Hot water heater

[FRANANDTOMMY]

our Laredo has 2 buttons for the hot water heater. one for gas and one for electric. Do I need to turn both on when I need hot water and should I turn off when I do not need the hot water.?

[Festus2]

If you are hooked up to electricity at the campsite, I would just leave the electric switch to ON. You are already paying for it so why not have hot water ready whenever you want it and not wait for the tank to heat? Turn the propane off and hot water will still come - provided you are plugged in and the electrical HW switch is in the ON position.

You do not have to turn both on when you need hot water. Both can be turned on which will provide you with "quicker" hot water since propane usually heats the tank faster than electricity. If being on electric is giving you sufficient hot water quickly enough, then I would turn off the propane and save the gas.

Originally Posted by Festus2

If you are hooked up to electricity at the campsite, I would just leave the electric switch to ON. You are already paying for it so why not have hot water ready whenever you want it and not wait for the tank to heat? Turn the propane off and hot water will still come - provided you are plugged in and the electrical HW switch is in the ON position.

You do not have to turn both on when you need hot water. Both can be turned on which will provide you with "quicker" hot water since propane usually heats the tank faster than electricity. If being on electric is giving you sufficient hot water quickly enough, then I would turn off the propane and save the gas.

x2

Also, make sure there's water in your HW tank before you turn the electric on, and turn the electric off before you unhook/drain low-points to go home. I learned that one the hard way...

[SLIMSHADIE]

x3.
99% of the time I have only the electric on, all the time while we are camping. I only turn on the gas(+ electric) during shower time since there is 4 of us. Quicker recovery of hot water. After that the gas gets turned of for the free electric or already included with the campsite.

[chuck&gail]

Well I guess if you have 50 amp service it MIGHT be ok to leave it on. In our 30 amp rig if the electric water heater is running, and the batteries are charging, we can not use the microwave or A/C because that exceeds our ratings.

We turn the water heater on maybe 20 minutes before needed, then off when done. Why waste electricity, even if it is "free". Next some of those folks will complain if CG fees go up.

We turn both electric and gas on for showers. As said above, you get hot water for a bit longer. It also recovers faster for multiple showers.

[Festus2]

Chuck -
Your HW heater will draw anywhere from 8 to 15 amps, the microwave about 8-13 amps, the A/C about 12-18 amps and the converter around 2-8 amps (depending upon other items being used).

If your HW heater were drawing, for example, 15 amps and the converter 8 amps that would total 23 amps - leaving you only 7 amps for other uses. I have used probably the maximum current draw for these two items, so you are correct in that in my example, you would probably not be able to use either the microwave or the A/C - certainly not both!

In the best case scenario, you might be able to get away by using the microwave. So turning off the electricity to your HW tank will allow you to use some of your other appliances. You could still keep your water hot however by using propane but if you don't need HW for a few hours, then why waste propane?