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So last week we took delivery of our new Grand Design Reflections 28BH.  During our final inspection the "delivery expert" was showing us the hot water heater and how to maintain it.  Its an atwood 6gal gas electric unit.  

This is where my wife spoke up.  "6 GALLONS... BRIAN IS THAT GOING TO BE ENOUGH!!!??!?!?!"

So our current 5er has a 12 gal suburban gas only water heater, and my wife being who she is likes to take long, hot showers.  I not going to lie, when looking at the camper I was very concerned at the size of the hot water heater.  I did some research on tankless (on demand) hot water heaters.  Looks like Atwood use to make one.. maybe... and Suburban makes one that has very mixed reviews.  When reading over the reviews most of them could be install issues, or just not understanding how to use a on demand water heater, as the usage is quite different.

My questions are these..

1) Is a 6gal gas / electric enough for the demands of a long hot shower?  Now long of a shower?

2) Any experience with on demand hot water heater in your camper? Whats the good, the bad?

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If you run the heater on gas and electric some say that works pretty good, I know they recover on gas faster then the electric. Our 5th wheel has a Girard on demand system and we like it, it does shut down after 20 minutes as a safety item. I have heard the Truma model is better but do not have any knowledge other then what I have read. Below is a YouTube link for the Girard.

 

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I have no issues with a 6 gal tank. Our new trailer is a dual gas/electric and seems to heat up about the same on either one.  In prior years our trailer came with an Atwood on demand and the reports on it weren't very good. As to recovery times may I suggest Navy showers?  :rolleyes:

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9 hours ago, PGHFiend said:

I do believe they are hotter than a house unit and therefore you mix in more cold. We've never had an issue.

And on a timely note I found my water tank was split today!

Found a replacement tank on amazon, will be here Weds. 9755990af169f2945887af13e062bb81.jpg

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

Ugh!  No fun...

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16 hours ago, bdm said:

So last week we took delivery of our new Grand Design Reflections 28BH.  During our final inspection the "delivery expert" was showing us the hot water heater and how to maintain it.  Its an atwood 6gal gas electric unit.  

This is where my wife spoke up.  "6 GALLONS... BRIAN IS THAT GOING TO BE ENOUGH!!!??!?!?!"

So our current 5er has a 12 gal suburban gas only water heater, and my wife being who she is likes to take long, hot showers.  I not going to lie, when looking at the camper I was very concerned at the size of the hot water heater.  I did some research on tankless (on demand) hot water heaters.  Looks like Atwood use to make one.. maybe... and Suburban makes one that has very mixed reviews.  When reading over the reviews most of them could be install issues, or just not understanding how to use a on demand water heater, as the usage is quite different.

My questions are these..

1) Is a 6gal gas / electric enough for the demands of a long hot shower?  Now long of a shower?

2) Any experience with on demand hot water heater in your camper? Whats the good, the bad?

The proper response is "Hey Princess, it's called camping and be happy that you even have running water!"

Hope you packed a "doghouse" tent, I think you might need it.

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21 hours ago, bdm said:

So last week we took delivery of our new Grand Design Reflections 28BH.  During our final inspection the "delivery expert" was showing us the hot water heater and how to maintain it.  Its an atwood 6gal gas electric unit.  

This is where my wife spoke up.  "6 GALLONS... BRIAN IS THAT GOING TO BE ENOUGH!!!??!?!?!"

So our current 5er has a 12 gal suburban gas only water heater, and my wife being who she is likes to take long, hot showers.  I not going to lie, when looking at the camper I was very concerned at the size of the hot water heater.  I did some research on tankless (on demand) hot water heaters.  Looks like Atwood use to make one.. maybe... and Suburban makes one that has very mixed reviews.  When reading over the reviews most of them could be install issues, or just not understanding how to use a on demand water heater, as the usage is quite different.

My questions are these..

1) Is a 6gal gas / electric enough for the demands of a long hot shower?  Now long of a shower?

2) Any experience with on demand hot water heater in your camper? Whats the good, the bad?

When we bought our Reflection, I had the same issue and concern as you. All previous campers we had to wait in between showers for the water to heat back up.  In the 3 years we have owned this rig, we have not ran out of hot water. If we are cold weather camping I will turn on the gas and electric if I know we are taking multiple showers in a row. When camping at the fort and most points south I only use the electric.  I have been very impressed with the recovery time on these small water heaters.

