micro hot water ideas

A fella sent me this video.  It has several things in it that are new to me.



1)  I think that propane water heater thing is amazing.  I would very much like to see the same thing offered as an electric version - is there something like that?

2)  His shower curtain and bucket thing looks too small for a giant guy like me, but acceptable for most folks in certain situations.  And it gives me all sorts of ideas.

Looks like a slightly fancier version of the zodi.  When we get power outages we use those solar showers filled with hot/warm water from our stove.

paul wheaton wrote:

1)  I think that propane water heater thing is amazing.  I would very much like to see the same thing offered as an electric version - is there something like that?

It is an instant or on demand water heater that has been camperized. I had a small one like that in my RV when I lived in it (propane). They heat the water by so many deg. so a 40F heater will take 50F water and give 90F.... but wait, it's not that easy, in/out difference changes depending on how fast the water is moving. I found to wash dishes I had to fill the sink at a trickle, but a shower had better flow (I was on a well not city water so I don't know what the temp was). If all you want is the heater and not the extra water pump and stuff, there are electric ones. They are pricey and use lots of power.... the ones meant to replace your tank water heater for the whole house require you to have 300amp service. They can take the water from 50F to 140F and have a shower, dish washing and a clothes wash going at the same time. That is why most on demand systems are gas. There are smaller electric systems but they are meant to take warm water and boost it for showers.... that is they only expect enough water for one use at a time.... and they expect it to be more than 50F. I think they are still 220V and quite high amperage (you won't plug it into 120v 15amp power). I think for electric, super insulating is the way to go. Scheduling hot water use to one time a day and shut off the rest would help too. The water would stay warm enough for for warm hand washes the rest of the time (ours does and it only has stock insulation ...off 8 hours over night... only set to 113F).

2)  His shower curtain and bucket thing looks too small for a giant guy like me, but acceptable for most folks in certain situations.  And it gives me all sorts of ideas.

The idea is not new, just re-purposed. The stand is new... The ones I have seen are just a ring at the top that hangs off the boom on a sailboat. There are mini-tents for shower/porta-pottie use and it seems those mini water heaters come with the shower end so they thought of that too. He has taken that and made it useful in a tiny house/cottage. His stand and curtain prolly costs a lot less than the sailboat one too. The bucket is new as well, a sailboat cockpit has drains already and the camp ones figure you will use the ground as a drain. A metal washtub might be a bit bigger (and square) but cost more and take more storage space. Its a good idea, my Yf will bath in glacial runoff but not me. I need some warmth.

I've used the solar hot water shower bags in the past, and they are quite miserable.  You can only get a hot shower in the late afternoon, IF it has been a hot, sunny day, otherwise they tend to be on the cold side.

I had to replace the hot water heater on my travel trailer some years ago.  It was about 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 by 2 feet, ran on either propane, 12 VDC, or 120 VAC, and heated 5 gallons of water at a time.  They work very well, and can be used as a stand-alone unit.  They run a little over $200.  They require a little bit of pressure, either from a tap or a 12 volt pump.

I haven't seen the Coleman hot water heater, though, it's a very clever piece of equipment.

PaulB wrote:

I had to replace the hot water heater on my travel trailer some years ago.  It was about 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 by 2 feet, ran on either propane, 12 VDC, or 120 VAC, and heated 5 gallons of water at a time.  They work very well, and can be used as a stand-alone unit.  They run a little over $200.  They require a little bit of pressure, either from a tap or a 12 volt pump.

There is the difference, After the 5 gallons is used it is cold, the on demand heater I had in my rv was hot as long as you used it.... but cost 3 times as much. I am not sure it was a good trade off. With a 5 gallon tank, you would not run it at 120F, you would run it a max and mix cold to get what you want, but then I would turn it off when not in use.... or at less to min temp.