Escape.You are going to put a bit of weight on the tow ball if you fit both of those items.That is just my way of thinking.No doubt one of the pundits of information will enlighten you more.Regards.Paddy.

G'day  ..

I think Paddy has a point.  You are loading your 13' er up a bit.


I have had a Surburban gas only HWS for 12 yrs & it's still going strong.  Surburban have 3 options .. You might like to talk to a supplier.  Mine is the base manual ignition & the top one is an auto gas ignighter with 240v option.  All have a 22.6l capacty.  Unfortunately I don't have the weight  .. but the water alone is 22.6kg I think.... unless you empty it after every stop.... A bit of a pain.  Then there's the 8.5kg gas bottle as well.

If you are showering outside in a CP you'll need a shower/toilet tent & floor .. more weight.

I have found that water quality is no real problem as long as you are dilligent about checking, cleaning & replacing the sacrificial anode regularly.  I clean mine after every trip & change it when there is significant loss of the metal. 
I drain & rince the system in the rare occasions when I use non potable water in the system & alsays drain it after a trip.


Mine is located on the bottom of the kitchen cupboard.  I can't see why under the bed would be a problem as long as you can get outside access for the unit & the vents.

I would have the experts have a look and advise.


Hope that this helps..

ps There is a Truma gas only or gas & electric with 14l capacity with a tank weight of 7.3Kg.   Lighter I suppose but I have no experience with them.

pps. Of course there is the "Instant hot water tap'  that is 240v but I don't know if they are suitable for showers  .. probably not, but worth a look.

ppps.The bush campers will no doubt suggest that you look at their options .. but I'll leave that to them.

Escape
Seems like your setting up for bush camping, good stuff.

We have the Truma gas only hot water unit installed next to the Truma Climaster aircon under our café seat. As bush campers we went for the gas only as we do not frequent Caravan Parks that often and they usually have a hot water supply available in the camp kitchen/amenity block anyway.

It is a 14L stainless steel tank, so there are no worries about replacing anodes, and takes about 20-30 mins to heat to 60C. It is also capable of heating/maintaining the water at 70C.

We have an external shower tent which attaches to the van, around the external inbuilt van shower, as we gave up on those spring loaded shower tents, LOL. We also have a 12v point in the area of this shower so that we can use one of those around $20-30 12v submersible Turbo showers. We recirculate river water that has been boiled on the campfire/stove, mixed with about an equal volume of cold water and placed in a small tub (as per DeBe's post).

We usually conserve our water by wiping all plates and utensils clean with paper towels, then wash up once a day usually after breakfast. If river water is not available for heating on the campfire/stove we will switch the Truma on then turn off after washing whatever.

When bush for an extended period we tend to have daily sponge baths, then if near water we use the Turbo shower every 2 or 3 days, then Caravan Shower once a week for a real good "like home" shower.

BTW our aircon/hot water systems together take up about 1x0.4x0.4 metres space, and adds around 22kg for the Hot water system and 32kg for the Climaster.

-- Edited by Ron and Shirley on Tuesday 2nd of March 2010 03:01:22 PM