# shower



## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

in our van we have a gas 10ltr water heater (the sort thats installed into most motorhomes)
the problem is that i want use my onboard shower, but 10ltrs is just not enough to get a good shower.
is there any other way of heating the water other than using the water heater

how do you use your shower ?


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## 88784 (May 9, 2005)

Step one, get shower room nice and hot - blown air heating is very good for this - turn all the other vents in the van off.
Step two - turn on shower - run to temperature - get soaked then TURN OFF water.
Step three - soap thoroughly all over.
Step four - Turn water back on and rinse.
Uses only a few pints of water.
Works for me.
HTH
Roger


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## Maverick (May 9, 2005)

Rogerdodge said:


> Step one, get shower room nice and hot - blown air heating is very good for this - turn all the other vents in the van off.
> Step two - turn on shower - run to temperature - get soaked then TURN OFF water.
> Step three - soap thoroughly all over.
> Step four - Turn water back on and rinse.
> ...


We do the same and it works fine. Using the above both of us can have a shower in the morning with no real loss of water tempreture. 8O

Check your water heater, you may be able to use the gas as well as mains when on hook up for faster heating. This will still take a good 10 minutes to heat your 10 litres though.


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## 88734 (May 9, 2005)

A motorhome is a form of camping which in the good old days meant roughing it a bit. When I read posts like this I think maybe a hotel is the answer, or a campsite with a shower block. Please don't take offence, this is just my opinion. I have 20 litres of hot water that the two of us find this to be enough.


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## chopper (May 22, 2005)

*re showering*

I have a 10 ltr water heater in my trigano and this is the way i shower, if on electriec i boil the kettle and fill bathroom sink and with this water i wash from head to foot then i use shower head to rinse all soap off. If not on electric then i boil kettle on gas ring, usually hot enough by the time ive drunk my morning cuppa.

Yes i miss my home power shower but hey im not at home so therefore its different.

Same with the toilet non camping friends cant understand how i can have an electric flush toliet, the wonders of modern science.

keith


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Beat me too it Chopper. Was going to say if you have a combined shower/toilet cubicle it can be useful to fill the washbasin with water. If you wash your hair first in the washbasin you can also use this water for an initial wetting down or rinse off.

peedee.


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

Rogerdodge said:


> Step one, get shower room nice and hot - blown air heating is very good for this - turn all the other vents in the van off.
> Step two - turn on shower - run to temperature - get soaked then TURN OFF water.
> Step three - soap thoroughly all over.
> Step four - Turn water back on and rinse.
> ...


  This works for us too, except we don't use step one. 8)


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## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

I have a confession to make.
We never use the shower in the motorhome although I love showers. It isn't the biggest of compartments.

A bowl full of warm water and the use of 2 glove flannels can work wonders. It saves having to battle with a wet shower curtain when you have as they say 'ample bulk'.


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

well thanks for the fed back folks

well the way i look at it is that ive paid good money for all the stuff on my van and i want to use them

what i was hoping was that some bright spark would come back and say they have another form of water heater to heat their shower water.

like a domestic type


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

Well why didn't you say that in the first place *Riggy*. You could have an instant gas water/wall heater. You could have a 50 gallon tank on the roof heated by Solar power. The list is endless. :roll:

I have always said that people who spend *too* long in the shower and too often, often have a lot of sins/guilt to wash away. 8O


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

sins well you are right there :lol: :lol: :lol: 

best have a 100 gallon tank for them then

but getting back to the point

is there such a thing as a heater just for the shower that could be used in a motorhome (prefer electric but could be gas at a push)

Riggy

P.S. any links welcome


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

Hi *Riggy*. Are you referring to 12v or 240v electric? Gas should be straight forward. Normal house instant water heaters can be modified to run on LPG.


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

am i being greedy to ask for 12v and 240v

:? :? :?


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## hymmi (May 9, 2005)

Hi,

My husbands life would not be worth living,if step one had not been done at least 15mins before he wakes me up with a nice cuppa. :wink: 

We use ours exactly the same as Rogerdodge,water lasts about three days.


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

hymmi i think you are being spoilt.


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

hymmi said:


> Hi,
> 
> My husbands life would not be worth living,if step one had not been done at least 15mins before he wakes me up with a nice cuppa. :wink:
> 
> We use ours exactly the same as Rogerdodge,water lasts about three days.


Ours lasts 3 to 4 WEEKS.

