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Old 05-23-2020, 05:59 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2020
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Best water heater option?

We are not building a full bathroom but we still need hot water for cooking, cleaning, and washing dishes. Possibly putting in an outdoor shower head installed from the garage section of the bus but unsure yet. I'm probably setting myself up for over kill but I'd rather do that then to not have enough. I'm unsure if a propane water heater still runs off of the battery and if so I need the lowest drawing water heater yall know of. I want the bus to primarily run off of Solar but I couldn't find an electric water heater that doesnt draw a ton of power.

Anyways, looking for a 10-20 gallon range water heater propane or electric. Dont really have a budget for this but the prices I've seen have almost scared me into using a campfire to get hot water.

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Old 05-23-2020, 06:16 PM   #2
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What I plan on doing is taking a small water heater (2 gallons), remove its AC heating element, and replace it with a DC heating element. There is website that sells the authentic ones (there are rip-off out there) and they use very little DC battery power when combined with very good outer insulation.

I'm not sure if this can be done to your scale, but it might be worth investigating.
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Old 05-23-2020, 06:16 PM   #3
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Have you thought of an on-demand/tankless water heater? Many people go with (I believe) EcoTemp tankless heater. They use propane and will give you hot water until you run out of water or propane.

We've got a 6gal Suburban propane and electric water heater. We use it on electric mode if we've got a sunny day and the batteries get topped off early, otherwise we use the propane to heat it. 6 gallons is more than enough capacity for us, since by the time you mix in cold water it's effective capacity is more like 15 gal.
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Old 05-23-2020, 07:03 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by Drew Bru View Post
Have you thought of an on-demand/tankless water heater? Many people go with (I believe) EcoTemp tankless heater. They use propane and will give you hot water until you run out of water or propane.

I'd like to see how some people vent these, I gave up on them because I couldn't figure it out. I'm going to install one in the shorty for laundry where ventilation is less of a concern.



I went with a Girard propane tankless in my main rig.
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Old 05-23-2020, 08:55 PM   #5
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Old 05-23-2020, 09:09 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by kazetsukai View Post
I'd like to see how some people vent these, I gave up on them because I couldn't figure it out. I'm going to install one in the shorty for laundry where ventilation is less of a concern.



I went with a Girard propane tankless in my main rig.
I too researched the heck out of water heaters. I also couldn’t figure out how I would vent an on-demand heater. I think if I had a whole window to dedicate to it, it would have worked out.

I ended up getting a Suburban Sw6D, the 6 gallon propane model with electronic ignition and Making a steel box to mount it Under the floor.
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Old 05-24-2020, 02:06 AM   #7
Mini-Skoolie
 
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I'm not familiar with venting or anything that needs to go into this build but my first thought would be to reverse install one of the factory windows and put a cover on the outside of the window so those who dont need to know it opens from the outside will be able to see it. That way the area can be vented and you dont have to climb into the garage area to open a window every time you want hot water. Idk, insanity hits harder at 2am lol
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