By Cheri Sicard
Have you ever wondered if upgrading to a tankless water heater might be beneficial? The video below from the team at Changing Lanes discusses the pros and cons of tank vs. tankless water heaters for RVs. It can help you evaluate which one is best for your RVing needs.
Both of the large 5th wheels our hosts have owned came with the same standard 12-gallon Suburban tank water heater that runs on propane or electric. Even though this is a large hot water tank, they always had to time things such as not taking back-to-back showers, doing the dishes immediately after showering, etc., as the water heater needed time to reheat.
Therefore, they were curious about tankless water heaters that supply unlimited on-demand hot water.
They got their questions answered recently when they traveled in an RV outfitted with a tankless water heater. Our host says it was a mixed bag, so he wanted to do some side-by-side comparisons. Be sure to watch the video as he goes into a lot of basic info about both types of water heaters that you should understand before making a choice. This includes why BTUs are not that important with a tank water heater along with why they are very important in a tankless water heater.
Note that if you like to camp at high altitudes, propane is less efficient at altitude and you will therefore get fewer BTUs from your tankless water heater in these scenarios. You will get less from all propane appliances; however, BTUs are especially important with tankless water heaters.
Watch the video as the team tests two specific water heaters against each other for all kinds of factors, including how much propane they burned, the water heating speed, and more. Beyond these specific brand comparisons, though, you can come away with a lot of general knowledge about these two types of RV water heaters.
Pros of tank water heaters
- Runs on propane or electric
Cons of tank water heaters
- You are limited to the size of the tank before you run out of hot water and have to wait for more to heat.
Pros of tankless water heaters
- Once running, the hot water supply is unlimited, assuming you are hooked into city water. Otherwise, it is only limited by the size of your fresh water tank.
Cons of tankless water heaters
- Since the heater does not kick on until it detects a demand, there is a slight delay before hot water comes out of the tap. This can waste water while you are waiting for the hot water to run (although there are devices on the market that eliminate this problem).
- Runs on propane only, not electric.
Again, these are some general pros and cons of tank vs. tankless water heaters for RVs. Watch the video to really get into the weeds of exactly how long you can expect to wait for hot water, how much water runs before it gets hot with tankless water heaters, how long hot water lasts with tank water heaters, how much fuel you can expect to use, and much, much more!
You’ll also learn whether or not our hosts decided to switch out their tank water heater for a tankless one.
##RVDT2327
I agree with Mike. I have a 10 gallon Surburan/Atwood and never had a problem getting hot water. My daughter and SIL have a MH with a tank less and they hate it.
You are assuming that you have both electric and propane available. In many cases this is not true. For example, when boondocking, often only propane is available. It also depends upon the size of your hot water tank. Therefore, in many cases the pros and cons stated are correct. In our case, boondocking in our truck camper, it is definitely possible to run out of hot water if not judiciously managed.
Well good for you, but in MOST cases and for MOST Rvers, the pros and cons are correct.
If you can’t take back to back showers with a 12 gal tank you need to seriously rethink your showering habit. DW and I can shower from a 10 gallon tank any day. I’ve heard to many what if’s on the tankless.
You can set the temperature to like 110 degrees and not use cold water or 105 degrees or 96 degrees on the on demand unit…why and cold water to hot when u can have it at a temperature you want already….just a point of information…
The blanket statement about tankless water heaters; “Since the heater does not kick on until it detects a demand, there is a slight delay before hot water comes out of the tap” is either ignorant or downright deceitful. My Truma AquaGo fires as soon as I turn it on. The only delay is the time it takes for the hot water to travel from the heater to the faucet, like any other water heater that is not equipped with a recirculating pump.
The author would do well to educate himself before he presents himself as someone that should be trusted.
I agree with you….sorta. My shower is in the rear of the coach as is the Truma water heater. Unfortunately, the water manifold that distributes the water to all the different faucets is in the middle of the coach. With the coach being 44′ long, the “hot” water has to travel all the way to the manifold and then all the way back again to the shower head. This takes probably about 30 seconds total from the time I turn on the shower to the time I actually get hot water. However, since we never boondock and always are connected to shore water….this is not a problem. Reach in and turn on the water and by the time I undress, the water is hot. No problem!