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On 3/12/2018 at 8:14 AM, Travisma said:

The proper response is "Hey Princess, it's called camping and be happy that you even have running water!"

Hope you packed a "doghouse" tent, I think you might need it.

Not 100% sure exactly how much of that statement would get out of my mouth before she shoved a shoe down my throat. My guess is right around camp............

19 hours ago, TN22.....Brady said:

When we bought our Reflection, I had the same issue and concern as you. All previous campers we had to wait in between showers for the water to heat back up.  In the 3 years we have owned this rig, we have not ran out of hot water. If we are cold weather camping I will turn on the gas and electric if I know we are taking multiple showers in a row. When camping at the fort and most points south I only use the electric.  I have been very impressed with the recovery time on these small water heaters.

Good to hear, We have a camping trip set to a KOA about 2 hours away in 2 weeks.  That's going to be the test run for the new camper.  I've spent some time getting prices on replacement heaters.  If i have to replace its going to be the Truma Aqua Flow the dealer we purchased from is a rep for them and had a decent price on it.

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Just upgraded to 50 amp service / 10 gal tank.  Looking forward to less cycle time being able to leverage electricity and no worry about AC and microwave blowing a breaker.

I know a guy that would carry extra black water hoses. He would hook them in line with city water to his rv. Then move the hoses around to get the most sun on them throughout the day. He insisted that it worked to improve the shower quotient at the end of each day. Solar heating I suppose.

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  • 1 month later...

So quick update on the water heater after 4 nights of usage...

Running it on gas and electric produced enough hot water to satisfy the wife's shower.  I jumped in right after here to insure I could and would go longer, I was able to take a good 10 min shower with now problem, The gave my 3 yr son a shower that lasted about 10 min as well.  All toll the shower was running for about 35 - 40 min with no issue.

 

Wife is 100% happy with the hot water situation.

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On 4/21/2018 at 9:13 PM, bdm said:

So quick update on the water heater after 4 nights of usage...

Running it on gas and electric produced enough hot water to satisfy the wife's shower.  I jumped in right after here to insure I could and would go longer, I was able to take a good 10 min shower with now problem, The gave my 3 yr son a shower that lasted about 10 min as well.  All toll the shower was running for about 35 - 40 min with no issue.

 

Wife is 100% happy with the hot water situation.

That's good.

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  • 1 year later...

This has been over a year now and assuming that everything is still working to your wife's satisfaction.

I'll throw a comment in here in case someone with the same question(s) reads through. We have a 10 gal residential electric water heater that is enough for my wife and I to take regular showers and not run out. I also have a Hydro Hot system that provides on demand hot water but runs off of a diesel burner. That works great too. Water stays very hot as long as there's water in the campground and diesel in the tank. I just like to use the park electricity for heating water as long as I'm paying for it anyway. I like to keep the diesel in the tank for miles not showers.

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7 hours ago, Country Coach Guy said:

This has been over a year now and assuming that everything is still working to your wife's satisfaction.

I'll throw a comment in here in case someone with the same question(s) reads through. We have a 10 gal residential electric water heater that is enough for my wife and I to take regular showers and not run out. I also have a Hydro Hot system that provides on demand hot water but runs off of a diesel burner. That works great too. Water stays very hot as long as there's water in the campground and diesel in the tank. I just like to use the park electricity for heating water as long as I'm paying for it anyway. I like to keep the diesel in the tank for miles not showers.

My thoughts exactly.

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21 hours ago, Country Coach Guy said:

I just like to use the park electricity for heating water as long as I'm paying for it anyway. I like to keep the diesel in the tank for miles not showers.

 

13 hours ago, fladogfan aka Gretchen said:

My thoughts exactly.

Once the Gas/Elec water heater's  came out we only used gas to either get it hot quick when we first stopped or when on 20 amp service which we ran into in CANADA in 2004.

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Seeing this topic has come around again our builder decided to upgrade our water heater last August while at a rally, we had a Girard tankless but they started to install the Truma so thus the upgrade, let me say it is a great upgrade and so thankful for them doing this. If anyone is thinking of upgrading to the Truma I say go for it.

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