Your experience with tankless water heaters

[alpine44]

Having to decide between a tank-type water heater and a tankless one, I would be interested in your personal experience with either one.

I will have propane on board for the cooking stove and a tankless heater would save space and propane. However, I am wondering:

How fast does warm water come out of the faucet with a tankless heater compared to a tank?

How inconvenient is it to shut off the shower on a tankless heater (for lathering up) an then reopen the shower valve?

[PNW_Steve]

Tankless will save you propane.

Conventional water heater uses energy keeping water hot 24/7.

[alpine44]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Tankless will save you propane.

Conventional water heater uses energy keeping water hot 24/7.

Thanks for pointing that out. I edited my first post accordingly.

[ol trunt]

Once I put a recycling loop in the hot water flow I truly have "instant" hot water with my Ecotemp 10 tankless heater. Without the return line a lot of water went down the drain. The tank type heater suffers from the same loss so I'd have to recommend tankless.
Jack

[o1marc]

I've asked before, never got a good answer. I've read where it still takes time for the hot to start coming. Others talk about immediate hot water. Those with experience, how fast does the water get hot, not considering the length of line it's going through?

[johnbloem1974]

Originally Posted by o1marc

I've asked before, never got a good answer. I've read where it still takes time for the hot to start coming. Others talk about immediate hot water. Those with experience, how fast does the water get hot, not considering the length of line it's going through?

With my Excel heater, which is located pretty close to the sink, I get hot water out of the faucet within 5 seconds of turning it on. Its pretty sweet.

John

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by johnbloem1974

With my Excel heater, which is located pretty close to the sink, I get hot water out of the faucet within 5 seconds of turning it on. Its pretty sweet.

John

That would be a treat I'm not used to. My kitchen sink at home I just timed, 1 minute 20 seconds to get hot water. That's a lot of wasted water. Seriously considering one in the kitchen

[TheHubbardBus]

I'm interested in following this thread.


In other RV forums I've searched, there's A LOT of hate directed at on-demand water heaters.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

I'm interested in following this thread.


In other RV forums I've searched, there's A LOT of hate directed at on-demand water heaters.

What are the complaints? I have both an Eccotemp L5 and an L10 going in mine.

[TheHubbardBus]

The main complaints were water waste, and inconsistent heating. Many complained their units wouldn't turn on when the flow volume was low.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

The main complaints were water waste, and inconsistent heating. Many complained their units wouldn't turn on when the flow volume was low.

Most videos I've seen of them they always have the temp at one of the lowest settings and can turn it up hot enough to burn you. I just think the space a wayer tank would take up could be better utilized. I already don't have enough space.

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Most videos I've seen of them they always have the temp at one of the lowest settings and can turn it up hot enough to burn you. I just think the space a wayer tank would take up could be better utilized. I already don't have enough space.

Ditto that. My wife wants one bad - which means I want one bad - and we figured it would make the most sense where space is at a premium. Reading all the negative reviews really bummed me out, and I started second-guessing our decision. But we'll probably go tankless anyway. It seems like alot of the complainers were non-DIY types who either didn't understand the limitations of the technology or were unable/unwilling to make the changes to their plumbing necessary to mitigate those limitations.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

Ditto that. My wife wants one bad - which means I want one bad - and we figured it would make the most sense where space is at a premium. Reading all the negative reviews really bummed me out, and I started second-guessing our decision. But we'll probably go tankless anyway. It seems like alot of the complainers were non-DIY types who either didn't understand the limitations of the technology or were unable/unwilling to make the changes to their plumbing necessary to mitigate those limitations.

Don't know where you are , so don't know if this helps. But this guy has this deal on CraigsList. The tanks are $350, and the L5's are over $100

Go to the UserCP and fill out your profile, it'll help you.


https://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/f...883267725.html

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Don't know where you are , so don't know if this helps. But this guy has this deal on CraigsList. The tanks are $350, and the L5's are over $100

Go to the UserCP and fill out your profile, it'll help you.


https://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/f...883267725.html

Thanks so much. Yeah, I know i need to hit up the profile. I'll get that filled in tomorrow morn.



