Best Tankless water heater I can install

[MontanaChef]

Any info would be helpful. We are done with our 6gal water heater. Can’t take it anymore. I’m getting a lot of conflicting info on tankless water heaters. Want to know what works best for full time RV’ers. Thanks in advance.

[sourdough]

I can't help you on a tankless water heater as I wouldn't have one but - doesn't your Fuzion have a 12gal. water heater? What's wrong with it that would make you prefer a tankless with all their issues?

[MontanaChef]

Only 6gal in ours. We want instant hot water. Sick of the wait time. Heard nothing but great things about some of them.

[chuckster57]

In all my years of working on them, I will say Truma is IMO the best, not cheap!!

[MontanaChef]

That’s great but I can’t install it myself. I looked at it and looks good but you need a certified Truma tech to install. Nothing close to us.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by MontanaChef

That’s great but I can’t install it myself. I looked at it and looks good but you need a certified Truma tech to install. Nothing close to us.

You need a tech for the warranty?

[NH_Bulldog]

It’s important to have reasonable expectations here; a tankless/on-demand water heater is not an instant water heater. There is still a wait to heat the water and for that hot water to travel to whatever fixture is calling for the hot water.

In a traditional tank water heater, the water is hot and being stored waiting for you to open a faucet. The hot water has to displace all the cold water in the line between the water heater and whatever fixture is calling for hot water. Depending on how hot and how long you need hot water, the water heater may or may not keep up with the demand.

A tankless water heater has no stored pre-heated water. When you open a faucet for hot water, the flow of water makes the burner activate, and water is heated and still has to displace all the cold water in the line before it reaches your faucet. For the most part, you “should” be able to use hot water nearly continuously and in theory not run out.

Either way, the wait time between opening the faucet and getting hot water is nearly identical, but some reports suggest it takes a few seconds longer for a demand water heater to produce and deliver hot water.

Unless you are installing individual electric demand water heaters at each fixture, you will never get anywhere close to “instant” hot water. A tankless/on-demand water heater is really only for people who like to take long hot showers.

As long as you recognize and understand what these units are and are not and what they can and cannot do, the choice is yours. Personally, I am not a fan of them.

[MontanaChef]

Where did you buy yours.

[cougar23]

Had one tankless heater! Make that two, my first and last! Our 2022 Thor class C had a tankless heater. While taking a shower and turning the water off and on you always got a blast of cold water before the hot water could catch up.
Sold that class c and bought a 2023 Cougar 5th wheel which came with a tankless heater. Had dealer replace the tankless with a gas/electric heater before I picked it up.

[Mikendebbie]

I have a Suburban IW60 tankless water heater in our unit and we really like having endless hot water.

You should do your own research on various models...lots of youtube reviews and installation guides.
Girard
Fogatti
Furrion
Suburban
Truma

My observations...Girard, Fogatti, Suburban, Furrion generally cost ~$600 for the unit and you can install them. It is not a very difficult job.

The Truma costs ~$1200-$1300 for the unit and they require installation be performed by Truma certified installer (as stated by chuckster57 above). I would guess the installation cost to be based on 4 hours (purely my guess).

As you do your research on various models - pay attention to the BTUs produced by each and the required annual maintenance/ descaling proceedure. I assume the BTU rating is related to how quickly the flowing water can be heated. The IW60 is a 60,000 BTU unit. My IW60 does not have descaling hookups built in. I still need to add those valves and connections which I can buy the pieces and parts at Home Depot. The Truma has a built-in descaling process to perform annually (nice!). I can not speak to the descaling requirements for the other models. The pic below shows the decaling piping for my IW60. Basically - I will pump descaling solution (vinegar?) circulating thru the internal heater pipes for an hour or so. I need to add valves to keep the solution from running into the RV piping system. The pump and the 5 gal bucket of solution sit out side the RV, and I will hook up to new connections I install in the basement. The pump can be a 12 volt pump or a 110 v pump - whatever your preference. I figure the descaling stuff will cost me between $200 - $300 to purchase...the pump is the largest part of that cost.

The Truma has a small heating/surge tank built in. The water can be kept hot in the tank so that when you turn on hot water - you quickly get the heated water from the surge tank. On my Suburban - you turn the water on and you wait 10-15 seconds for the hot water to get delivered to your shower or faucet. The Suburban does not "turn-on" until it senses water flow. We set out water temp to 130* (the maximum) and temper with cold as needed at the faucet. In our unit the heated water temps are affected by the temperature of the water coming out of the ground from the City outlet. The colder the water supply is - the temp at the outlet will be less than the desired 130*. I can't speak to this issue for the other models. I turn on the shower and stand outside while I wait for the hot water + get it regulated to suit me - then step in. I skip the "blast of cold water" others have experienced. Also - we do not boondock - ever! I am always hooked up to 50 amp campground power. I can not speak to how well these things are suited for boondocking.

The second screen shot is from a post I did on the Montana Owners Forum showing actual temps of my heated water at each faucet/outlet.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by MontanaChef

Only 6gal in ours. We want instant hot water. Sick of the wait time. Heard nothing but great things about some of them.

Does wait time in the above mean:


1. plug into shore power and flip the switch, wait 1/2 hour?
2. turn on the kitchen sink hot handle and wait 30 seconds?
3. Take a shower and the next person has to wait X minutes to take a shower?



