Which new RVs have instant hot water?

[PJinHawaii]

Anyone know which (if any) manufacturers that are offering instant hot water heaters on their new rigs?

PJ

[num1dgh]

Are you referring to aqua hot or hydro hot systems? I believe that most of the higher end diesels (of a wide variety of brands) have that, as our Country Coach does.

[PJinHawaii]

I wasn't refering to any particular brand or product.

I was just wondering, since I have heard that instant or tankless hot water heaters are more efficient. I had one in a house one time and loved it. Wonder why they are not more widely adopted by RV makers?

pJ

[K-Star]

I haven't seen any of the high end 5th wheels offering the tankless HWH's. We are planning a new rig in the next 24 months. I plan on insisting on one.

[Mr_D]

Uhhh... my parents ordered a new KenKraft TT, they had an instant water heater factory installed. It worked well except for when the special metric break apart screws did. No way in the 1950's to buy replacements and even just getting metric screws was hard!
I saw some being sold as aftermarket replacements at the Good Sam rally in Redmond OR last week
Our WH is a DSI and is tied into the engine cooling system, the WH really doesn't use much propane so I don't think I'm going to change!

[jspande]

I replaced my water heater with a tankless (PrecisionTemp) some years back, and while in most ways it worked great, it had one serious (for my situation) drawback. I fulltime in So. Cal. and the inlet water (especially what's been in the hose under the hot sun) can be pretty warm. Tankless heaters have a minimum flow, below which they can't throttle down their burner low enough, and so just cycle on and off (not fun when showering). In the summer I had to actually open another hot faucet to be able to shower.

I retrofitted a hydronic (boiler) system (TwinTemp - same manufacturer) and it's great. This is similar to the Hydrohot units mentioned above for MH (diesel versus my propane unit). It has a 2 1/2 gallon boiler and hot water is produced by flowing through copper coils in the boiler. So it has all the advantages of the tankless without the disadvantages. And the space heating function is so much nicer than an rv furnace,

Don't know what manufactures of 5th wheels will install this unit, but if I were in the market for a new one, I'd definately want this. But retrofitting was a big job.

[beaverfever]

if you are looking for a motor home most higher end coaches have aqua hot or similar
systems that are diesel fed boilers that give you instant and endless hot water.

[PJinHawaii]

That is a great data point to consider. Interesting failure mode. I'll have to look at the hydronic system you mentioned. Thanks for the lead JSpande!

PJ

Quote:

Originally Posted by jspande I replaced my water heater with a tankless (PrecisionTemp) some years back, and while in most ways it worked great, it had one serious (for my situation) drawback. I fulltime in So. Cal. and the inlet water (especially what's been in the hose under the hot sun) can be pretty warm. Tankless heaters have a minimum flow, below which they can't throttle down their burner low enough, and so just cycle on and off (not fun when showering). In the summer I had to actually open another hot faucet to be able to shower. I retrofitted a hydronic (boiler) system (TwinTemp - same manufacturer) and it's great. This is similar to the Hydrohot units mentioned above for MH (diesel versus my propane unit). It has a 2 1/2 gallon boiler and hot water is produced by flowing through copper coils in the boiler. So it has all the advantages of the tankless without the disadvantages. And the space heating function is so much nicer than an rv furnace, Don't know what manufactures of 5th wheels will install this unit, but if I were in the market for a new one, I'd definately want this. But retrofitting was a big job.

[LadyFitz...]

Other than the diesel fueled units the high end motorhomes use, only two tankless units, Girard and Precision RV 500, are approved for RV use (the warranty is voided on others when used in RVs and mobile homes). Of the two, it's mostly the Girard's that are being installed in RVs because it is almost half the price of the RV 500s.

The reason the Girard's are less expensive is they are not as sophisticated as the Precison Temp units. The Girard's use a fixed rate burner so to vary water temperature, instead of blending the heated water with cold water, one has to vary the rate of water flow which is counter intuitive to most people. For this reason, they are very unpopular with most people.

The RV 500, on the other hand, has more sophisticated controls and a variable rate burner, letting it be used in the same way as a conventional water heater. This is the water heater I'm planning on installing in my own TT when I get it.

Both units are capable of supplying a continuous stream of hot water and use less propane in the process than a tank type that has to maintain a volume of water at the desired temperature at all times.

[PJinHawaii]

Thanks for the scoop! Sounds like you've done your homework on the subject of efficient hot water. I'd love to hear more about your future TT. What other efficient and/or self sustained features are you planning ?

PJ

[MONGO MAN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJinHawaii Anyone know which (if any) manufacturers that are offering instant hot water heaters on their new rigs? PJ

If you mean tankless LP fired hot water heaters---Tiffin Alegro Bus & Phaeton ($1200 option)

[Mr_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D Uhhh... my parents ordered a new KenKraft TT, they had an instant water heater factory installed. It worked well except for when the special metric break apart screws did. No way in the 1950's to buy replacements and even just getting metric screws was hard! I saw some being sold as aftermarket replacements at the Good Sam rally in Redmond OR last week Our WH is a DSI and is tied into the engine cooling system, the WH really doesn't use much propane so I don't think I'm going to change!

Hmmm, for some reason I don't see the year there, I though I put it in.

The KenCraft was a 1958, even had a one piece fiberglass roof too.