Have a good night!


BTW - What bike is that in your profile pic?

[leadsled01]

You have to set the hot water temp low. Only use hot and no cold. If you try to mix cold in with the hot , they just don't work well. Takes awhile to get use to this setup.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

BTW - What bike is that in your profile pic?

It's a custom build 1962 Harley Davidson XRTT. Unlike the factory race bike that yields 750cc's. this one is 1327cc and weighs only 332lbs.

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by o1marc

It's a custom build 1962 Harley Davidson XRTT. Unlike the factory race bike that yields 750cc's. this one is 1327cc and weighs only 332lbs.

That's why I didn't recognize it (aside from it's custom nature). Not much experience with HD. More experience with Japanese and European motorcycles.


332 lbs... that's crazy light. What's the HP/Torque? I imagine the torque alone must make that a happy handful to ride!

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

That's why I didn't recognize it (aside from it's custom nature). Not much experience with HD. More experience with Japanese and European motorcycles.


332 lbs... that's crazy light. What's the HP/Torque? I imagine the torque alone must make that a happy handful to ride!

I tell people when you get on this thing you will have 2 options, one ends you up in jail, the other ends you up in the hospital. It was abeast when I had the 883 set up for road racing.
Haven't had it on the dyno yet, but near 110hp and more torque. In fact more than I wanted. When we first built this motor in 1977, the builder told me he swapped my 53ci top end for an aluminum 63ci. top end. Unfortunately life and stuff got in the way and the bike took a back burner for near 40 years. I played around at Bonneville with a buddies cars and trucks in 2011-2012-2015, setting records everywhere we took the stuff. I had a bucket list item to just go to Bonneville. When we started building the first car from scratch, we loaded it on the truck 2-1/2 months later. Long story short, the bucket list went from going to B'ville, to actually having built a B'ville racer, to I'm a freaking crew chief on a B'ville racer, to I'm the freaking crew chief of the worlds fastest Nash Metropolitan, all in one week. Broke a 14 year old record. We went to several other venues and broke the record for our class at every event, until all we were doing was going to break our own records, which we did every time. All this time the driver owner is getting all the accolades and name in the record bucks and I get squat. So I decided to pull the bike to the front burner and see if I could set a record with it. Fortunately there was new track opening and there were no records, seemed like an easy opportunity, but I want to run a legitimate number, and think it's capable at this point to be world class. So I pull it out and ready it for a shop to fine tune on their dyno and go back motorcycle racing after racing a NASCAR short track for 20 years until 07 full time. Keep in mind now that I think this is a 63ci motor, with extremely custom heads. Which equates to 1032cc, up from my stock 53ci, or 883cc. The problem is that size motor would put me in a class between 1000cc and 1350cc. I wasn't sure I would be competitive with the smaller motor disadvantage, even with the power to weight ratio which was phenomenal. So I get to the new shop and we work on it for awhile, mind you this motor is 37 years brand new, never had a drop of oil in it other than assembly lube. Figured the rings would have been rusted to the bores and would need a top end over haul before it ever ran for the first time. We stick a borescope in the cylinder and am amazed to see cylinder walls that looked like they were honed yesterday, great. We were ready to oil it up and attempt to fire it up. Turned the motor over a few times and couldn't get spark out of the magneto, seems the magnets die when you let them sit for 35 years. So go to pull the magneto that is an 1-1/2 job, but once out I could see into the sump and all the aluminum cases had corrosion barnacles all over. Dang, that's now gonna require a complete tear down and rebuild after cleaning, $1500 rebuild on a brand new motor, yea. Different mechanic hired to rebuild because new shop specializes in build newer models and not trick old stuff like mine,but could tune it. So the new guy takes his time disassembling it and calls me and says "I got your motor apart to send to vapor blasting. Oh, by the way, you don't have a 63ci motor" I say please tell me my friend didn't screw me, he said the new top end was 63ci. He says "Nope, not unless you think you got screwed by having an 81ci motor. He put the 63ci top end on, but failed to tell you he put a 4-5/8" stroker kit in too." OMG, didn't take my mind but a few seconds to calculate that out to 1327cc. Well that's dang close to class limit and I think can be competitive. Took the new builder 14 months to turn the motor around and get it back to me. I'm sending it back to the other shot to finish up when I near completion of the bus. So I can start racing it.
Here's the 59 Nash Metroplitan that my firend and I built. When I got involved was the day I walked in his shop and saw 2 6' 2x4 steel rails laying on the ground with a bunch of drawing on the shop floor. I asked "What is this?" He said "It's the B'ville car, Toyota pulled out on me, since I'm already entered, I'll just build something else. He originally was close to a deal with Toyota to supply him a Tundra, a semi and a bunch of money to try and set a record because he had a set a record with a Ford Lightning pick up in 05. Well at the last minute Toyota pulled out and gave all their Toyota, M&M's money to Kyle Bucsh, left Bob stranded. So here it is 2 frame rails on the floor, "You gonna let me help you build this thing, let me do some powder coating for you and get my name on the car. He agreed and we went to work. I kept asking while we were building You're gonna take me with you right?" He kept saying I would have to pay my own expenses, which I couldn't afford. Well he worked from 5am till 12am every day. I showed up at around 10am and would work till 10pm or so, all for free. He finally relented and paid me some money to burn the midnight candle to complete it the last week and half. We painted the hood of the car on Thursday morning and loaded it on the trailer to head to B'ville, exactly 2-1/2 months from 2 rails on the floor to this completed B'ville race car. He had no one else going with him, he's an egomaniac who likes to brag about how much he did with no money and no help. Well you can't do B'ville by yourself, so I ended up being able to go. Hey you asked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBtVn4hK4M4