*Riggy* 12v could be a BIG problem (not enough power) 240v look here for an elegant solution :-

http://www.electrosilicagroup.com/heat/


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## hymmi (May 9, 2005)

Hi Riggy,

Riggy you are right and i appreciate it............ :wink:


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

johnsandywhite
thanks for that link it looks like it could do the job

im going to e-mail them to find out the specs and see if i could run it in a motorhome on a 10 amp site

will post here my findings

im supprised that nobody has looked into heaters for motorhomes and just put up with their 10ltr heaters

maybe they have and just not posted it on here yet

cheers 

Riggy


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## 88734 (May 9, 2005)

I use this gas heater. I run the cold water to the heater and back into the tank until the temperature is right then shower using the cold tap.


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

hello merlin

do you mean the main fresh water tank or another tank


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## 88734 (May 9, 2005)

I heat up my main tank, ok it's a strange thing to do!


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

would that heater not heat up the water as it passes through the system
this would be better

can domestic heaters be used on lpg


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

8O In my post *Riggy* I did mention that domestic could be converted to LPG. 8)


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

so you did johnsandywhite

losing the plot again

just trying to get my head around all this stuff about this flipping lack water for a shower

Riggy


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

There is actually a shower system that you can buy that continually recycles the water after filtration. That might solve your problem.  8)


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## 88734 (May 9, 2005)

If you let the water just go through the heater you will run out of water before you get the temperature right


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## relay (May 9, 2005)

merlin said:


> If you let the water just go through the heater you will run out of water before you get the temperature right


Agree with Merlin. We had a Paloma instant water heater in our first van, the water came out practically  boiling  and the water pump didn't pump the cold fast enough to cool it down :roll: :lol: in any case, we wouldn't have had enough!

The other thing that is a consideration for us, Riggy (and of course this may not be a problem to you), is that using a lot of water for a shower means refilling and emptying the tanks too often (we have 100l tank so it's not tiny but it wouldn't last long if we showered with gay abandon (whoever he is)).

Here's an instant hot water type one on ebay
good luck
-H


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

relay

im a married man and i dont want to shower with any gay abandon (whoever he is)    

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 

thanks for the info will look into the ebay item now

cheers

:? :? :?


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## 88728 (May 9, 2005)

> Ours lasts 3 to 4 WEEKS.


 8O johnsandywhite what size tank(s) do you have? Everyone thought we were crazy for asking for 800 litres!

Our current 135 litres lasts 2-3 days, 1 shower a day. We use 10-15 litres on a shower, I'm guessing, no probs.


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

Hi *benandlizzie*. Our old Coachmen (sold) had a 60 gal tank (none of this messy litres for us). We shower once a week.  As I mentioned, it lasts us around 3 to 4 weeks. We wet down. Soap up. Rinse off. Sometimes, we use the bucket and cloth method. I think people nowadays put too much on cleanliness and not on being clean. There is a difference. 8O


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## phoenix (May 9, 2005)

Perhaps a bigger water heater tank?
Or set the temperature higher and add more cold at the mixer tap.

We've never had a problem, both shower without water going cold or stopping. So we fill up more often, so what? I have to use the shower to wash my hair, as frozen shoulders mean I can't lean over washbasins for long enough. Not usually room for two in a MH bathroom either!!

Lyn


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## Riggy (May 9, 2005)

what size heater do you have Lyn


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

I know it was a while since this thread was posted. But I just found this link to something that may be a solution? :-

http://tinyurl.com/dc67e


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## 93606 (May 1, 2005)

i realise this was last months post, only just seen it. i had the same problem - was trying to shower myself and a 2 year old - 10l is just not enough. Looked at various options - including coupling 2 water heaters in tandem, but in the end went for the eberspacher air & water heater. This runs off the engine, or when hooked up it has a little heater thing that takes diesel from the tank - therefore no gas used. It uses very little diesel. In addition it has an electric immersion heater too for when hooked up. The advantages are that the hot water tank is much bigger - we have 40l - and you can go up to 60l i believe. Also as it runs from the engine it actually heats up while you are driving - so can have an instant hot shower anywhere, and it stays warm for hours. Even if you have been on site for days and the water is cold, it only takes 10 minutes on diesel to heat 40litres. i always run with the tank & heater full. Only disadvantage is that you spend longer in the shower and have to fill up every couple of days - will do about 6 showers before empty. We have a 100l tank, and a 20l reserve ( both cold ) plus the 40l hot water tank so carry about 160l of water. It is the best thing i have bought for the van. It also of course works as a heating sytem - connected into the blown air system. As it is so warm i had the gas fire removed and filled the space with a digibox & dvd ! Yes i know its not roughing it, but when a 2 year old goes to bed at 7.30 it is nice to have something to do / watch.
i hope this helps to answer the original question


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