Water Heater on Propane
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Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=12735
Printed Date: 24 Jun 2025 at 5:07pm
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Topic: Water Heater on Propane
Posted By: Woody.1
Subject: Water Heater on Propane
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 8:50am
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i have a 2017 179 and have not used the water heater yet. I know it can run on propane. We do off grid camping and my questions are: Do I leave the water heater on (propane) while camping or turn it on and off throughout the day? How long does it take to heat the water up if it’s shut off and we come back and want to shower? Thanks, Woody |
Replies:
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 9:30am
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We leave the water heater off unless we want hot water. It doesn't take very long to heat it up; maybe 15 or 20 minutes. There's little point in keeping it on all the time when boondocking as it just uses up propane unnecessarily. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 10:10am
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+1, leave it off till a half hour or so before you want to use it. Turn it off immediately when you're done so its not heating another 6 gallons for nothing. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 10:11am
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Exactly like lostagain. We don't use hot water all the time & turn it off and on for the periods when we need it. It heats up fairly quickly, and we will batch our hot water use to minimize the number of cycles. ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 10:36am
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Do yourself a BIG favor since you haven't used the water heater in your Pod yet. Take the camper and hook up to your city or well water at your home. Then make sure your whole water system is filled with water and that you are sure that hot water heater fills. Turn on your propane and bleed the system using your stove and once its bleed and the stove lights and runs okay turn it off and hit the hot water tank switch and walk outside by it and open its access panel and make sure its running! In about 10 minutes you should feel warm water coming from your faucet and you will know your good to go! There is nothing worse then finding out after the fact when your on a camping trip you have a problem with your hot water heater.
------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 7:44pm
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Nothing wrong with turning the hot water heater off and on as others have suggested, but I don't worry about it. The propane only comes on as needed to maintain the temp on 6 gallons of water, so not very often. You'll have a hard time measuring the cost of leaving the of leaving the WH on vs. turning it off and on. If you leave it on the water will be hot and ready to go when you want it. Some people are concerned about the safety of leaving the gas on. The WH is very safe though. Cost or safety, the concerns are about the same as with a home water heater. Most people don't turn them off an on all the time.... I might turn the gas off when I think about it unless I'm worried about running out of propane when I'd be more careful, but that's almost never. It may amuse someone else enough to do the math, but it's hard for me to imagine cutting off the gas when not actually in use would save more than 2 or 3 dollars a week. TT TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 8:59pm
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When dry camping, and if it's just one or two people taking showers every other day or so, I'd only cook water when I will be needing it. Remember, the water heater uses a bit of electricity to fire the DSI and open the gas valve, plus the stand-by losses, which means using a bit more propane and a bit more electricity than you need to, especially if you dont have solar and don't have a reserve tank of propane. If you are hooked up to electric and city water and you will be showering every day and heating with electric, yeah, just leave the electric element on. ------------- r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten! |
Posted By: DavMar
Date Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 9:39pm
Amen, podwekz! I believe one of the best mods you can do to your camper is to install a hot water on/off switch some where inside your Pod. This way you can just leave the outside switch on the water heater in the on position and not have to fool with opening the heater cover and finding that little on/off switch it has. ------------- Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the wonder dog. 2017 Rpod 180 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4 Lexington, NC |
Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 12:18am
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Couldn't you just use the 120v breaker inside the converter that controls the water heater element? I have not actually verified it is the only thing on one of the breakers, but I will do that tomorrow.
------------- r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten! |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 1:16am
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Yes, you can certainly just use the dedicated water heater breaker. It is in series with the switch located at the water heater tank. No need to add a third switch in series unless you don't like using the breaker to disconnect the ac to the water heater. Some folks don't, its a personal choice. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 7:57am
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And, if you want, for a $1.38 you can add a switch right by the water heater that is easy and convenient, at least on a 172, to use and not run the risk that someone else may not understand how the water heater switching works and ends up burning up the heating element. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: Woody.1
Date Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 8:57am
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Thanks for all the replies. +1 for DavMar on testing it all out before leaving the house. |
Posted By: podwerkz
Date Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 11:16am
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Yep I just verified that on my r-pod, the water heater element is on circuit breaker 3 in the power center/ converter, and turning it off disables the water heater element (from inside the camper), but of course the 12v circuit and propane supply will still heat water if that red switch on the monitor panel is turned on.
Man, I wish EVERYTHING was this easy!  ------------- r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten! |