We have Hocking instantaneous hot water (they may have a different name now). 415 volts 3 phase about 20kW. They take a little getting used to, they are basically on or off. You can turn off one phase for summer as they can get a bit hot.

You may waste a bit more electricity in use but you will save 600 to 1000kWh hours a year simply to keep the water hot depending on the size of the tank.

This 80L tank with the additional insulation has reduced the Australian Standard of 1.67kWh per 24 hours to 1.0kWh per 24 hours to keep the tank hot. Aircell on tank then R4 polybatts then an outer layer of Aircell.

i find our suburban runs out of hot quick so we are going for instantaneous..i think we will pay the money and get a truma...done some research and truma give hot water upto 55deg..the one you mentioned gerad..ive been told doesnt operate effective in the cold weather

Davos wrote:

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i find our suburban runs out of hot quick so we are going for instantaneous..i think we will pay the money and get a truma...done some research and truma give hot water upto 55deg..the one you mentioned gerad..ive been told doesnt operate effective in the cold weather

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 Which Truman hws are you thinking of. Both Truma "instantaneous" storage ones I have looked at have far less capacity than suburban so you will run out even faster. The new Truma instantaneous being advertised only heats to 45 deg C. Do you have a model number?

Dougwe wrote:

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I had my aluminium tent fitted with a 'Girrard' continuous hot water heater when being built, worse thing ever done, never had hot water once. After many calls and visits to Agent I ditched it for a Suburban. I now have hot water all the time when it is turned on. I only turn on 30 mins before shower then turn off again. I have had it for three years now and love it.




Keep Safe out there.

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 We a likewise to Doug. Suburban has been excellent, even after 1 year lay up.

Bought a new anode, but the head of same would not screw into the Sub. so returned. Re installed the old anode which still had some good life in it. Never let us down for the 2 weeks trip we just completed.

Now to get a new anode that will fit.

They say the anode should be changed every year, but we operate on how worn the anode is. Bet there are heaps of RV's out there who do not regularly check the anode.

Suggest that you should go do it now, but don't forget to open the release valve, or you could  / would get a white chalky shower.

Jay&Dee

Way back in the day we (SWMBO that is) used to often run out of hot water from our Suburban HWS.

I went down to the hardware store in whatever country town we were in at the time & got a water saver shower head.  

Problem solved.

ps... When changing/checking  the anode I just stand aside & let the pressure blow out the white gunk (corrosion or whatever it is).

I agree with Cupie, try a different shower rose before changing the heater.

Sacrificial anode: I changed mine at one year and it was about 50% or more worn. My friend changed his at three years and it was around 90% worn. It depends on the water you're using but I wouldn't leave it longer than 18 months - they are not expensive and it's an easy job.

The OKA has a diesel powered storage HWS that is 22L. It also heats from the engine as we drive or can be heated electrically at 750W from the inverter powered by solar.
Any time we have driven for 30 minutes we have 22L of very hot water (up to 85C), so we only need to heat it by diesel or electricity if we have camped a couple of nights.

There is always hot water for the washing up, even for lunch while on the road.

It heats so quickly from the diesel heater that the next one will be 10L instead of 22L and that will be sufficient to maintain heat during and between showers.
The same system provides the central heating.
Not cheap to install, but very versatile and very cheap to run.
Cheers,
Peter

Dougwe wrote:

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I had my aluminium tent fitted with a 'Girrard' continuous hot water heater when being built, worse thing ever done, never had hot water once. After many calls and visits to Agent I ditched it for a Suburban. I now have hot water all the time when it is turned on. I only turn on 30 mins before shower then turn off again. I have had it for three years now and love it.




Keep Safe out there.

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Seems you may have had a lemon if it was from new Dougie.

First caravan had a 7 year old Suburban storage HWS...trouble free for 3 years when I had it.

Current caravan had 8 year old "GIRRARD" continuous HWS...so far trouble free 3 years.

I , also, do prefer the continuous over storage.

Another thing, I do not agree about wasting water with continuous HWS.

The moment I run hot water, the burner ignites and within 10 secs I have warm then hot water at the shower and ensuite outlets and 15 secs at kitchen outlet.

Maybe just luck with my Girrard HWS.

If you do go for an instantaneous then install a Red Water diverter.  It can return the cold water back to the tank until it gets hot enough.  http://www.redwater.net.au/index.php/distributors.html

Davos wrote:

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i find our suburban runs out of hot quick so we are going for instantaneous..i think we will pay the money and get a truma...done some research and truma give hot water upto 55deg..the one you mentioned gerad..ive been told doesnt operate effective in the cold weather

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 Maybe research the Truma. I have one and for the third time the element has gone - power cuts out as soon as I switch it on! I did have hot watr a few days ago - but it blew during the night. Repair place said they are not called 'trauma' for nothing. I will now change my system!

Hi all, 

We recently returned from a trip during which we noticed that there was water on the floor of the van in the vicinity of the Suburban hot water heater. After checking it was apparent that the unit was leaking at both the hot and cold connections on the back of the storage tank. 

Upon our return, I started making inquiries about a replacement and was told that it could not be done with another Suburban because they had been withheld from sale. The local caravan repair bloke (who I trust totally) told me that if I could find one, just let him know and he would buy six. There is no word on when the 240V/LPG unit will again be available for purchase. 

To cut a long story short, we now have a Suburban gas "demand" hot water heater. It is a Suburban brand but does not have a storage tank that will rust out and corode or a sacrificial anode that needs replacing regularly. We have just completed a lengthy trip and we have found that the new unit is very frugal on gas consumption. On most nights free camping, we were using our LPG gas heater and demand hot water and have not had to top up our gas yet. Total cost of supply and fit of the unit together with gas certification was about $2100. We can both shower now without one of us having to wait for the previous unit to heat up after the first shower or by boosting with gas as well as 240V. We can also adjust the temperature of the hot water heater in increments of 1 degree up to 50 degrees. 

Hope this info helps. 

Tones