On-demand freshwater heaters

[minaret]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

I have one in my house that heats using natural gas. I vaguely remember a thread on this a while ago but don't remember where to find it. There are definite options for your boat. The only down side I can remember is if you happen to be running your engine then it will no longer heat the water. You will have to dedicate a system just for heating instead of being able to use the engine and or the generator.

Engine heat exchanger still works fine with an Everhot.

[ontherocks83]

I stand corrected. Good to know

[Cotemar]

Why convert large amounts of electric to hot water,
When you can just make hot water from the sun and store it.

2 Panel SW Kit

[hpeer]

I have one of these but haven't tried it yet.

Amazon.com : ZODI Outback Gear Hot Tap Travel Shower : Portable Camping Shower Gear : Sports & Outdoors

[Rapanui]

To have a sensible shower in a temperate climate you need about 8kW plus., as well as a steady reliable water pressure and flow otherwise you get scalded. There are plenty of domestic units in the UK but most if not all are not rust proof.
I recently purchased the Eccotemp L5 as a temporary shower while doing major house renovations powered by a propane cylinder. It is absolutely brilliant but it is unvented so must be used in a well ventilated area otherwise you die from CO poisoning. It does need a fairly high and steady water pressure otherwise it shuts down, so the the average boat water pump probably won't cut it, plus again you get scalded if the pressure drops.
If you cannot provide the power either gas or electric and a steady pressurised flow of water then an instantaneous water heater for a shower is probably not good enough, but ok for other uses. The advantage of a stored hot water tank is that the water temp remains pretty constant during pressure fluctuations as both hot and cold feeds are affected similarly

[Mirage Gecko]

We have a Bosch gas instant hot water system on our boat.It is only used for showers although it is plumbed into the galley and bathroom sink but not used.
It is brilliant to use and you can mix the water temp on the unit itself so simply pick your temp and turn on the shower.We do not leave the pilot light on just simply light it before our shower then turn off the gas.
Would recommend to anyone thinking of this type of system.
We have a gas driven storage system in our caravan that also works well but you obviously need to wait for the water to heat up and get cold showers if you exceed the holding tank capacity.Personally would prefer to use the instant type in preference to the storage system.