RV Water Heaters - How They Work and Their Benefits

Camping and family road trips during the winter are fun and a regular ritual for many recreational vehicle (RV) owners. People love the combination of traveling, the option for hiking on rugged trails, climbing hills or mountains to spending a night under the sky can make for a perfect family holiday. The very picture is very tempting and exciting. However, you need to ensure that the RV you plan to take on the trip can handle all your needs. A very important requirement on such outdoor tours is a supply of hot water for bathing and other needs.

With RV water heaters, people can now get a steady supply of warm water even when camping in remote locations. While it is best to have an RV fitted with a high quality water heater, portable solutions can also suffice for short trips.

RV water heaters look different from household ones, but they are essentially miniature versions of household heaters. Each model has same mechanism and plumbing as normal heaters with adjustments for use in an RV. For instance, they come in 6 or 10 gallon sizes, much smaller than a domestic water heater.

Old RV water heaters were very basic that needed to be ignited with a matchstick. Some of these still exist today. Modern advanced designs come with an automatic igniter that just needs to be switched on. There are usually separate switches for gas or electric modes. The electric mode can usually only be used when there is an adequate type of power supply available. These are commonly found at motor home campsites. While the gas mode can be kept on while driving (only for auto ignition models, traditional models will shut off in the wind), it is not recommended as it wastes a lot of the liquid propane used for heating. MotorAid water heaters use the excess heat from the engine to heat the water. For obvious reasons, when the engine has not been running for some time, your supply of hot water will be limited.

A source of water needs to be connected to get the water heated up. Your RV’s water tank serves this purpose. Some designs allow for additional water input that can be used at RV campsites. Water heaters may or may not have a water tank for storage. If they do, it is generally insulated to ensure the water stays hot.

The range of RV water heaters is expansive. Apart from the way they are ignited, they also come in a variety of sizes and thermal output capacities, with or without tanks, etc. Each range has its benefits and uses. The best one to select largely depends on your budget and frequency of use. It is advisable to shop around before you buy one.