Cheap hot water?

[liam]

Hi guys, we're just contemplating a hot water setup for our campervan (is '73 old enough for me to call it vintage???)
I want to add an outside shower in a recessed panel and have hot water at the kitchen sink ocassionally.
A 12 volt pump, heat exchanger and small hot water header tank similar to a glind/ twine/ pirahna underbonnet shower setup used on 4wd's or is there a 12 volt imersion type heater that would be effective without having to run the truck and wake our neighbours?

[belinda]

We used one of those black bag solar things on our Summer holiday and the water easily got far too hot for the kids to use without adding plenty of cold.

Heating up enough hot water for a shower takes a lot of energy, so if you can get at least part of it for free it's well worth while. Try to incorporate solar heating somewhere in the system - maybe pre-heating water before it goes through a heater and pump.

An insulated drum from a camping shop will store heated water the same as it does icy drinks, so you could store hot water while heating up a second batch.

[hwyman]

Hi liam have you consided one of these not real cheap but look well made and practical . Brian
ebay item -8813786138

[trodler]

Hi Liam
If you have a look in ebay under instantanious hot water you should find a couple of options.

A small electric instantanious water heater for around $200.00

Or a small instantanious LPG water heater for around $350.00

Not sure how well they work but im sure it would be OK for a shower on a warm night, and with this option you dont have to worry about water storage.

Cheers.
Trodler.

[groovy]

If you consider the instant gas water heaters on ebay, be careful and get a guarantee that it has the AGA approval certicate included.
I have been told that they are not approved for use in either OZ or NZ, but that is heresay, hence the reason to check for AGA approval certificate.
Greg