Water Heater Jealousy

[kycamper]

With all the talk of the newer gas/electric water heaters now being installed in the LL's, I wonder if anyone has installed the electric rod that is available ( from Camco ?) and that replaces the anode rod. Since there is a reason for the anode rod, wouldn't that cause damage to the heater?

I am a little jealous of those who have the dual setup......

Of course, I would put an "on demand" heater in my trailer in a New York Second, IF they were reasonably priced and made by Rinnai !!!

[david]

I am a little puzzled about the desire for electric capability for the water heater. Propane works fine, it only takes a few tenths of a pound of propane to heat the full contents of the water heater up to temperature and maybe a half pound a day to keep it hot and heat up any water used. Sure if you are plugged in and paying for power by the day at an RV park, electricity is no cost and is easy. But, I sure wouldn't spend much effort retrofitting a water heater for electricity.

David

[daplumbr]

I bought the Camco 11673 Hybrid Heat. It's an easy install in our 16TBS because the WH cabinet was wired for 120AC with an outlet, as if LL were going to install a dual WH and then didn't. The original anode rod was corroded on the surface after only 1 full season of camping, so I do wonder about changing the anode out for a stainless steel heating element. In addition to the anode issue, David makes a good point that the small WH does not use much propane. Electricity is silent and can be routinely left on all the time. We found ourselves turning off the propane when not using hot water to save gas. Other than that, it's just a fun mod in the spirit of customizing the camper for us. 

[pinstriper]

[quote source="/post/18233/thread" timestamp="1454341428" author="@david"]I am a little puzzled about the desire for electric capability for the water heater. Propane works fine, it only takes a few tenths of a pound of propane to heat the full contents of the water heater up to temperature and maybe a half pound a day to keep it hot and heat up any water used. Sure if you are plugged in and paying for power by the day at an RV park, electricity is no cost and is easy. But, I sure wouldn't spend much effort retrofitting a water heater for electricity.

David[/quote]This.

We use on board propane for almost nothing but hot water. We still haven't emptied the first tank THAT THE DEALER PROVIDED FULL, 2 seasons ago. That's about 25 trips, 60 days total. Probably coulda stretched it further if we hadn't forgotten to turn the thing off a few times when we weren't gonna need it until after supper.

One of these days I'll have to laboriously put my beverage down, lift myself out of my chair by the fire, and haul myself over to the front of the trailer and flip the lever over to the other tank.

Definitely worth a couple hundred dollars to install a gas/electric unit so I don't have to go through all that every second year.

Full timers that are furnacing a lot would probably be a different calculation about relative worth.

[daplumbr]

That's remarkable. I had no idea these campers were that miserly with propane. I had hopes of the heating elements I put in the HVAC and WH paying for themselves in a couple years through propane savings, but I guess that's an order of magnitude off in time.  :-/

[leslie]

We have propane-only water heater, and my husband prefers it that way. We don't worry about ruining the water heater if there should be an unexpected water cut-off. At our previous stay at an RV resort, the water was shut off for an entire afternoon, with no notice to us, while a broken water line was repaired. We realized we had no water when we were cleaning up after lunch, with the water heater on. No damage!

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/18253/thread" author="@leslie" timestamp="1454362001"]We don't worry about ruining the water heater if there should be an unexpected water cut-off. At our previous stay at an RV resort, the water was shut off for an entire afternoon, with no notice to us, while a broken water line was repaired. We realized we had no water when we were cleaning up after lunch, with the water heater on. No damage![/quote][font size="3"]Loss of city water or an empty FW tank when using the pump will not empty the WH. No problem unless you intentionally drain the WH. It's that gravity thing. [/font]

[montedtrotter1]

Are we doing something wrong? We heat up water using propane and then turn off propane and use the electrical switch by the battery/tank level sensors. The water goes cold, electricity does not keep the water hot. The switch is the one closest to the side wall and the switch turns red when activated. We are not sure what it does if anything.