Thanks

[travelin texans]

We've had 6 & 12 gallon water heaters & could take back to back showers with both sizes. I ran them on gas & electric simultaneously, but you couldn't just stand in there & let the hot water run, you had to take Navy showers, wet down, shut off, lather up & rinse & neither had instant hot water when you opened the faucet.
There's a reason there's limited amounts of hot water, also the fresh water tank size, because there's limited size holding tanks which they drain into.
My one granddaughter showers til the hot water runs out & we have a 40 gallon water heater in the house.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

We've had 6 & 12 gallon water heaters & could take back to back showers with both sizes. I ran them on gas & electric simultaneously, but you couldn't just stand in there & let the hot water run, you had to take Navy showers, wet down, shut off, lather up & rinse & neither had instant hot water when you opened the faucet.
There's a reason there's limited amounts of hot water, also the fresh water tank size, because there's limited size holding tanks which they drain into.
My one granddaughter showers til the hot water runs out & we have a 40 gallon water heater in the house.

Totally understand...in a trailer your granddaughter would have pooling water by the end of the trailer shower if the valve wasn't left open!



Just spend a weekend at a house with "instant hotwater" to every faucet. A peek in the utility room showed why - 2 hot lines to every sink/bath/shower with lines plumped to a manifold with a low-flow circulation pump at a 80 gal hot water heater! The ultimate instant/unlimited water solution.

[MontanaChef]

After one year f us takes a shower we have to wait. When my wife does laundry we have to wait. My wife also has a inflatable bath tub that she has to use plug in water heaters to heat the water. Not safe. We love our hot water and my wife loves her long showers.

[Mikendebbie]

Suburban makes a recirculating tankless water heater - but based on information gained from discussions on this forum - you should avoid the recirculating tankless heater for an RV.

The "wait time" you mentioned will be a few seconds less with the Truma water heater than in the other models (or with your standard 6/12 gal elec/gas water heater). The only way to truly have "instant hot water" and eliminate the wait would be to re-pipe your plumbing to provide circulating capacity to each faucet/shower and add a recirc pump. If I was plumber and engineer enough to design a custom recirculating system like this - I would also like to figure out how to add a heated surge/holding tank into the system. But I am neither a plumber or an engineer and i am happy with our IW60 as is.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by Mikendebbie

Suburban makes a recirculating tankless water heater - but based on information gained from discussions on this forum - you should avoid the recirculating tankless heater for an RV.

The IW60RL (recircualtion Loop) water heater is not available over the counter. It is only for OEM factory installations.

It is.. IMO the WORST on demand WH on the market. The failure rate and problem rate is quite high amongst the Alpine fifth wheel community that have this water heater installed.

Problems seen: issues with WH firing up and running reliably, cracked recirculation pumps, lack of available over the counter parts

The IW60 is.. from what I have seen much more robust.. Many Alpine owners have yanked out the RL model and installed the IW60 in its place...

Personally I think the Suburban SW12DEL is heads and tails above both the Subruban on demand and the Girard on demand WH units. Electric mode is what I run in most of the time..

Simple system to TS is I ever had a problem, parts readily available and we are never short on Hot water for the wife and I to take showers.

[Bearcatrp]

Think it’s best to turn on gas and electric water heater for fast hot water. Less than 5 minutes to hot water. You can take longer hot showers but it’s not indefinite. I only turn on both if I want a long shower. Otherwise, most rv camp sites have real good showers for that super long hot shower.

[MontanaChef]

Sounds good. I’ll look into it. Thanks! ��

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by Bearcatrp

Think it’s best to turn on gas and electric water heater for fast hot water. Less than 5 minutes to hot water. You can take longer hot showers but it’s not indefinite. I only turn on both if I want a long shower. Otherwise, most rv camp sites have real good showers for that super long hot shower.

That’s how we do it.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog

It’s important to have reasonable expectations here; a tankless/on-demand water heater is not an instant water heater. There is still a wait to heat the water and for that hot water to travel to whatever fixture is calling for the hot water.

In a traditional tank water heater, the water is hot and being stored waiting for you to open a faucet. The hot water has to displace all the cold water in the line between the water heater and whatever fixture is calling for hot water. Depending on how hot and how long you need hot water, the water heater may or may not keep up with the demand.

A tankless water heater has no stored pre-heated water. When you open a faucet for hot water, the flow of water makes the burner activate, and water is heated and still has to displace all the cold water in the line before it reaches your faucet. For the most part, you “should” be able to use hot water nearly continuously and in theory not run out.

Either way, the wait time between opening the faucet and getting hot water is nearly identical, but some reports suggest it takes a few seconds longer for a demand water heater to produce and deliver hot water.

Unless you are installing individual electric demand water heaters at each fixture, you will never get anywhere close to “instant” hot water. A tankless/on-demand water heater is really only for people who like to take long hot showers.

As long as you recognize and understand what these units are and are not and what they can and cannot do, the choice is yours. Personally, I am not a fan of them.

Great post, one should also realize that a tankless can only raise the temperature so much while traveling through the tubes. If the feed water is very cold, the water at the tap may not be as hot as one wants.

The only way to get instant hot water from a single source is a recirculating pump and return line to the tank, which requires constantly heating the water traveling through the pipes.