Hot water heater on or off

[debit]

Originally Posted by Iwritecode

I'll turn it on. If I remember it. But more time than not I'll forget until I actually need it.

I agree: so it is off most of the time, and the electric switch is never on.
__________________
Ram 2500 / Surveyor 251rks
And adding a RVS rear view wired camera system, as requested by DM.

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by CustomBuild

I had no idea these sort of smaller devices existed. I'd thought about trying to design my system around one or more regular 30A transfer switches and at the end of the day it was getting too complicated.



Sometimes on Amazon it's not if they have a product or not, it's if you know what to look for.

They're common in trailers with an electric fireplace. The fireplace cuts off when the microwave is running.

[CustomBuild]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

They're common in trailers with an electric fireplace. The fireplace cuts off when the microwave is running.

That makes good sense.

My 2021 Salem Hemisphere only had a manual A/B type switch to go between the AC and electric fire. That didn't make so much sense because I would have thought it would only be an error for someone to turn on both an electric heater and air conditioner at the same time. The breaker would remind the user of the error. In the meantime we had to manually switch back and forth when the days were hot and the nights were cold. In addition we had to manually turn the electric fire off and the microwave on. The house rule was always only one device at a time.

Fortunately it's all solved now because I rewired practically all the 110v and much of the 12v.

[CustomBuild]

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by CustomBuild

You crossed the 100 post threshold. You could have gone into User CP and set that title to “Potentate” or “Rooster”, etc.

[RangeMaggotBob]

I'm lost. Anyway, we always leave ours on- unless we go somewhere. I don't turn it off, but I do turn off the water supply.

[wnew813]

Originally Posted by kevinB24

Once you get to your destination and have 30 or 50amp power do you leave your hot water heater on for your entire stay or just turn it one when you need it, then turn it off when you are done using it?

We need 30 amp, if there is 50 amp we use that. We turn our water heater on when we setup and shut it off when we break down

[derek6669]

Originally Posted by RangeMaggotBob

I'm lost. Anyway, we always leave ours on- unless we go somewhere. I don't turn it off, but I do turn off the water supply.

If you leave water heater on but turn off the water supply, you risk overheating the tank if the water level gets low for any reason. Consider turning off the water heater but leaving the water supply on. I'm assuming you mean the water pump is what you turn off.

[PRay]

But I do turn my water heater on (electric system) when I start to camp. It uses very little electricity once the water is hot and doesn't create any fumes when I am sittling under the awning.

I only turn on the propane water heater when I'm ready to shower. It helps keep the water hot for a longer shower and recovers the heated water faster. (I still try to take 'Navy Showers' but will linger longer than I do with propane only. (boondocking anyone?)

I'll probably convert to an electric/propane 'instant' water heater if I ever need to replace my 6 gallon Suburban.

[SpaceGuy85]

Originally Posted by kevinB24

Once you get to your destination and have 30 or 50amp power do you leave your hot water heater on for your entire stay or just turn it one when you need it, then turn it off when you are done using it?

We leave ours on when plugged in. We also sometimes turn on the propane side in addition, so that we have hot water longer. Kind of like on-demand. Works great for a bit longer shower.

[JoeCampsNE]

On.

[Oldairmech]

Originally Posted by D W

Whether on shore power or propane, I leave it on and let the thermostat do it's job rather than fool with switches. It doesn't run all the time. Who here turns their home water heater off when they're not using it?

We turn ours on to heat up and then turn it off to manage power on the 30 amp shore power, between the air conditioner and the microwave and running the water heater on electric we have had power issues. Most state campgrounds shore power service has had the circuit breakers used and abused so with that said we limit our power use to avoid issues like popping the breaker.
Yes we use Power Watchdog circuit protector too.

Of course we could use the propane but isn’t that why the camper has an electric heater so you save the propane for boon docking or power outages.

[Dirthawg_]

We camp on the weekends because we are still working folk. We do camp for a week during spring break and fall break. We have never even considered turning any device on or off as needed we do not boondock.

The water heater gets turned on as soon as we have city water connected and purge the water heater tank. It stays on until I disconnect the city water when leaving a site. The A/C is also set at a comfortable level 72-73 and is never turned off.

We use the microwave as needed without any worry of maxing out a 30amp site. Both of us take a hot shower every night. We do dishes both morning and evening, we are water hogs and I usually need to take 40 gallons of gray water to the dump station daily.

Between March and October we use 1 20lb tank of propane. Possibly 2 tanks if spring break is abnormally cold and we need to run the furnace a lot. Oh and we set the furnace at a nice comfortable 72 in the cooler weather.

We didn't spend 35k on a camper to not be as comfortable as we would be at home. We spent 25 years tent camping and those days are behind us.

I also pull my trailer at 70mph not giving a crap about the fuel mileage. It's still a hell of a lot cheaper than going on a cruise a couple time s year.

[Brianmr409]

I run my Water Heater on LP. Almost never use the electric unless its your only choice. LP heats the water faster, gets its hotter for longer periods and recovers twice as fast. I dont turn it off till I go home. Uses very little propane and I have the larger optional tank.

[FirstFiver]

leave it on...both gas and electric.

[NavyLCDR]

Originally Posted by Dirthawg_

We didn't spend 35k on a camper to not be as comfortable as we would be at home. We spent 25 years tent camping and those days are behind us.

I also pull my trailer at 70mph not giving a crap about the fuel mileage. It's still a hell of a lot cheaper than going on a cruise a couple time s year.

I agree! But we do watch water usage a little bit. I have to dump tanks every third day.

Now that gas is $4.30, though, I keep it about 65 mph. Except in Washington. The speed limit there is 55 mph for any trailer....I slow down to 63 mph in Washington

[Papadave]

When I’m boondocking and want to conserve water and fuel I turn the hot water on for about ten minutes then off. Makes the straight hot water perfect for a navy shower without wasting water trying to get the hot cold mix just right. With full hookup leave it on. With water and electric I leave it on for short stays when I can avoid the dump run. For long stays with water and electric the trade off is dump runs or boondock water saver mode.

[DavidJ]

Originally Posted by kevinB24

Once you get to your destination and have 30 or 50amp power do you leave your hot water heater on for your entire stay or just turn it one when you need it, then turn it off when you are done using it?

Leave it on. Do you turn it off at home when not using it?

[chaps2018]

Originally Posted by DavidJ

Leave it on. Do you turn it off at home when not using it?

I have no illusions that my RV water heater and the 2x40 gal tanks in my attic are the same in terms of level of design for quality/lifecycle goals.

Its your money and your decision how to spend it. Isn't America great? Let's keep it that way.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by chaps2018

I have no illusions that my RV water heater and the 2x40 gal tanks in my attic are the same in terms of level of design for quality/lifecycle goals.

Its your money and your decision how to spend it. Isn't America great? Let's keep it that way.

Having replaced my residential water heater about every 10 years for the last ~40, I don't share your view. The Suburban SW6DE in our 2008 Cherokee 38P has never needed service of any kind. Admittedly it does get less use.