Hot water?

[Robin97396]

Those are the Barbie type water heaters?

[Gdog 5651]

My son in law had the 2.5 gal in his pop up I thought it was a decent piece so I put the 7 gallon in my Sport King the difference between the two is the recovery time the 7 gal takes about 10 min longer to reheat itself.

[Gdog 5651]

Although I will put a tankless propane in the Bluebird build I heat my 2200 sqft house with an eccotemp (radiant floor) and it has made me a believer out of me.

[heathnlaura]

https://www.webasto-comfort.com/int/...ual-top-evo-8/

No need to get two separate units and no need to rely on a second fuel source. Pricey but simplifies quite a bit.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by heathnlaura

https://www.webasto-comfort.com/int/...ual-top-evo-8/

No need to get two separate units and no need to rely on a second fuel source. Pricey but simplifies quite a bit.

It is $100 less than I paid for my bus.

[BennysTire]

Originally Posted by Twigg

It is $100 less than I paid for my bus.

If I were the type to buy a $3k+ air/water heater, I'd also be the type to buy their $1k+ single burner diesel cooktop. And a diesel generator. And stock in diesel refineries.

Webasto is hands down the king of diesel fueled heaters for long haul truckers, very well designed and built products.

... I'm not that person by the way [emoji17]

Sent from my E6883 using Tapatalk

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by BennysTire

If I were the type to buy a $3k+ air/water heater, I'd also be the type to buy their $1k+ single burner diesel cooktop. And a diesel generator. And stock in diesel refineries.

Webasto is hands down the king of diesel fueled heaters for long haul truckers, very well designed and built products.

... I'm not that person by the way [emoji17]

Sent from my E6883 using Tapatalk

I agree ... it would be nice.

By the way, for Webasto in the US read Eberspacher in Europe. Top quality from good manufacturers with decades of experience and prices to match.

That said, some of the newcomers (Planar springs to mind) seem to be offering very competitive products with few adverse reports.

[BennysTire]

My little heater. A 4 gallon. Mounted over my slop sink

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[Dave in Tucson]

Thank you all for the replies. As I said in the OP, I'm looking at long periods of off grid usage, so I'm looking at the propane heaters. I got fired up (pun intended) over a Precision RV heater on TinyHouses.com (not remembering model number right now, it's not quite 4AM, and I just rolled out of bed to let the dogs out). What I liked about it was it vented through the floor, and the advertising claimed you "would never run out of hot water". What I didn't like about it was the price tag of $1165 (!!!). Looked up the identical unit on Amazon, and it was $1175. After reading the reviews on Amazon, the shine rubbed off a lot.
Currently considering a Rheem unit on Amazon at about $875, (same caveats apply on exact model number) still pricey, but all good reviews.
I am kind of surprised by the range of prices, from about $120 to $OMG!
My usage will be from desert temps of 120° to Rocky Mountain temps of 0°, and I don't want to have to replace it every few months, so I guess my main concerns would be capacity and reliability.

[Tango]

When shopping these things, be aware that many of the propane models will not work above about 8000 feet. Some can be adjusted for altitude, some cannot. Electric doesn't care.

Read the fine print before you buy.

[brokedown]

Very good point. My main concern with propane is that it stops working at achievable cold temperatures

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by brokedown

Very good point. My main concern with propane is that it stops working at achievable cold temperatures

Been there done that.....

-5F outside and the heater, water heater and stove quit working. There sits Stephen running an electric heater from my generator to attempt to avoid freezing.

That is part of the reason I bought a Wabasto diesel heater.

I also made a new travel policy:

"Go where the weather suits my clothes" Which will be shorts and t-shirts..

[brokedown]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

"Go where the weather suits my clothes" Which will be shorts and t-shirts..

Amen, brother!

[Dave in Tucson]

.....summer, anywhere BUT Tucson, winter in Tucson.....

[Robin97396]

Originally Posted by Dave in Tucson

.....summer, anywhere BUT Tucson, winter in Tucson.....

That's my theory exactly. I've been watching temps across the SW and Tucson looks very appealing.

Far enough from the beach to avoid tsunamis and warm enough to make wintering easier. Yeah, get out in the summer. Cactus don't give much shade.

Coming from big timber country I don't know if I'll be able to hack living in the desert. It's not nearly as complicated to move around to new places once you have everything in the bus.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

Any of the instantaneous heaters definitely need a filter on the entering side.
Depending on the water quality you are using?
Calcium or almost any sediment build up in the units thereselves will take there longevity down buy several years.
And flushing is usually the first step in troubleshooting a unit that was doing fine and tries to start and shuts off.
Lack of water flow sets off a sensor and the unit won't fire because of low water.
Sediment traps and filters before the unit will help your unit a lot regardless of brand.
I have never owned one myself but have worked on quite a few.
Good luck

[Dave in Tucson]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

That's my theory exactly. I've been watching temps across the SW and Tucson looks very appealing.

Far enough from the beach to avoid tsunamis and warm enough to make wintering easier. Yeah, get out in the summer. Cactus don't give much shade.

Coming from big timber country I don't know if I'll be able to hack living in the desert. It's not nearly as complicated to move around to new places once you have everything in the bus.

I grew up in far northern Minnesota, and what I miss most is TREES! and lakes, of course. Don't miss the winters at all. Tucson is great during the winter, but as I get older, the summers are getting harder to take.
I plan on keeping my Tucson house, just no longer plan to spend summers here.

[Gdog 5651]

I as said earlier in this thread I heat my house with floor planted pex tubing I originally used a Noritz to supply hot water but kept having problems with it coking up and I would have to dismantle and clean the heat exchanger . I replaced with electric (9kw) and damned near went broke trying to pay the utility.I replaced it with a Eccotemp (one of their newer models) it has digi temp control fires on almost no flow makes about 6.0 gal a minute,never misses a beat and costs a 1/4 of what the Noritz cost 318.00 vs 1335.00 the only caveat I have to this is in my case it is heating floor temp water from 65 degree to 145 so its working like its summertime. Factor that into your thoughts but I am absolutely going to use one in the Bluebird build.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

Protection into the unit.
Kind of like a health class but a different type of body?

[Dave in Tucson]

Originally Posted by Gdog 5651

I as said earlier in this thread I heat my house with floor planted pex tubing I originally used a Noritz to supply hot water but kept having problems with it coking up and I would have to dismantle and clean the heat exchanger . I replaced with electric (9kw) and damned near went broke trying to pay the utility.I replaced it with a Eccotemp (one of their newer models) it has digi temp control fires on almost no flow makes about 6.0 gal a minute,never misses a beat and costs a 1/4 of what the Noritz cost 318.00 vs 1335.00 the only caveat I have to this is in my case it is heating floor temp water from 65 degree to 145 so its working like its summertime. Factor that into your thoughts but I am absolutely going to use one in the Bluebird build.

So what model number is this? Searched Amazon, but not finding one that sounds like what you are describing.