[gbpack]

Are we doing something wrong? We heat up water using propane and then turn off propane and use the electrical switch by the battery/tank level sensors. The water goes cold, electricity does not keep the water hot. The switch is the one closest to the side wall and the switch turns red when activated. We are not sure what it does if anything.

Besides flipping on that lighted switch you're talking about, you also have to turn on another switch outside the camper inside the water heater panel. It's very hard to find, but it's located in the bottom left hand corner. It's behind some of the copper tubing in there. It's a little black rocker switch that had to also be turned on in order to run the water heater on electricity (and assuming that you are already plugged into shore power). I believe that CharlieM recently posted a picture of where that switch is located in another thread on this forum if you wanted to look for that (but I can't remember what the title of the thread was). Let us know if you find it!

[charliem]

[quote timestamp="1454899133" author="@gbpack" source="/post/18513/thread"]Besides flipping on that lighted switch you're talking about, you also have to turn on another switch outside the camper inside the water heater panel. It's very hard to find, but it's located in the bottom left hand corner. It's behind some of the copper tubing in there. It's a little black rocker switch that had to also be turned on in order to run the water heater on electricity (and assuming that you are already plugged into shore power). I believe that CharlieM recently posted a picture of where that switch is located in another thread on this forum if you wanted to look for that (but I can't remember what the title of the thread was). Let us know if you find it![/quote][font size="3"]Just a note: once you find the outside switch and turn it on you don't have to turn it off each time in the future. Just use the inside switch. And always be careful not to turn the electric element on unless you're sure there's water in the heater. Burnout will occur within seconds.[/font]

[tinkeringtechie]

[quote source="/post/18233/thread" author="@david" timestamp="1454341428"]I am a little puzzled about the desire for electric capability for the water heater. Propane works fine, it only takes a few tenths of a pound of propane to heat the full contents of the water heater up to temperature and maybe a half pound a day to keep it hot and heat up any water used. Sure if you are plugged in and paying for power by the day at an RV park, electricity is no cost and is easy. But, I sure wouldn't spend much effort retrofitting a water heater for electricity.

David[/quote]One of the big advantages is faster recovery. When it's shower time we have both on and that means longer showers and shorter breaks between showers. When you're on electric-only it's also silent, so you don't have to hear the "click-click-click-puff-shhhhhhhhh" every time it cycles.

[kycamper]

If you install one of the aftermarket heating elements, what do you do in lieu of the anode rod??  Someone had a lengthy response about installing the rod where the pressure relief valve is and relocating the relief valve inside near the heater on a " Y". Any thoughts on what is lost when you install the electric rod ??

[tinkeringtechie]

If you install one of the aftermarket heating elements, what do you do in lieu of the anode rod??  Someone had a lengthy response about installing the rod where the pressure relief valve is and relocating the relief valve inside near the heater on a " Y". Any thoughts on what is lost when you install the electric rod ??

Do you have the suburban water heater? If so, the hot rod heater has a reducer for suburban that includes the anode.

[kycamper]

Just realized you responded to me!! Thanks...I'll be buying one.

[thedusty]

[quote timestamp="1454341428" source="/post/18233/thread" author="@david"]I am a little puzzled about the desire for electric capability for the water heater. Propane works fine, it only takes a few tenths of a pound of propane to heat the full contents of the water heater up to temperature and maybe a half pound a day to keep it hot and heat up any water used. Sure if you are plugged in and paying for power by the day at an RV park, electricity is no cost and is easy. But, I sure wouldn't spend much effort retrofitting a water heater for electricity.

David

One of the big advantages is faster recovery. When it's shower time we have both on and that means longer showers and shorter breaks between showers. When you're on electric-only it's also silent, so you don't have to hear the "click-click-click-puff-shhhhhhhhh" every time it cycles.[/quote]

Wait, you can have the electric and also flip the propane heater on at the same time for the water heater and not damage it?

If so, I will definitely do this in the evenings when we all line up for showers.   Then flip the gas off.

I hadn't considered that thinking I might rip a hole in some water heater space time continuum. Or melt it all somehow.