Water heater recovery time

[Fox58]

In prep for our first boondocking excursion in the 2014 A127TH I ran the onboard water system through its paces for the first time yesterday. The water heater fired up normally. I timed it out at 25 minutes run time before it shut itself off. I had run the hot water at the shower head for mere moments two times during the 25 minutes, just to see how hot it was getting. I doubt I ran a half-gallon either time.

Does this seem like a normal "cold start", and I wonder how fast the water heater recovers when left on during use, where consecutive showers would be assumed to use most of the 6 gallon water heater storage?

Fox58

[RSchleder]

I don't think the time to initially heat your water was excessive. We typically use the electric element when camping and are aware that the propane will certainly heat the water more rapidly. We normally take "back to back" (that doesn't mean both in the shower at the same time showers and have never run out of hot water while showering. We do, however, conserve water by not running it full time while in the shower. Instead, we take a GI type shower by turning off the water while we lather our body and shampoo our hair, when turn it on to rinse off.

[KyDan]

You say you're going boondocking so you'll be using water from
your fresh tank. A huge consideration is cold water temp.
IF you're taking showers in hot summer and fresh tank is at or near
ambient air temp then you'll hardly use any hot at all.
IF you were using camp ground water from a deep well or fresh tank
water in spring or fall the temp of the cold would be considerably lower.

This is one of those times when you learn from experience.
I wouldn't worry about running out of hot water in the summer if
you take navy showers. You need to also keep a mind on how much
fresh water you're using and gray water tank capacity. (Another reason
for those navy showers.)

Having said all that-- one of the best showers I ever had (in an RV) was
boondocking for a week near the north rim of the Grand Canyon where we were hit by a huge dust devil.
It came roaring thru the camp ground and nearly tore off our awning.
It filled our pockets and hair with sand and covered everything with a layer of
gritty dust. After it was all over and mostly cleaned up I gave my wife
the standard response-- "honey it's all part of the adventure"!
The dust devil was large enough that a fire crew showed up because
the dust column had been reported as a smoke column! Wish I'd had
time to take a picture but we were too busy just hanging on.

Happy Camping!

[youroo]

Originally Posted by RSchleder

I don't think the time to initially heat your water was excessive. We typically use the electric element when camping and are aware that the propane will certainly heat the water more rapidly. We normally take "back to back" (that doesn't mean both in the shower at the same time showers and have never run out of hot water while showering. We do, however, conserve water by not running it full time while in the shower. Instead, we take a GI type shower by turning off the water while we lather our body and shampoo our hair, when turn it on to rinse off.

Same results as above! Youroo!!

[lbrjet]

My wife showers first and then I shower 20 minutes later. We always have full hookups so no water conservation necessary. Don't use much water and you can get two showers from one tank.


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

[Pooneil]

Just take navy showers and you'll be fine. Wet down, water off, soap up, water on, quick rinse off. Or space out the showers to give the WH time to recover.

[leftyneil]

Works for me after all these years,,,,USS Bennington CVA 20, 1958-1960.

[Fox58]

Only after our youngest enlisted and became a Seabee did we learn we'd been taking Navy showers for years. We became accustomed to Navy showers during week-long rentals of an off-the-grid cabin in Montana. Our daily solar showers were some of the best we've ever had.

We acquired the 4' x 4' Paha Que floor for the shower/toilet enclosure and I've already fitted a length of hose to the drain in one corner. I also took a +20 year-old 6 gallon water jug out of freshwater service and labeled it Gray Water, so we can legally and properly shower in CGs which do not allow gray water to be dumped on the ground.

I do anticipate using cold well water to fill my system after arriving at our Friday/Saturday night site at a friend's farm. It should warm up to some degree by the time showers are called for late Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. I then intend to drain the tank for the short drive through the mountains to our Sunday evening site, and to just forego showers Sun night/Mon morning since we'll be home by early afternoon.

Thanks for the feedback!

Fox58