Ron L. But that would be the case with any water heater.
For me the ‘on demand’ part was the turn off. There has to be a minimum water flow for the heater to know you want hot water. It makes it difficult to obtain a stream of lukewarm water. There may not be enough hot water demand to kick in the tankless heater. You drop the hot water thermostat and use more hot than cold, until you need hot water. Then you have to readjust the hot water thermostat. With a hot water tank you mix to get the pressure and temp desired.
Have a 2021 GD Reflection 303RLS, it has the Furrion tankless. At the time of purchase, March 2021 the GD owner’s manual had no information on the Furrion heater. The actual heater manual reads not to use under 37 degrees due to possibility of freezing this was first generation control board. I had to have the heater replaced in April 2023 because I didn’t properly winterize it and it froze up and cracked. $2k 😖, for replacement and labor. Now have 2nd generation that has freeze protection when “using”. Had dealer winterize this last year due to warranty. Also this heater can be drained and winterized.
More cons for tankless is that they are more complicated and require good air flow- making placement a bigger consideration. Almost anyone can service and repair a tank water heater. Many rv repair places won’t repair tankless heaters- especially the Truma models where the rv literally has to be built around the system. I think the article leaves out a lot.
Just an FYI, It’s called a “Sea Shower” not a Navy shower. All sea going services use the Sea Shower to conserve water.
Thank you, Cheri! I can see the attraction of “unlimited” hot water when one takes the last of four consecutive showers, but, I wonder how often there are several consecutive showers? It is an interesting question, with positives and negatives on both sides. Safe travels! 🙂
We love our Truma Aqua Go tankless water after 2 trailers with 6-gallon propane-120vac water heaters. The Truma has an “Eco” setting that both preheats a 1L tank and circulates it to keep it from freezing in below 32 temps. The Truma is located 5′ from the shower, so very little water is wasted when turning on the shower. It does take a little longer for the more distant kitchen sink, but we just close the drain and save it for dishwater. Don’t know anything about other tankless brands, but we wouldn’t go back to a tank WH for any amount of money! In fact, we may replace our home 30-gallon WH with undercounter tankless heaters.
For me, if I ever had to replace an RV water heater, I would go back with the same or closest there was. The only time a tank or tankless water heater would be a consideration was when replacing the whole RV with a new RV. Our all-gas residential home, our summer gas bills are $11 due our tankless gas water heater. It just takes longer to get hot water. Our RV, with hookups, the water heater runs electric and dry camping on gas, we turn it on before showering or dish washing dry camping.
Nice comparison. We are looking at new TT and will make sure it has a tank water heater. The video had a lot of good info.
We have had tank water heaters in our various class A Bounders since 1986. In 2020 we did what we hoped was an upgrade to a 2020 Pace Arrow diesel pusher with tankless water heater. Now, I seldom get to wash hands with hot water. It takes longer to get hot shower water and another delay to rinse. And, it is only propane, not propane/electric. Not all campgrounds have sewer hookups, only a dump station and depending upon location water can range from very good to hardly fit to drink. I wish that we could go back to the old traditional 6 or 8 gallon water heater that worked so well for us for 25 years.
ABBREVIATIONS: When I was writing technical manuals a hard rule was to always spell out upon first use. Example: Our Recreational Vehicle (RV) is a …. Then, for the remaining discussion RV is sufficient. In the comments several people abbreviations such as ” Have a 2021 GD Reflection 303RLS.” I have no idea what that is. Please, people, spell things out.
Hi, Gary. Most people don’t know that about abbreviations. In fact, as I’m moderating comments if I see “GD” my first thought is that they’re swearing. Well, maybe they are swearing at their Grand Design recreational vehicle.🤣 In articles, when an author puts in an abbreviation, I’ll usually put in what they stand for with the abbreviation in parentheses after it, then use the abbreviation from then on (like you mentioned). Or I’ll add the words again, further down in the post, if it’s so long that I think people may have forgotten what the abbreviation stands for by then.😉 Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com