Water Heater Opinions

[Peregrine1983]

Hi all,



We are replacing our Raritan 1700 series 6 gallon heat exchanger/electric water heater. I'm leaning towards staying with the same exact model, but curious if there's any newer tech models with better performance that I should be looking at.



I would love more capacity, but am somewhat limited by space. I can go with a water heater about 5-6 inches taller, but only about 2 inches wider.



Curious to hear any thoughts.


Thanks!

[Paul L]

If you want a boat heater and hot water then the Zephyer Hurricane units are excellent. You get on demand hotwater powered by diesel. Not cheap. It takes only a few minutes after turn it on to have unlimited hot water.

[Peregrine1983]

Very cool. Thanks Paul L. Just the sort of thing I was curious to see. Would I be correct to assume these cost several boat bucks?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Very cool. Thanks Paul L. Just the sort of thing I was curious to see. Would I be correct to assume these cost several boat bucks?

Yep, but you get boat heating in the fall/winter along with year round hot water.

[nwdiver]

The hurricane heater is about the same size as your tank but different dimensions. And gives the ability to set up hydronic heating in the boat, very popular here in the PNW. I do know of a big cat in the Caribbean that put one in for water heating only, for hot showers, the dishwasher and laundry.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by nwdiver

The hurricane heater is about the same size as your tank but different dimensions. And gives the ability to set up hydronic heating in the boat, very popular here in the PNW. I do know of a big cat in the Caribbean that put one in for water heating only, for hot showers, the dishwasher and laundry.

I installed mine in the same place the old tank was. It is about the same size as the old tank. I did loose some storage space on the exhaust hose run.

[Peregrine1983]

Interesting. Thanks guys. Here is a photo of our water heater in its space. It's from a pre-purchase survey a few years ago before I cleaned up our wiring. As you can see, if I went with the same format water heater, I only have a few inches to expand the diameter before I don't have room on the left for the plumbing. I have a few feet (towards camera) but would have to extend the shelf it's attached to if I went larger in that direction.



Curious to hear other options as well.