We would like to install a water heater in our 13' Scamp. We'd like to hear from anyone who has done this. Thanks!
Sandra

Well so far 43 views and no one has answered up. So, I'm going to ask a few questions, maybe that will prod someone.

Sandra, do you need the waterheater to run on propane...or are you always hooked up, so an electric only heater would be okay?

Do you want to use the hotwater heater for showering, or would an insta-hotwater heater at the sink work?

As an FYI, the waterheater in my Scamp is electric only...and it works for me! It's in the same dinette storage area as the shore power.

Thanks, Donna! An electric water heater would work fine for us. We never boondock so we're always hooked up to electricity. We would like to know the pros & cons of the different water heaters, where people have installed them, how hard it was to install, etc. We don't plan to shower in the Scamp, so we don't need to heat a lot of water. We mostly need it for dishes & washing up as needed.

We tried one of those devices that is supposed to heat the water up as it goes through the line, but it didn't really work. The most we ever got was a barely noticeable change from cold to lukewarm.

Ideas, anyone?

Sandra

Well Sandra, here's a couple of discussions you may wish to read:

Instant Hot Water Heaters, Do they work

Epiphany!, Why not electric? (Really long message) Be sure to read about the 32 cup "hot water heater"

Then there is this, which you would NEED to use for a shower, dishes would work too:
Zodi Instant Water Heat

It seems that all of these instant shower heaters use 6volt. I want to run an exterior water hookup to run an instant water heater for an external shower. I really would like to run it off of the 12 volt system. Any helpful hints.

Hi Sandra, We installed a Tiny Titan 2.5 gal under the sink in our Scamp. It was a 110v with a plug from Lowes. I see they've raised the price since we bought ours. In our Lil Bigfoot we installed a Seaward 6 gal marine water heater. This one I had to hard wire into 110 circuit. This was special ordered from Defender Marine w/o the heat exchanger option. It works great but maybe is a little overkill. We have no shower but could install a exterior one to it. Hopes this helps. Keith

The only thing 6 volt I saw in these heaters is the 6V (four "D" cells) electric pump in the Zodi, which does its heating by burning propane; is that what you mean, Kyle? The 6V pump could presumably be replaced by a 12V RV water pump, using the same heater.

My Boler came with a typical propane-fired 6-gallon RV water heater (an American Appliance model), so I have a heater but didn't add it.. Since it needs a big flat hole in the curved trailer wall, I wouldn't want to take on retrofitting one unless is went in the "factory" location, although someone with more energy than I have did a really nice custom installation job and reported it here many months ago.

Given the installation issues of a propane-fired heater, for use only with external power service the convenience of an electric heater is appealing. Trailer electrical capacity would need to be considered, as the heater itself might need 15 amps at 120V to be useful.


Heating capacity for a "demand" or "instantaneous" heater is a raw power issue: water flow rate multiplied by temperature rise determines the power required, so you can assess the approximate ability of an electric water heater to meet your needs by how many watts it uses. Sandra, do you remember the power (or current) rating of the inline heater which you tried?

Good info, everybody! Brian, I don't know the power rating of the in-line heater. Maybe I can get my hubby to answer that one.

This gives us several things to check into. Anyone else have something to share?

Thanks a bunch!

An idea that I saw somewhere on this board has worked for us, we set up one of those 30 or more cup coffee pots outside in the screen room on a small folding table and have hot water all the time.

You can find them in most yard sales for almost nothing.

Greetings:

Keith and Dee were kind enough to show me their hot water heater in their Bigfoot. Keith told me about the 2.5 gallon electric water heater during the October NOG. My wife and I promptly went to a home supply in Eugene and bought a under-the-sink, 2.5 gallon electric hot water heater. I had someone install it because I would cause more damage to the trailer than the cost of installation when left to my own devices . It works great. It has an on/off switch and plugs into an electrical outlet which was added under the sink.

Now I can wash dishes instantly, and since we don't have a shower, we never run out of hot water.

Good luck with your modifications.

Dennis

Hi, well I put a 6 gal. gas water heater in my Burro and it works great. Wayne

I believe that Wayne's installation is the one to which I was referring. Here's the original topic: Water heater install

We installed a 1/3 gal instant water heater under the kitchen sink(spout comes out over the sink). It heats water hot enough to make tea in just a few minutes. It is all the water we needed this week when we took the trailer out for the first time. We made hot beverages, washed dishes, my husband shaved and I washed my hair and still had plenty of hot water. It regenerates very quickly. Fits nicely under the sink but it does require electricity. There are larger tanks but we felt this was enough for the two of us. Now, be aware that the water is too hot directly out of the spout to wash with. You would have to mix cold water with it in a pitcher or something to wash your hair. Might not be a good idea with young children.

We have added a Surburban SW4P to our 13' Boler. It is mounted on the wheel well just under the sink. We are using it not only for hot water but for our radiant heating. You can view the set up which is not complete yet on my site www.photoshoe.net/libbycal Hope this helps.

The Little Titan works great! $170.00 at Lowes. It pulls 11amps.

Gary