Community Forums

TTitans1 · 08-21-2010, 10:20 PM

Just wondering if anyone turns the gas water heater off at night or do you just let it stay on all night? Would it be more economical to cut it off at night and then back on in the morning.

RV Wizard · 08-22-2010, 03:37 AM

Doing so in the winter would be much more economical. In the summer it might be.

Izzyblueye · 08-22-2010, 03:55 AM

Put a "Hot Rod" electric element in your water heater and forget about the gas. Mine has almost never been used on gas. In answer to your question though, I would turn it off at night, it will still be warm in the morning, recover is quick.

gordon23 · 08-22-2010, 07:26 AM

It has been my experience that water heaters hold temp for a long time if the taps are not used. Turning it off at night may only save one or two heating cycles (short ones at that) and leaves you with less than hot water in the morning.

I just installed a new one (not an easy job) so I shut it off and went out the next morning to check for leaks etc.

Discovered to my surprise that the hot tap still produced relatively hot water after sitting all night (7-8 hours)

chasfm11 · 08-22-2010, 08:03 AM

X2 on the Hot Rodd. It was a great investment. We are plugged into electric most of the time that we camp and the Hot Rodd works great.

For those times when we are not using electric, we turn the propane on, let it come to temperature and then turn it off. In most cases, we are going to use the hot water immediately. I would never leave the propane running over night. In almost every case where we wouldn't have electric, we would have the windows open and the water heater is very close to our bedroom window. That is a prescription for problems.

dsbike · 08-22-2010, 12:31 PM

I just posted this in another thread to a new member. When we first got our Coachman we would turn on the hot water heater & leave it on until we were ready to move on. We used a lot of propane in the first few months, I would fill a 20lb bottle every 2-3 weeks. We now anticipate when we are going to need hot water & turn it on about 15 minutes before we plan to use hot water. We leave the door to the switch open when the hot water heater is on. close it when off. You will usually have warm to hot water all day if you use it only to wash your hands after turning it on in the morning to take a shower then off after the showers are complete. We now use a 20 lb bottle of propane about every 3 months. However we do not cook very often.

Gary RVRoamer · 08-22-2010, 03:36 PM

Most water heaters don't run very much if hot water is not being drawn from the tap. Savings are usually minimal, at least in warmer weather. Cold weather may be a different story.

When the heater has been off for several hours, you get a long heat cycle to bring it back up. Weigh that against a few short cycles over night to keep it warm.

**NLOVNIT** · 08-22-2010, 10:40 PM

I turn ours off at quiet time. It's usually pretty still in a campground late at night & that burner is noisy. I don't want that thing firing up at 2AM & scaring the folks next to me (usually someone in a tent, like this past weekend).

Lori-

RV Wizard · 08-23-2010, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NLOVNIT

I turn ours off at quiet time. It's usually pretty still in a campground late at night & that burner is noisy. I don't want that thing firing up at 2AM & scaring the folks next to me (usually someone in a tent, like this past weekend).

Lori-

Lori, you might want to adjust the combustion air mixture, as the burner should not be real loud or noisy. A blue flame with slight orange tip and a little roar is what you are looking for.

gordon23 · 08-23-2010, 06:14 AM

A little "roar" late at night might scare the bears away too !

dsbike · 08-23-2010, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Most water heaters don't run very much if hot water is not being drawn from the tap. Savings are usually minimal, at least in warmer weather. Cold weather may be a different story.

When the heater has been off for several hours, you get a long heat cycle to bring it back up. Weigh that against a few short cycles over night to keep it warm.

Gary, I don't know if my hwh is normal or not, but if I leave it on all day with out using it I notice the burner kick on for about 5 min every 1 1/2 hours or so. This uses more gas than if I just turn it on , use it , let it heat back up & turn it off. It runs about 15 min when its been off all day.

I have never heard of the Hott Rod until this thread, I am going to look into installing one. Some CG's we end up don't charge for electricity, so this would be more economical in the long run. We usually stay where ever we are for 3-6 months.

dsbike · 08-23-2010, 07:09 AM

I just did a little research on the Hott Rod element. I think I will stay with the propane. It works for us. If anyone uses the Hott Rod, they most likely are very happy with the results. Just my $.02 . hott rod Just one of the places I found info. This may or may not be getting off topic, but it does pertain to HWH. Sorry if it is OT.

Gary RVRoamer · 08-23-2010, 11:46 AM

Quote:

but if I leave it on all day with out using it I notice the burner kick on for about 5 min every 1 1/2 hours or so.

That sounds about normal, which means your heater would run maybe 25 minutes overnight vs 15 minutes in the morning. A few ounces of LP, maybe? Not much difference in my book.

I sometimes turn ours off at night, but it is more because of noise than saving a few pennies worth of LP.

Stump Jumper · 08-23-2010, 12:30 PM

I also have the Hott Rod. We only use the gas when there is no electricity or when several people are going to shower in succession and the hot water would not have time to recover quickly enough with just the Hott Rod.