Need A Little Aqua Hot Understanding

[Czar Of Poop]

When do I use AH 110v button and when do I not?
When do I use AH Diesel button and when do I not?

Do I have both on at the same time when plugged in to 50 amp shore power?
Do I just have AH Diesel on when driving?

Any advice would be greatly helpful.

[cb5300]

Originally Posted by niceguy9605

When do I use AH 110v button and when do I not?
When do I use AH Diesel button and when do I not?

Do I have both on at the same time when plugged in to 50 amp shore power?
Do I just have AH Diesel on when driving?

Any advice would be greatly helpful.

Any time I'm plugged into a 50 amp suppy I will use my (2)110V elements my AH. The electric side on the AH works fine if all I need is hotwater for showers, dishwasher, or washing clothes. If the outside temps don't fall below the upper 30's/lower 40's then it will even provide enough heat for the coach. If the temps drop below that then I'll hit the diesel button and all is good.

Now when I had my Dynasty (it only had the single 110 heating element) it wouldn't keep up with demand on the 110 only, so I would have to turn on the diesel most of the time.

[Coma]

In my MH the AquaHot get heated when driving down the road. When hooked to 15A I use diesel only. When using 30A I use AH electric if load permits. When on 50A I turn them both on. The AH will use diesel only as nessacary to keep temperature up. Enjoy!

[Mike Canter]

If plugged in at a campground then I leave the 110 v heater on all the time for hot water then I turn on the diesel if we are going to have a shower so I don't run out of hot water. If dry camping with no generator then diesel comes on 10 minutes before shower time.

For heat the 110 is only good to take a little chill out if the air if outside is in high fifties or low sixties. If it gets cool the 110 is just going to cause all the heater fans to run but not produce heat so the diesel has to come on.

[HHIDan]

You can leave electric and diesel on when driving but electric will not come on (as there is no power) and diesel won't come on as the liquid will already be hot from the engine coolant loop going thru the Aqua Hot.

[texnet]

I leave both the electric and diesel on all the time during the winter. When it is plugged in the electric will keep the system hot during most of the weather we have been in but if needed the diesel will kick in automatically. I have also found that leaving the diesel on all the time helps the system run better/stays cleaner. Our coach is plugged in at all times unless we are driving or boondocking.

[K7JV]

You've gotten a lot of good advice. If your AH has one heating element, just think of it as having the heating power of your typical portable floor space heater. If you have two, then you can double that. That is the approximate heating capability that you will have on the 110V source, alone.

If you have 50 amp service available, I'd most likely leave the 110V on. If it's only 30 amps, I'd stick with the diesel, only. The AH will pull roughly 15 amps of that 30. If it's colder outside than what a space heater could keep up with, run the diesel with the 110V, and as Mike says, if you're going to shower or wash clothes, consider running the diesel for just the time you need the high demand.

We try not to run the diesel in campgrounds any more than we have to. Even the finest tuned AH emits a whine and there is some smell of a diesel exhaust. Try to be a good neighbor whenever you can.

We typically make it through a full winter in Yuma and Tucson, without burning an ounce of diesel. We run the AH on 110V (single element in our coach), and no diesel. We put a space heater in the front room, on high, if its going to get below perhaps 45, and on low if between maybe 45 and 55. And we run the front heat pump, on the front thermostat. We leave the bedroom heat turned down to 60 and the bathroom at 72, on the AH. It worked for us, even when we both took morning showers, one after the other. Note that the bedroom has to be in the same mode as the bathroom, unfortunately, and the bathroom mode rules.

Remember, in the mid to upper 40's, 50's and 60's, a heat pump will deliver more BTU's of heat than the number of kWh's it consumes, giving an apparent efficiency greater than 100%, so it really is an economical choice with the ambient conditions favor their use. And you can save your diesel when the heat pump(s) can get the job done.

We really appreciate our AquaHot!

[Czar Of Poop]

Thanks for all the advice and info. This is a GREAT forum!

[Denali]

You have been given some good advice here (especially the post by K7JV), but may be mislead by a couple of the posts.

First, all Aqua-Hot units with an electronic control box (which yours is new enough to have) have only one internal thermostat, which controls both the electric heating element and the diesel burner. If you have both the electric and diesel switches turned on in your coach, they will both come on at the same point. Older Aqua-Hots had two thermostats, with the diesel coming on at a lower temperature, so it wouldn't fire until the coolant temperature in the tank reach a lower level than the set point for the electric element.

Second, the reference to having two electric elements applies only to the model that has two electric switches in the coach.

Our unit has only one electric element, and it provides 90% of our hot water needs. Our heat pumps work well down to the low 30s, so they provide 90% of our space heating needs.

[96 Wideglide]

When traveling down the road, dont turn any AH switches on. Just set your thermostat(s) to 'Furnace', set desired temp, and your engine will provide the heat to the AH !