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by o1marc

I tell people when you get on this thing you will have 2 options, one ends you up in jail, the other ends you up in the hospital. It was abeast when I had the 883 set up for road racing.
Haven't had it on the dyno yet, but near 110hp and more torque. In fact more than I wanted. When we first built this motor in 1977, the builder told me he swapped my 53ci top end for an aluminum 63ci. top end. Unfortunately life and stuff got in the way and the bike took a back burner for near 40 years. I played around at Bonneville with a buddies cars and trucks in 2011-2012-2015, setting records everywhere we took the stuff. I had a bucket list item to just go to Bonneville. When we started building the first car from scratch, we loaded it on the truck 2-1/2 months later. Long story short, the bucket list went from going to B'ville, to actually having built a B'ville racer, to I'm a freaking crew chief on a B'ville racer, to I'm the freaking crew chief of the worlds fastest Nash Metropolitan, all in one week. Broke a 14 year old record. We went to several other venues and broke the record for our class at every event, until all we were doing was going to break our own records, which we did every time. All this time the driver owner is getting all the accolades and name in the record bucks and I get squat. So I decided to pull the bike to the front burner and see if I could set a record with it. Fortunately there was new track opening and there were no records, seemed like an easy opportunity, but I want to run a legitimate number, and think it's capable at this point to be world class. So I pull it out and ready it for a shop to fine tune on their dyno and go back motorcycle racing after racing a NASCAR short track for 20 years until 07 full time. Keep in mind now that I think this is a 63ci motor, with extremely custom heads. Which equates to 1032cc, up from my stock 53ci, or 883cc. The problem is that size motor would put me in a class between 1000cc and 1350cc. I wasn't sure I would be competitive with the smaller motor disadvantage, even with the power to weight ratio which was phenomenal. So I get to the new shop and we work on it for awhile, mind you this motor is 37 years brand new, never had a drop of oil in it other than assembly lube. Figured the rings would have been rusted to the bores and would need a top end over haul before it ever ran for the first time. We stick a borescope in the cylinder and am amazed to see cylinder walls that looked like they were honed yesterday, great. We were ready to oil it up and attempt to fire it up. Turned the motor over a few times and couldn't get spark out of the magneto, seems the magnets die when you let them sit for 35 years. So go to pull the magneto that is an 1-1/2 job, but once out I could see into the sump and all the aluminum cases had corrosion barnacles all over. Dang, that's now gonna require a complete tear down and rebuild after cleaning, $1500 rebuild on a brand new motor, yea. Different mechanic hired to rebuild because new shop specializes in build newer models and not trick old stuff like mine,but could tune it. So the new guy takes his time disassembling it and calls me and says "I got your motor apart to send to vapor blasting. Oh, by the way, you don't have a 63ci motor" I say please tell me my friend didn't screw me, he said the new top end was 63ci. He says "Nope, not unless you think you got screwed by having an 81ci motor. He put the 63ci top end on, but failed to tell you he put a 4-5/8" stroker kit in too." OMG, didn't take my mind but a few seconds to calculate that out to 1327cc. Well that's dang close to class limit and I think can be competitive. Took the new builder 14 months to turn the motor around and get it back to me. I'm sending it back to the other shot to finish up when I near completion of the bus. So I can start racing it.
