gas and/or electric from inside the trailer - just reach over and hit either switch, gas or electric. So ... it's not a matter of "why" but rather "why not". 😉

Hey, whatever floats your boat! 😛

[hohenwald48]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Just wondering, those of you that turn your water heaters off, and on only when in use, do you turn your water heater off at home when you go camping?

For us, if it's a week-end or even a 4 day camp, we leave the water heater on at home. If it's longer, we turn it off. We actually have 2 water heaters in our house, both are 30 gallon and set to 160 degrees. (hot yes and both electric). I also flip the water pump breaker in the house to off. We're on a well.

Yeah, I was kind of wondering that myself. Why would anyone operate their RV water heater any differently than their home water heater?

Now if you're boondoncking that's a whole different animal.

[rvten]

RV park electric is not always trustworthy. Too many people using electric. Home E Power much more dependable. Like to save the propane as much as possable.

[RamRider]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Just wondering, those of you that turn your water heaters off, and on only when in use, do you turn your water heater off at home when you go camping?

For us, if it's a week-end or even a 4 day camp, we leave the water heater on at home. If it's longer, we turn it off. We actually have 2 water heaters in our house, both are 30 gallon and set to 160 degrees. (hot yes and both electric). I also flip the water pump breaker in the house to off. We're on a well.

At Home we have a Hybrid H W heater, I set it to seven day vacation mode when going out the door(which is how long most of our trips are) water is hot when we get home,
We do not use much hot water water camping, just in the evening so we run the heater in the eve for showers, water is still hot in the morning for shaving, etc.

[wanderingbob]

I would think electric is cheaper to run and much easier , no fuel tank to change . I also believe turning the heater off and on constantly is a bad thing not only on the switches and elements but also the effect of all the pipes expanding and shrinking .
We leave our trailer plugged in at our house 24/7 on a separate electric meter that also runs a 200 foot deep well pump , and trailer refrig and trailer electric water heater , the electric bill will run less than twenty bucks .

[Community Alumni]

If I'm at a campground then I'll run electric all day and switch it off in the evening after showers and dishes. The tank stays warm enough throughout the night for morning use. When everyone wants to take a shower then I'll switch the gas on as well to help with the recovery. If I'm traveling or dry camping then I'll switch it on as needed.

[DutchmenSport]

Just wondering, those of you that turn your water heaters off, and on only when in use, do you turn your water heater off at home when you go camping?

For us, if it's a week-end or even a 4 day camp, we leave the water heater on at home. If it's longer, we turn it off. We actually have 2 water heaters in our house, both are 30 gallon and set to 160 degrees. (hot yes and both electric). I also flip the water pump breaker in the house to off. We're on a well.

[Dog_Trainer]

I leave both on all the time. I imagine it uses the electric most of the time when plugged in. We turn the gas off when traveling. As many have mentioned you will have HW for most of the day even when not turned on.
Something to remember if you are using electric is, if the tank runs out of water and the electric is on it only takes a minitue for the electric element to burn out.
I don't see a need to turn it off as there is very little cycling throughout the day.

[Tvov]

We have a gas only water heater. I used to just leave it on all the time, as it was usually our family of 4 and multiple other families... never knew when someone wanted to wash something, or use the outside shower, and multiple showers at night.

Now that it is usually just wife and I we just turn on the water heater when we need it. As others have said, about 1/2 hour before dinner. Gives us all the hot water we need for dishes and showers. Then I usually shut it off when we go to bed.

Our water heater is well insulated, but still turns on every couple hours (sometimes sooner) to maintain temperature.

If camping with whole family or friends, sure, keep it on. Nothing to do with being able to afford the propane or not, I just don't see the need to heat water during the day when we simply don't need it.

[2112]

I'll turn both gas and elec on when I wake up in the morning. I'll shower after my cup of coffee and DW about an hour behind me. Once she is finished showering I'll turn off the elec but leave the gas on until I hear the gas burner cycle off. Then I'll turn the gas side off and repeat this routine the next morning. The water is still warm enough for evening dishes.