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devon7
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# Posted: 31 May 2011 11:07pm
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Any suggestions for a system for a remote (boat accessible summer cabin) shower for 2 people and a sink for a shower building. Open water season only.
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mrmiji
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# Posted: 1 Jun 2011 08:51am
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I'm buying this unit even before I've completed construction:
Eccotemp FVI-12-LP High Capacity Propane Tankless Water Heater
It's an indoor unit with a simple vent. I'm going to install a one piece shower, a corner sink and a toilet with only the latter draining into a septic system.
Though the FVI-12-LP requires 110 volt, it's not much power required and can be achieved through solar/inverter. I like that it's an indoor unit reducing the potential for theft.
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Montanan
Member
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# Posted: 1 Jun 2011 11:03am
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No info on propane, as we're going electric, but I'd love to hear feedback on tankless water heaters, in general. We'd love one for the space it saves and the efficiency, but have been told that they aren't good if your water pressure isn't strong enough. We'll have a gravity fed system from a spring.
Thanks!
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Xplorer
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jun 2011 08:35pm
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we bought a propane unit from Ebay. Haven't tried using it yet.
Will let you know how it works out.
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hebegbz
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2011 11:04pm
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We have been using a Bosch tankless propane water heater for three years now.
It doesn't require any electricity at all. The water flowing through the heater supplies the power to ignite the burners whenever you turn on the hot water.
Wasn't cheap, about $800, but it sure works good.
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nicalisa
Member
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# Posted: 7 Jun 2011 09:22pm - Edited by: nicalisa
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We bought the Ecotemp L5 online. It is for showers and 1 sink. It is an outdoor mounted unit and cost 112.00 plus shipping from the online Decker store:) Ignites with 2 D cell batteries so no electricity needed.
We LOVE LOVE LOVE it:) After 3 years of cold showers as a peace corps volunteer in the mountains of Nicaragua (and believe it or not, there are some darned cold mountain springs that make ice sound warm:), this is wonderful:)
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hebegbz
Member
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# Posted: 9 Jun 2011 12:05am
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What a great price. Wish I had known about
eccotemp when I was shopping around.
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smitty
Member
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# Posted: 9 Jun 2011 02:31am
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Heb.
How does that work with no power? What do you mean the water flowing supplies the power? Never heard of it...
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hebegbz
Member
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# Posted: 9 Jun 2011 03:06pm
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When you turn on the hot water the water flows through the heater. As soon as the water starts moving, it spins a little wheel that powers the ignitor. Works perfectly. There is a cord attached, but that is to power the low temp sensor and heaters that kick on if the temp drops below freezing. We just take ours off the wall and bring it inside if the temps drop below freezing.
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smitty
Member
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# Posted: 9 Jun 2011 03:31pm
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Ok I got ya now..
That's brilliant.. I had never seen one so didn't know..
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Borrego
Member
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# Posted: 10 Jun 2011 10:06pm
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I've got an Ecotemp (Camping World) and it works great!!
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buckeyebuck
Member
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# Posted: 23 Jan 2013 01:36pm
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Has anyone tried the Excel 1.6 GPM LPG ventless water heater? Ventless sounds good but just not sure.
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Jasonderule
Member
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# Posted: 10 Dec 2019 05:09am
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Exterior units where it could freeze, need a unit with freeze protection built-in. Personally, I don't see it as a good situation where it could freeze to have a WH of any type in a location where it could freeze...I'd put in in conditioned space.
That being said, while an on-demand system can work for some people, it has it's issues. It is very dependent on the volume you need and the incoming water temperature. Their specs are for 50-degree inlet water. In the winter, mine is closer to freezing (measured at 33-degrees after a cold spell), so that degrades their performance considerably. They also have a minimum flow rate and a delay before they provide hot water unless you get one with a built-in storage tank which sort of defeats some of the efficiency goals. If your supply gas pipe is sufficient to properly power one, it won't cost a bunch to upgrade your service before you can install one. Be prepared to do annual servicing to remove any mineral deposits, or the thing will eventually decrease the amount of hot water it can provide. Unless you have qualified people around, when the thing does need service, be prepared to wait for parts. A tank can be replaced by almost any plumber any time...fixing a tankless system takes skills and parts not every plumber has.
