Now that the refrigerator is out of the way (in Tina’s garage), the next item to consider is the hot-water heater. We’ll need one. My family’s travel trailer had one, and I sort of remember using hot water in the trailer, but not very clearly. We also had a shower, which I think we never used, except for storage. We generally spent nights parked in campgrounds, and they all had bath houses. Their facilities and cleanliness varied widely, but they all had much more water—and hot water—than we were able to carry in the trailer. So the shower mostly collected dust.
Our current plan is to be more self-sufficient and self-contained than we were in the trailer. One of the must-have items is a usable shower. Hence a hot-water heater. Isabelle and Antoine of The Far Out Ride have a shower, powered by a compact little propane-fired, tankless water heater. It’s really pretty nice. I figured we could do similarly. But then my experience with planning for a propane-powered refrigerator, made me ponder it a bit more. And it occurred to me, I&A’s shower is completely outdoors. The shower head, hose, and water heater are all mounted on the inside of the back door, along with a fabric three-sided enclosure. To take a shower, they open the door wide and set up the curtain. The shower and heater are open to the air, so they don’t have to even consider where the heater gets oxygen for the propane, nor where it vents its exhaust. And the heater feeds only the shower, as the sink in the galley has only cold water.
This is very convenient for Isabelle and Antoine, but a little too rustic for our tastes. By the pictures on their site, they’re 20-30 years younger than we are. We want an indoor shower, warm and cozy, away from wind and bugs. Many other builds have one, it’s just a matter of allocating the space and building it.
The tankless aspect of their system is still attractive, as the supply of hot water is limited only by the size of the fresh-water tank. And there’s no shortage of tankless, propane-fired water heaters available. But they all have the same problem as the propane refrigerator: if it’s to be inside the van, then getting air to and from the flame involves cutting large holes. Hmm.
George from The Humble Road takes a different approach. The water heaters he uses were developed for the marine industry. They have small tanks, four to six gallons, and run on 120VAC. In addition, they splice into the vehicle’s engine-cooling system, using a couple of heat-exchangers to convert what would otherwise be waste heat into usable hot water. Depending on how much you drive and how long your showers are, you could have sufficient hot water without drawing a watt from your electrical system. And no propane, no van holes.
These water heaters are marketed by Isotherm/Isotemp, and made by Indel Marine, all of which are owned by the German manufacturer Webasto, which has a large presence in the Detroit-area automotive industry. They look very well-designed and well-made, and George thinks highly of them. I’ve yet to make up my mind, but I’m considering.
Elizabeth
Henry