Water Heater Electric Lightening Rod

[fcwife]

Sent: 5/22/2005 11:37 PM

Has anyone ever installed one of these?  Do they work well?  Are they as easy to install as it looks?

[Cooneytoones]

Sent: 5/23/2005 12:34 AM

fcwife..........I'd stay away from electric and stay with the LP Gas.....The thing is a come on, when it refers to being cheaper.... maybe....if you don't use any water...depending how much water you use.....LP gas has a much much faster recovery.. (water gets hot faster)..at 4 amps, it can't heat very fast.....I've personally not had any experiance using one of these, but just from regular home water heating, "gas heats best" much better than electric.  Cheaper and Faster.....in the average home
In my own opinion.....Pass this one by...
Timmy

[HeavyHaulTrucker]

Sent: 5/23/2005 8:57 AM

Definitely... also, some campgrounds have started charging you an extra fee if you have a electric water heater.

John

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Sent: 5/24/2005 9:00 PM

Is this something that is supposed to make the hot water tank electric only, or does it replace the anode rod and suppliment the propane heat with a constant electric heat source?  If it replaces the anode rod, it might actually save on propane while on shore power, it would still be considered a propane water heater (information is on a need-to-know basis...lmao), and the tank would still heat on propane while boondocking.  Might not be such a bad thing if it replaces the anode rod (which anode rod, if the tank is used all the time and not stored for long periods, really isn't doing a whole lot to protect an aluminum tank anyway).

Kev

[mightybooboo]

Sent: 5/25/2005 4:55 AM

I have read on the RV.net board lots of people swear by heating rods,esp. one called the hotrod.Faster recovery times,and its free if they dont charge extra for electric.Now,12/month for gas and 2/month for electric,that sounds bogus to me.So the product loses credibility with me,and its only 500 watts,not much of a heater.
I would pass on this one.

BooBoo

[OldEdBrady]

My trailer is electric water only.  I did that when the gas portion went on permanent vacation.  Installation is easy.  As stated by others, it takes longer to heat the water, but that's never been a problem for us.  And, I have a 10-gallon tank, so we haven't had a problem with running out of hot water.  If we had a bunch of kids, or traveled with a bunch of people, that might be something else I'd have to think about.

At the time I installed it, I'd already spent so much on fixing up the trailer, I didn't have funds to change out the water tank.  For less than $200, it was a wallet-saver.  Depends on what you need and what you can afford.

[legomybago]

I've had both systems on a 6-gallon, loved the electric, worked great, and was quiet, didnt have to listen to the jet engine, just the sweet sound of beers cracking. Im tempted to put electric on the rig I have now, but It's not a necessity at this time...so we'll see 

[M & J]

I will probably add one to ours. We keep our coach plugged in when at the house and the day before we head out on a trip I switch the fridge on with shore power to get cold, then load the food just before we pull out. I'd like to do that for hot water as well. Where we mostly camp has power and the food stays cold during the drive. I'd like to have the water hot instead having to wait after we've made camp.
Kevin had the best setup his tank was plumbed for engine coolant to preheat water on his tank. Thats why I was wanting it when he went to his new instant unit.

[Froggy1936]

I installed a Hot Rod in my 6 gal And have never used propane since. At its lowest setting it always provides enough hot water (you cannot hold your hand in it) for everything I do I have never tried the shower with it but if it cant handle that i can just turn on the propane ! I highly reccomend them  Frank

[legomybago]

My "brand new" 75 fmc has the engine pre heater water lines running through the water heater....I curious to see how that works, never had that system before. Im not really sure if i will be needing hot water when driving down the road? Never been an issue before i??

My electric element on my old Beaver coach worked exactly the same as if you were just on propane when showering. It recovered well.

[pvoth1111]

I will install one of these by next month...as a full timer...it is a pain to get up at 5am to turn on the hot water every morning....we only turn it on when we need it....so having it hot and being able to turn the gas on if needed seems ideal to me.