Hot water is a relief, and if you are a frequent traveler who practically lives in his or her camper van, you still need a water heater with you. Here are some facts that you need to know about water heaters that will suit your camper van or recreational vehicle (RV).

Popular Campervan Water Heaters on Amazon

1. Reliance 6 6 SOMS K 6 Gallon Compact Electric Water Heater

Any serious RV owner wants a permanently installed water heater. The Reliance 6 6 SOMS can provide 6 gallons a minute of hot water and uses electricity and therefore safe and easy to use.

This compact water heater uses a single 120 volt 1650 watt copper heating element and that is sufficient for normal RV use. It comes with a 6 years of limited warranty.

2. EZ 101 Tankless Water Heater – Propane LPG – Portable – Battery Powered Ignition – Camping – RV

This is a portable water heater and ideal for camping use. Whether you use it in your RV or you set up a tent somewhere remotely. Since the ignition is battery powered you’re really independent of any external energy source.

It only weights 14 lbs and is therefore perfect for many camping / RV enthousiasts!

3. Eccotemp L5 Portable Tankless Water Heater and Outdoor Shower

The Eccotemp L5 is a portable and tankless water heater that can provide with 1.4 gallons of hot water a minute. The ignition is battery powered and therefore easy to use and install. This water heater uses liquid propane fuel to heat up the water and therefore perfect to use in any RV on remote camping grounds.

This Eccotemp only weight 13 lbs and comes with an one year limited warranty.

Basic Camper Van Water Heater Facts

Typically, water heaters for this kind of vehicle feature 6-10 gallon water tanks or are tankless with instant hot water heating. These days, there are models with innovative designs that can extend the longer hot showers. The devices do not differ in terms of features or functions much but its accompanying tanks do vary from model to model.

There are models that make use of aluminum water tanks while others employ porcelain lined steel ones which contain a lone anode rod to take in and even out the forceful H20 movement that’s familiar with tanks. Now we can discuss the variety of camper van water heaters available today.

• Manual LP fuel water heater

This is one of the most fundamental kinds and it operates on LP gas and to use this, people have to light the device manually by means of a striker or a lengthy match once they reach their journey’s end. It includes a water tank that can accommodate 6 gallons of the stuff and it usually takes less than a half-hour to warm the water through.

This is a fast worker and it can bring forth around 7 gallons of hot water every hour. A lot of starter camper vans include this type of device.

• LP fuel/gas with direct spark ignition

This is an advancement from the standard LP gas type and is a model which operates by way of a direct spark ignition (DSI). Users are not obligated to light the device manually with a striker or match and instead, they can light it inside the van with just one press on a switch. It is similar with the abovementioned model but features automated ignition.

On the condition that the LP fuel or gas resource is turned on and there is the presence of gas in the tank or cylinder, the device will light up mechanically.

• LP fuel/gas/direct spark ignition/electric water heater

There are models these days which run not only on one resource, but two. For example, you can purchase a model that has both LP gas or fuel and 120 volt electricity-operated options, which can be convenient. You can save your fuel supply by replying on electricity mode and if in case you camp out without any electricity source, you can make do with the LP gas option.

These combo water heaters can be bought in both manual kinds, units that you can either light manually or through direct spark ignition. Keep in mind that the higher the price, the higher its list of features. This kind of device has more BTUs to offer thus they can warm water through quicker, recover faster and can churn out double amounts of hot water for every hour.

• LP gas/direct spark ignition/electric water heater

We have explained the functions of the combination gas/electricity and DSI models previously but this time, this unit includes a 10 gallon tank. Now with a bigger tank, you can take longer showers in between your camping gigs. Usually this kind of unit has higher recovery levels and high BTU per hour.

However, you have to remember that using the device in electric mode each time will restrain the quantity of electricity that you have to operate other kinds of appliances that run on 120 volts.

• On-demand camper van water heaters

Newer camper vans usually include on-demand water heaters. Back in the day, the heating devices that usually come with vans feature BTUs ranging from 8,000 with 12,000 being the highest.

Now we have models that feature 50,000 BTUs. On-demand units are significantly energy-efficient since the LP gas or fuel-operated heat exchanger only warms the water through when there is a need for it plus the hot water resource is often filled and constant.

This kind of model is nearly similar to devices that you typically use at home. Users can just employ the hot water faucet and combine it with the cold one to achieve the temperature that they are after. Many new rental campervans come with an on-demand / tankless water heater. Especially in areas like the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand you can find most new rental campervans with this kind of warm water supply.

Because of its exceptional features, units like this often come with a higher cost, but then think of the benefits it will provide you other than being an eco-friendly unit; you will also get to enjoy longer showers.

The on-demand unit can be adjusted to change any kind of 6-10 gallon water heaters minus lengthy, troublesome alterations.

Other options for heating

There are other ways in which you can warm water through in your camper van like hydronic heating units and they can provide an infinite amount of hot water in your ride, but of course they are a bit more expensive compared to other like devices.

This is a short introduction to camper van water heaters thus now you have a wider knowledge of those devices and the options that are presented/are currently available in the market right now. If you need to replace your device or are in need of some upgrades, you can refer to what you have learned in this article and if you have more questions about certain models, asking a sales assistant, customer service or the seller is also a big help.

Most of the devices we have talked about in this article can be mounted with minimal adjustments. The best device for your van would have to be something that will depend on your preferences, your budget, and the frequency of your travels.

You can go for a 10-gallon model with a combination electricity/LP gas source if you camp or travel a lot but if you are just a casual camper who organizes trips every 2 months or are not that fond of longer camping trips, a model with a 6-gallon tank might be sufficient enough.