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silverwaterlady
Member
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# Posted: 10 Dec 2019 09:21am - Edited by: silverwaterlady
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Our furnace in the city finally aged out and the central air. The gas water heater was almost at that point.
So to save money and because we think it’s kind of a money waster to keep 40 gallons of water hot 24/7 we got a tankless for our city home.
We love it. It takes about one extra minute of running the water to get it hot. But after that we have unlimited hot water.
We can finally turn the hot water on when someone is taking a shower and not have the water turn cold. Three plus decades of not being able to do that? It changes everything.
Our tank is made to be able to handle two separate appliances or one shower and one appliance at a time.
Only problem with that right now is that our plumbing is original to the house.
We would have preferred to get the plumbing done first but our furnace went. Came home from the cabin, turned it on and nothing.
Getting copper plumbing after the holidays.
The only issue and it was pointed out to us before we switched over is that these heaters cannot supply enough hot water for showers that have multiple shower heads. The body, rain shower combos. Or huge tubs. The tank cannot keep up.
Other than that you are good to go.
As far as plumbers or HVAC experts not knowing much about them or being unable to repair them, that may be true up to a few years ago. More people are having them installed and the companies that do it have been trained.
I know this because when I inquired a few years ago about having one installed the companies I have a relationship with didn’t know much about them.
There is not much to break on these units. The most important thing to do is to have it serviced and cleaned once per year which I do with my furnace. Same company.
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offgrididaho
Member
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# Posted: 10 Dec 2019 06:43pm
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We had a new Rinnai installed this year and have been very happy with it. It does require electricity but doesn't draw much (~50w, haven't hit it with the KillaWatt yet) and only when running, obviously.
We were going to go with a smaller unit but are happy we moved up to bigger, it has no trouble keeping up with multiple flows at same time (i.e. sink and shower, we only have one shower so not sure how much it will ramp up).
Install was pretty straightforward, it's condensing so should use less propane and that means cool exhaust that goes out wall through simple PVC not metal with hood etc, but does mean it needs to be able to drain (ours just drains through the floor, imagine it can go into a regular drain too) the condensation.
They are particular about the incoming water temperature, but that SHOULD just restrict how many GPM it produces, not the temperature (i.e. the colder the incoming water the less flow you get because it has to flow slower to heat the water sufficiently).
One thing to watch for is size of your plumbing... according to the plumber who installed ours he wouldn't have worried if we had all 1/2" plumbing because then it's hard to move enough water through the unit for it to realize it needs to start heating.
Look for something that's easy to winterize. Our old Myson (pretty ancient unit, although it did have pilot light which was plus before we had inverted power) was a PITA to winterize, I found the Rinnai to be quite easy.
When you install make sure you install the service kit too, it's two valves below the unit that make it easy to winterize and make it easy to run vinegar through it every once in a while to keep the heat exchanger from clogging with minerals.
-- Bass
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2019 06:50am
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Quoting: silverwaterlady We can finally turn the hot water on when someone is taking a shower and not have the water turn cold. Three plus decades of not being able to do that? It changes everything.
This has nothing to do with the water heater unless there's a restriction in the pipe. It could be that your line from the water heater was to small.
We have a 50gal heat pump water heater. We can wash laundry and take a shower at the same time with no change in water pressure or temp. This is due to how I plumbed it. The showers are "home runs" of 1/2in to a pax manifold supplied by 3/4in. The sinks, toilets and washer are all tied into each other in there separate bathrooms.
We have no gas at my house so heat pump water heater made sense. It runs at about 500-600w but for a few hours.
But this thread is about more portable WH. We have an iHeat from HD. It's got the best temp rise for its price by far. It also has a winter and summer mode. The eco temp one's have very poor temp rise. I have used ours with water from a bucket with ice on the top and snow on the ground.
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silverwaterlady
Member
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:35pm - Edited by: silverwaterlady
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Well okay than. Here you go.
I have discussed what we use at camp many times over the years off grid in the summer. It a great unit. Used it four years with no issues. We do have a NIB backup just in case.
We love it so much we got a electric, gas tankless for our city home. Thought there might be a interest. Since I know many of us are gone from our city homes with stale water sitting in a tank for months.
One time we came home to 40 gallons of water on the floor. Of course we turn the water off. If we had not our entire house would have been destroyed.
So now this is one less thing to worry about.
You are welcome.
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