Haven't bought yet, and wondering about: Showers in an RV

[Ned]

A 240V unit won't work in a 30A RV as it only has 120V   I agree the typical residential models aren't suitable for an RV, as I stated previously.  That's why you can only get propane models for an RV.  The smaller electrical powered residential units I saw all had at least a small tank (4 gallons or so) so aren't truly tankless.

I recently researched this topic when our water heater sprung a leak and decided it was more practical (and lots cheaper) to just replace the tank than install a tankless model.

 

[Tom]

A 240V unit won't work in a 30A RV as it only has 120V

??? The units I used to install would work just fine on 120V, but would provide half a quarter of the heat, which is why I said they would be marginal. These units had a tank that was a little larger than a baseball, but squished somewhat in one axis. Flow was necessarily less than in a 'normal' household installation without a flow restrictor, but no less flow than we have in our coach.

 

[Wavery]

I installed a "Bosch" propane instant water heater on my yacht in '93. It gave us endless hot water and we never had a moments problem with it in the 7-years of daily use that we had it (while sailing around the world). They were around for a lot longer than that too.... they are very "Proven" on cruising sailboats.

The water heater takes a lot less propane than the furnace. It must be properly vented but if it's safe for a cruising sailboat, it is quite safe for a M/H.

Having said that, we find that our 6G (tank) water heater serves us well. My wife takes a "Navy" shower, the water heater burner runs for about 5 minutes then shuts off (meaning it has fully recovered). I take a normal 5-6 minute shower and have never run out of water.

As previously stated, when dry camping, filling the grey water tank is more of a concern than running out of hot water. If you are on hook ups...... no sweat. You wouldn't get me into a public shower if I hadn't had a shower in a month. A friend of mine picked up an infection from a public shower and nearly lost his leg (and his life).

 

[BinaryBob]

The Queen will not be inclined to take a "Navy" shower; she takes more of a "Ritz-Carlton Spa" type of shower....
When we eventually get our first MH, we'll see how it goes. Some reasonable conservation is required, but it's good to know there are other options to the standard 6 gal. heater if need be.

 

[ruthandken CDN]

We have a 12 gallon tank in our rig.  I put no time restriction on my showers.  Now mind you I don't take longgggggggggggggg showers.  I get in wash and that includes my hair and sometimes if need be I even shave my legs.  Never have run out of hot water yet.  I don't turn off the water while I do these things, it runs constantly.  I use an Oxygenics shower head also and I love it.  Yes they are on the small side.  But look around, some rigs shower stalls are bigger than others. 

Ruth

 

[odie1234]

Our 10 gallon heater provides plenty of water for both of us. We use Navy showers only when we are boondocking but have an Oxygenics shower wand that conserves water while providing a good shower. Four years in the AF provided enough community showers to last me a lifetime. :


If you are plugged into shore power turning on both gas and electric heaters keeps the hot water flowing.

We also have a 10 gallon water heater and Oxygenics shower head. In seven years of traveling six months per year and showering every day, mostly back to back, DW and I have never run out of hot water. After the second shower, there is enough hot water to immediately wash dinner dishes left from a meal for two.

 

[Jim Godward]

The shower in our Dutch Star is the same size as the one in the house, in fact the shower door was made by the same company.  The previous MH, a '94 SeaBreeze had a slightly smaller shower but mostly because of the curved glass enclosure.  Still adequate for my 6+' son.  Good sized showers are out there so look hard and get both the floor plan you like and a good sized shower.

 

[Tom]

... would work just fine on 120V, but would provide half the heat ...

I'm surprised the techies didn't catch the fraudient slip of the keyboard. Since power is proportional to the square of voltage (V2/Z), the power at 120V would be approx 750W vs 3 KW. That would produce proportionately less heat, probably insufficient to sustain the required temperature while showering. It would however, still work, just not very well.

Meanwhile, I'm surprised that 120V versions of those small units aren't available.

 

[John From Detroit]

An additional option is an Oxygenics shower head, uses less water thus the hot should last longer one hopes..

My complaint with the phone booth size shower is.. I'm 6'3" by 330 pounds.. You can figure it out... Park showers are SLIGHTLY larger (Unless they have a good size handicapped shower, not all parks have that) so I use them for the most part.

Another consieration when you are NOT hooked to "Facilities" in an RV park... Tank size.

