Hello. I placed an order for a 16' and was wondering if those of you who have the upgraded gas/electric water heater found it worth the extra money? Currently I'm getting the basic gas water heater, but am considering the upgrade.
Mon, 07/25/2016 - 13:00
#1
ordered a 16. Need a gas/electric water heater?
I did not get the upgrade and wish i did. When hooked up to shore power you can use elec. to heat your water and save your gas. I miss understood the pricing i thought the gas and elec was to high of a price but did not realize they subtract the gas price, so it was only a 150$$ more, Carl
A Hott Rod WH heater electric conversion is about $100 then you have to buy a switch assy. for about $20, a ckt. breaker is about $10, then you have to wire it in the trailer and you don't get a warranty. An upgrade for a $150 is a deal. You save your gas and use the CG electricity you already paid for. The initial heat up is a little slower than gas, but fire up the gas first and use elec. to maintain your temp. if you need HW fast.
Eddie
and when you use both fuels simultaneously that little heater will make enough hot water to wash dishes and then allow multiple back to back hot showers even when the water supply is real cold. If you don't have the shower then maybe not worth it.
I just wrestled with this issue when I replaced my 12 year old Water Heater. The old unit was both Gas and Electric, I chose to replace it with a Gas Only Water Heater.
Here is my reasoning...
First, my unit had Electronic Ignition and I replaced it with a new unit that had Electronic Ignition. This is important because my decision would have been different if the Gas Only unit used a Pilot Light.
Second, the difference in price could never be made up by using Electric to heat the water vs the price of propane.
Third, if you forget that the electric is on and there is no water in the tank you will burn out the electric element.
Fourth, the electric element tends to need replacing and becomes a maintenance issue.
Fifth, is how we use the Water Heater, we turn the Water Heater on when we start cooking and we have hot water for the dishes when we finish eating, we turn off the unit after the dishes are done (we do the same for showers). This method saves on propane and provides us with enough hot water throughout the day for hand washing or other needs.
I understand the draw of using "Free" electricity, but it would take you 10 years to get enough "Free" electricity to pay yourself back for the initial investment, not to mention replacing a few electric elements along the way.
Bottom line, if the Gas Only unit has Electronic Ignition and there is an inside switch I would go with the Gas Only model.
As Always,
Happy Scamping !!!
Here is an example of how little gas you use without using the furnace. We went camping for a week in Florida. During that trip I realized that I had a small gas leak in my water heater ( I happened to have my nose near the exhaust vent and smelled Propane ).
Before our trip I had filled my Propane tank, we used Propane for our refrigerator, all cooking and hot water for the whole week.
When we returned I thought we had closed the propane valve, however when I went to replace the water heater I realized that the propane had been on for the previous three weeks with the Propane leaking the whole time.
We took the trailer out for a test drive one day and decided to stop at Camping World to fill the Propane tank. With a week's worth of camping and a leaking valve (three weeks extra) we only used thirty one Cents worth of Propane (obviously I thought it was more empty than that).
So, using Propane does not cost as much as we all think it does.
But the camper enjoyed the excursion to Camping World anyway !!!
As Always,
Happy Scamping !!!
Yes and Yes, get all you can afford when you buy your Scamp, and get a few that you cannot, as it will be so worth it in the long run.
<p>Doug Allen 2016 Ford F-150 2018 Lance 1575</p>