Question on water heater?
- Thread starter RVRAC
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
WILDEBILL308
Well-known member
No there is nothing wrong with doing it that way. You just need to remember to turn it on long enough before you need/want hot water.RVRAC said:
Bill
Gizmo100
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2018
- Posts
- 3,065
We're new to this...however we will turn the WH for 30 min then shut it off. This gives us hot water for washing hands as needed. When we are getting ready for showers we turn on both gas and electric. Otherwise we leave it off.
RVRAC, many people do as Gizmo. We generally leave ours on electric when hooked to shore power, but just turn it on as needed when not hooked to shore power. If Wally docking, and are running the generator, we will turn on the electric to save a couple of sips of propane. If not running the generator, we will turn it on propane as needed.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
If the weather is below freezing keep it on cause hot water does not freeze. But otherwise No problem turning on before need. 20-60 minutes before need. Depending on heat source.
Rene T
Site Team
If you are in a CG and they are supplying the electricity, leave it on. The rates I'm sure are configured as if everyone leaves it on.
Ernie n Tara
Well-known member
I think it depends on how often you cycle it. Many devices, and certainly electrical devices will last longer in continuous operation than being repeatably cycled fron cool to hot. That is mostly due to thermal effects or in the case of the switch mechanical fatigue.
Ernie
Ernie
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
There is no real problem doing that, but in my mind, the question is why would you turn it off? You don't do that at home, right? Convenince outweighs all the other factors there.
In most cases any energy savings are miniscule. You have to reheat the cooled water anyway, so unless it remains off for lengthy periods, the total energy costs are fairly close. Some who are running in LP gas mode complain about the noise of the burner, but that's not a factor in electric heating mode.
In any case, if you don't need/want the convenience of always having full heated water available, feel free to run it off/on whenever you like. You aren't going to wear it out noticeably sooner.
In most cases any energy savings are miniscule. You have to reheat the cooled water anyway, so unless it remains off for lengthy periods, the total energy costs are fairly close. Some who are running in LP gas mode complain about the noise of the burner, but that's not a factor in electric heating mode.
In any case, if you don't need/want the convenience of always having full heated water available, feel free to run it off/on whenever you like. You aren't going to wear it out noticeably sooner.
WILDEBILL308
Well-known member
I wanted to let some others chime in. It is often thought that the water heater uses lots of propane. Just so you know I turned my water heater on mid June before leaving on a trip and turned it off mid October when we got back. I did not run out of propane or need to refill till I got back.WILDEBILL308 said:
)Bill
Gizmo100
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2018
- Posts
- 3,065
lynnmor said:
In my former home the WH was electric. I installed a timer to saves money. With just 2 of us in the house I only ran it about 3 hours a day. We only ran out of hot water once. (power outage jacked up timer) The money we saved by installing the timer payed for the timer within 2 months.
The savings in my TT would not be much but why be wasteful.
John From Detroit said:
Good point...I will have to remember this if we get into a situation where a freeze is possible. Although I would be more concerned about exposed plumbing.
Gizmo100 said:
As I said I'm new to this so I may have no clue what I'm talking about.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
It's certainly possible to save money by turning appliances off, especially heating or cooling devices. It's true the water heater is typically the largest power consumer in a home after heat & a/c. Much depends, though, on the particular situation and personal factors. In this case it's things like external temperatures and the frequency & amounts of hot water use, the heater thermostat setting, and the efficiency of the heater tank (insulation). If you are trying to be frugal with hot water usage, you can probably save money vs somebody who is not so frugal, simply by not using much hot water. To know what the savings truly are, you would need to measure power consumption for a day in which no hot water is ever used, yet the tank remains fully heated. That's the base cost of keeping water heated. See how that compares to a day with the heater turned off 100% of the time. Then, compare your normal daily use vs the two baselines.
Having a timer on just 3 hours per day doesn't mean much for a thermostatically controlled heater. Obviously the heater is off when the timer is off, but the heater is mostly off any way, due to the thermostat. Most households use a substantial percentage of their water heater power in the mornings, when temperatures are cooler but the demand for hot water is high (showers & such).
Having a timer on just 3 hours per day doesn't mean much for a thermostatically controlled heater. Obviously the heater is off when the timer is off, but the heater is mostly off any way, due to the thermostat. Most households use a substantial percentage of their water heater power in the mornings, when temperatures are cooler but the demand for hot water is high (showers & such).