 

[jlazar]

We also have a 10 gallon water heater and Oxygenics shower head.  Keep both electric and propane burners on as others have advised.  We never have a problem with both taking a normal shower (normal speed washing/rinsing to include hair).  The Oxygenics works great.  You can install it without the on/off/flow control and just use your normal shower knobs.  I am 6' but think someone up to 6'5" would be comfortable in our shower.  I weigh 235 and while it is not roomy, I am not banging elbows or hitting sides when turning.  When we first got the motorhome, I used the campground showers the first 3 times but found varying water flows and often poor shower heads.  I have used only the motorhome shower since.

 

[Wavery]

I keep reading about these Oxygenics shower heads on this and other forums.......... is there a specific one that is better for RV use. I see a dozen different ones on amazon. Is this a good one?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005G4EO66/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p60_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1DVZPRDBSH442YJ3KV2R&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846

 

[jlazar]

I got mine at CW and paid about $45.  It was higher because I wanted the brushed nickel look to match the shower controls.  Go to the Camping World website and enter Oxygenics in the search box.  You will see the options they offer.  You can select which you want and then compare the price against Amazon.

 

[Wavery]

I got mine at CW and paid about $45.  It was higher because I wanted the brushed nickel look to match the shower controls.  Go to the Camping World website and enter Oxygenics in the search box.  You will see the options they offer.  You can select which you want and then compare the price against Amazon.

Thanks.....ya, that's the same one.....

 

[docj]

My complaint with the phone booth size shower is.. I'm 6'3" by 330 pounds.. You can figure it out... Park showers are SLIGHTLY larger (Unless they have a good size handicapped shower, not all parks have that) so I use them for the most part.

Another nice feature Beaver designed into our MH is a quarter-round shower stall with a 36" radius.  It's larger than we had at our S&B!  ;D

 

[John From Detroit]

For RV use you want one that has a cut off valve in the head (unless you have an in-line cut off valve installed) otherwise  the answer will depend on some just what is in your RV now, Some need different features in the shower head.

(So get the RV first)

I will add this.. I read a lot of "Oh yea these are so great" posts about 'em  Well, one of the campgrounds I stayed at (US-Forest Service type) Has 'em.... IT was clear they use less water but if your wife is into "Spa Shower" type showers... She might not like it.

Personally.. I'll likely get one cause they do work.

 

[Oscar Mike]

Neither my husband nor I are wee people, so the size of the shower stall is going to be one of the tipping points for us

The shower stall size was a tipping point for my wife and I, as we are not small people either...we found a 2010 Fleetwood 33U (brand new) in October 2012 which has a massive shower stall (42"w x 32"d) compared to the average RV stall. It was one of "those" items that attracted us to the floor plan.

 

[SeilerBird]

I am a full timer for the last 10 years. On average I probably use my RV shower six times per year. I always stay in RV parks that have showers. And nice showers at that. I use the RV park shower because it is always at least twice the size of the shower in my RV, I don't have to pay for either propane or electricity to heat up the water and I can shower as long as I want to. In other words, no Navy showers. My RV shower makes an excellent location to put the kitty litter box.

 

[cpaulsen]

We have a water heater also  10 gallon.....oxygenics shower head.  Never run out of hot water and do not hurry taking a shower.

 

[PatrioticStabilist]

We are a little different DD and I wanted a bathtub.  We have a 10 gallon water heater also, the anode rod doesn't work and we haven't replaced it yet so just propane which is fine.

We can fill the bathtub for as someone said earlier the water is hotter then in the house.  Or we can partially fill the tub and wash our hair using the shower head and then let it finish filling the tub.  I take both kinds of baths.  You certainly can't stretch out like at home but its plenty big.  I'm almost 5'9" and not a light weight Sue Anne is much shorter but.....  Hubby is almost 6 ft and about 235 and can shower in here too.  We have the glass enclosure on the side.

I'm sure as others have said if you look around you can find larger shower enclosures also.  There's quite a variety.  We do let the water reheat, I haven't timed it but don't think it takes long and is ready again.  We don't use campground showers.  If traveling and we don't want to hit a campground, well the navy shower is good also.  You get just as clean.

 

[Wavery]

Just to put this "Navy shower" into perspective.....

A ten-minute shower at home takes as much as 60 gallons of water, while a navy shower usually takes as little as 3 gallons of water. When at sea, on my sailboat, we would take a true "Navy shower" on long ocean passages because it could make the difference between life & death. 3G was actually a luxury....

One can take a "Comfortable" shower with 5-10G of water in the M/H just by turning off the water while soaping up. I did that on the boat for 14 years and I still do it at home.