Here's the 59 Nash Metroplitan that my firend and I built. When I got involved was the day I walked in his shop and saw 2 6' 2x4 steel rails laying on the ground with a bunch of drawing on the shop floor. I asked "What is this?" He said "It's the B'ville car, Toyota pulled out on me, since I'm already entered, I'll just build something else. He originally was close to a deal with Toyota to supply him a Tundra, a semi and a bunch of money to try and set a record because he had a set a record with a Ford Lightning pick up in 05. Well at the last minute Toyota pulled out and gave all their Toyota, M&M's money to Kyle Bucsh, left Bob stranded. So here it is 2 frame rails on the floor, "You gonna let me help you build this thing, let me do some powder coating for you and get my name on the car. He agreed and we went to work. I kept asking while we were building You're gonna take me with you right?" He kept saying I would have to pay my own expenses, which I couldn't afford. Well he worked from 5am till 12am every day. I showed up at around 10am and would work till 10pm or so, all for free. He finally relented and paid me some money to burn the midnight candle to complete it the last week and half. We painted the hood of the car on Thursday morning and loaded it on the trailer to head to B'ville, exactly 2-1/2 months from 2 rails on the floor to this completed B'ville race car. He had no one else going with him, he's an egomaniac who likes to brag about how much he did with no money and no help. Well you can't do B'ville by yourself, so I ended up being able to go. Hey you asked.

doesn't run like any Nash Metropolitan I ever drove

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Sleddgracer

doesn't run like any Nash Metropolitan I ever drove

We hold the current C/GCC record at 268mph. We left a lot of millionaires scratching their heads wondering how we did what they had been attempting for 20 years, with big crews and really deep pockets. They all said when we first showed up what a beautiful car it was that my buddy was going to die in it. It's 1000lbs too light and it's going to take take off and fly and end up in that dumpster over there and your buddies going home in a wooden box. Bob had around $30k in the whole. We got got friend and neighbor Ernie Elliott, NASCAR Champ Bill Elliotts, motor building brother, to give a us a 3 year old NASCAR CUP motor refreshed to our specs. Dodge 367ci, single 850 Demon carb, running on gas, makes 900hp @9K rpm. Ran that car for a few years. B'ville was getting expensive, 5 of the last 6 events we went out there for rained out. Hotel rooms and fuel for 4400 miles. So he's been staying at the east cost venues, until someone beats his B'ville record, and I guarantee that won't happen any time soon and maybe never the way the salt is deteriorating out there. When we we broke the record there were about 26 vehicles in our class, only one of them was breaking 200mph, @201+. Our first run was at 240mph and damn near got us booted and sent home for going way too fast, but that's another story.Wayne Jesel (Jesel Valve Trains) was impressed with our showing that he loaned us a similar motor in a 372ci, MOPAR motor with twin 1150 carbs, making about 1100hp that we stuffed into this 2000 Chevy S-10 and broke the world class record with it by 20mph at 212+mph, in the standing start, asphalt mile.