Community Forums

andersce · 03-28-2017, 11:01 AM

I've been looking longingly at some tank-less water heaters and I would appreciate hearing your collective wisdom.

I've been looking at a GIRARD GSWH-2 TANKLESS but it seems kind of spendy. Is this one a good value for the money? Reliable? Anything better out there?

I'm looking for a shower experience like (similar) to home.

TIA

Chris

blueridge-fl · 03-28-2017, 11:36 AM

Our Winnebago came with a tankless water heater. While it is adequate, it is far from perfect. It cycles on and off while you are showering and you instantly go from very hot to cold. I think shower experience is because of the short distance between the shower head and the heater combined with little insulation. Of course, this is only a guess. For trailer applications, a better strategy is to store a tank of hot water and then feed it out at a steady pace.

I may be wrong as to the cause of the cycling effect but I can say for sure that it is not anywhere near the experience in a home shower with a tankless heater.

Mike

Bob1340 · 03-28-2017, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueridge-fl

a better strategy is to store a tank of hot water and then feed it out at a steady pace.

I may be wrong as to the cause of the cycling effect but I can say for sure that it is not anywhere near the experience in a home shower with a tankless heater.

Mike

This is a theory that needs to be tested in the RV world. I think it would work great.

robertb38 · 03-28-2017, 06:16 PM

As a person who sells tankless heaters for residential & commercial applications I will say that you are defeating the purpose of a "tankless" water heater if you add a storage tank. The distance between the heater & the point of use should not matter. A tankless heater is not designed to heater water that is stored. Unless you you have a water recirculating system. It is an instantaneous heater.
If your heater is cycling and is not delivering constant hot water you may need to have it inspected to make sure it is getting the correct amount of LP required and correct water flow. There could be many reasons for the cycling and the unreliable amount of heated water.
You may also want to make sure the heater is designed for the demand that you are putting on the heater. They usually have a GPM rating, and if you are taking long showers the unit may not be designed for the GPM demand. They can be designed for as low as 0.2GPM(single faucet) to 9GPM(high demand)

Frank Tamez · 03-28-2017, 06:24 PM

Truma

That"s what I had in the Dynamax I just sold... Worked great... Have heard bad things about all the other RV specific units

blueridge-fl · 03-29-2017, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertb38

As a person who sells tankless heaters for residential & commercial applications I will say that you are defeating the purpose of a "tankless" water heater if you add a storage tank. The distance between the heater & the point of use should not matter. A tankless heater is not designed to heater water that is stored. Unless you you have a water recirculating system. It is an instantaneous heater.
If your heater is cycling and is not delivering constant hot water you may need to have it inspected to make sure it is getting the correct amount of LP required and correct water flow. There could be many reasons for the cycling and the unreliable amount of heated water.
You may also want to make sure the heater is designed for the demand that you are putting on the heater. They usually have a GPM rating, and if you are taking long showers the unit may not be designed for the GPM demand. They can be designed for as low as 0.2GPM(single faucet) to 9GPM(high demand)

To be clear, I was not suggesting adding a tank to a tankless unit. I was just stating that a unit with a tank may make more sense in an RV.

The cycling problem is a common complaint on the Winnebago units. Maybe it is a problem with the brand, I don't know.

This is an trailer where we conserve grey water storage so no long showers for us.

Mike

robertb38 · 03-29-2017, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueridge-fl

To be clear, I was not suggesting adding a tank to a tankless unit. I was just stating that a unit with a tank may make more sense in an RV.

The cycling problem is a common complaint on the Winnebago units. Maybe it is a problem with the brand, I don't know.

This is an trailer where we conserve grey water storage so no long showers for us.

Mike

I was replying to the other posts as well as yours. Tankless heaters are great if they are sized correctly. If it is cycling I would have someone look at it before replacing it. It may be a simple issue that can be fixed with a part. And could cost alot less than a new unit.

andersce · 03-31-2017, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueridge-fl

It cycles on and off while you are showering and you instantly go from very hot to cold.

Mike,

Thanks for your response. In researching these water heaters I ran across some posts that talked about adjusting the temp to "match" the GPM so you can "tune" it to your particular use.

I obviously haven't tried this, but it might be worth a look.

Thanks

Chris

vsheetz · 03-31-2017, 07:37 AM

Precision Temp tankless in the motorhome. Works well.

Bosch tankless in the sticks and bricks for ~15 years. Died from old age and replaced by Rhreem tankless. Both have worked well.

I like tankless. Endless hot water for showering. No wasted energy maintaining the heated tank of water.

nothermark · 03-31-2017, 07:44 AM

If you do a bit of digging you will find a few happy folks with tankless in an RV. You will find a large list of unhappy one's.

blueridge-fl · 04-02-2017, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andersce

Mike,

Thanks for your response. In researching these water heaters I ran across some posts that talked about adjusting the temp to "match" the GPM so you can "tune" it to your particular use.

I obviously haven't tried this, but it might be worth a look.

Thanks

Chris

Thanks Chris. This is interesting. I use a simple flow restrictor. It might be worth getting one of the fancy adjustable ones so I can precisely set the flow rate and then adjust the water heater based on that. I'll have to look into this...

As a side note: The manufacturer of our water heater says that tankless heaters don't work well with navy showers. They also claim that navy showers put more water in your grey tank than a "regular" shower. The first part of their claim is believable but I found the second part dubious. We tested this theory on a weekend trip last year. Using navy showers we can go 3+ days without emptying the grey water tank. With regular showers we made it 2 days. Plus it didn't improve the performance of the heater.

Mike

andersce · 04-02-2017, 09:59 AM

Mike,

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueridge-fl

worth getting one of the fancy adjustable ones so I can precisely set the flow rate

I never thought about a flow restrictor. The post I saw just used the regular output flow from the heater. I'll have to check into this flow restrictor stuff.

Quote:

tankless heaters don't work well with navy showers.

Ha, I had to look that one up :-) So what I'm shooting for is a Hollywood shower ;-)

Chris

Lac · 04-02-2017, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothermark

If you do a bit of digging you will find a few happy folks with tankless in an RV. You will find a large list of unhappy one's.

We are one of the very unhappy ones. We had Girard version 1 and 2 system.
It didn't meet are needs. There is no option to heat water with electricity...propane only. It was difficult to control water temperature. We had surges of cold and hot.
We like to boon dock and like to have the 6 extra gallons of water in the hot water tank. Outdoors RV Manufacturing replaced our Girard system free of charge with a tank type. Northwood and Outdoors RV do not use the tankless system in their product line up. I would like a 10 gallon tank type.
Depending on your needs the tankless system may work for you.
Imho with respect.
Coops