Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks: Water heater on demand, or ??

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Water heater on demand, or ??

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Printed Date: 19 Jun 2025 at 7:54am
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Topic: Water heater on demand, or ??

Posted By: GLBCamper
Subject: Water heater on demand, or ??
Date Posted: 19 Jul 2015 at 11:55pm

We did our first full hook-up trip, just to try out all of the systems. I turned on the water heater and after a while checked and had hot water, then just left the switch on. It was a warm evening and we had our windows open and in the middle of the night the water heater burner ignited and was so loud it woke me up (I didn't know what it was until snooping around in the dark.) I flipped off the switch and went back to bed.

My question is, should I just turn it on a half hour before I need hot water and then off again when I am done (or for the night?) Also, is it odd that the burner ignited in the middle of the night when the was no demand?

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Old: 2014 177 HRE
2015 Tacoma V6 4x4 Double Cab
New: 2016 EVO ATS 200rd
2016 F150 4x4 Sport

Replies:

Posted By: CFWARREN
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2015 at 12:20am

My guess would be that there's a thermostat, and the temp of the water dipped below some pre-set degree, so it kicked on, to keep the water in the tank hot.
I turn mine off overnight, and during the day if I'm away from the RV.

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2016 179 - Hood River Edition
2008 Nissan Xterra

Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2015 at 1:35am

I tend to leave mine on a lot. Charlie is right about the thermostat though. I don't know what temp it's set at, but the water heater is going to keep it at that temp. Unless it's really hot out it's going to fire up from time to time for short periods to maintain that temp. (There are no places on this planet where it gets that hot outside.)

It's a small water heater so it heats up fast, and doesn't take a lot of energy to maintain. That argues for both turning it off between uses and leaving it on. I turn mine off some times, when I think about it, but I don't worry about it.

TT

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2010 176
FJ Cruiser

Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2015 at 7:01am

There are two thermostats, one for the propane side and one for the the electric side. Both are nominally set at 130F, but the electric thermostat is slightly higher. Whether you leave it on or cycle it is your option, depending on how good your memory is. If you're at a full hookup site and have turned the electric side on it will maintain temperature solely on the electric element without using the propane burner. The electric element is silent. When you deplete the hot water, such as a shower, both systems will come on to speed up recovery.

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Charlie
Northern Colorado
OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD
PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD