Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

The Cruiser has a gravity shower from two 40 gallon fresh water tanks on the roof but I want to add a hot water heater with a better pump for volume. I would also plumb the sink to the heater as well. The question is what type of HW heater and how to install?


Jay

Use a 12 volt tankless propane water heater . Can get them portable or hard mounted....just search 12volt tank less water heater you can get them any where and you can get pretty good 12 volt pumps .on any rv site

If you have an I/O, you can install a heat exchanger system. A friend of ours has one installed on his cruiser. Only bad part is you have to start the engine for hot water.

Check out camp chef.com & look at the triton 5L water heater. I'll try to get some pics. & show how I installed

Mounted the heater to the wall behind the ladder.

The 12 volt pump on the floor in the same area.

30 gal. food grade barrel & ditched the tank on the roof for more room topside.

Propane tank is behind u to the right as u face the ladder.

& to b on the safe side a backup CO alarm.

For some reason, I don't see any pictures, just an x. Does everyone see them?

I can see them fine.

I can see um but I need a 60 inch moniter to see um whole.

not for nothing, but you may not need hot water at all. I have an outside shower on my camper. The water sitting in the freshwater tank on a hot day is plenty warm for a shower. If you want, paint your tanks black. The water will be hotter than you can stand.

Tim

Thanks for ALL the suggestions. My concern with propane is safety, especially around the engine compartment.
I am thinking about a hot water heater that runs off 110 at the dock and engine warming on the hook.
I also agree that the gravity fed top tanks are hot enough during the day, but we sleep at the slip and the am shower is too cold.
Can someone suggest where to purchase a hot water tank system AND do you guys agree this is a doable solution to make things
more comfy for my female companion of 31 years.

We've got a water heater similar to this and it does a pretty darn decent job even in cold weather camping where we've mainly used it. If your slip water is OK you can use it as a source for this unit if you don't mind the possibility of contaminating the unit. It's also the compact and packable unit I could find when we got ours.