# Hot water Capacity



## jobla (Jun 18, 2006)

Anybody got any ideas on increasing hot water capacity. All of us with wives/partners will know how quickly the measly 10/12 litres of hotwater can disappear when our ladies indulge in hair washing and god knows what else, leaving us poor down trodden hubbies/partners to bathe in either lukewarm or cold water. Surely there is a way of increasing the amount of hotwater available through some sort of additional storage.

JohnB :wink:


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Water*

Hi

My tip is to heat the water to absolutely the hottest the boiler will take it, so that when showering, the hot needs mixing with a fair bit of cold and seems to last better.

I set my water heater to 60 and it works well. If I set it to 40, I am using a higher proportion of water from the boiler, vice cold water in the mix.

Also, make sure the boiler is on whilst you are showering and thus putting some heat straight back into the system

Russell


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Water to do*

Hello,

You could opt for a calorifier!

We had your problem with our previous motorhome (Truma heating - Gas Only). But with the ALDE, it is back up to temperature by the time the other person is dry!

TM


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## Hobbyfan (Jul 3, 2010)

Rapide 561's is my policy too and I find that by the time I've dried myself, brushed my teeth and had a shave, the water is hot enough for my wife to take her shower.

I reckon that fifteen to twenty minutes is ample for lots more hot water.

I suspect that adding further hot water storage would be a logistical nightmare.

Sometimes, when we're on aires or doing a bit of wild camping Mrs. Hobbyfan insists on the odd night on a decent site so that she can enjoy a long luxurious shower and wash her hair.

I make her pay of course.


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## Chudders (Jul 5, 2008)

As above I heat the water at 60 but when showering will often run the water heating on electric and gas together for a much quicker re heat time
Dave


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## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

We can both shower and washup with hot water to spare.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Just have a cold shower ya wuss!

Or

Shower together, now that could be interesting in a MH shower. Not an option for a Lardy like me although Mrs D is skinny. Hmm might have a go at that tomorrow.

Cheers
BD


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## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

My hot water takes only half an hour to warm up to 60.

Why not just wait till another tankful has warmed up? 

Or go first, leaving hot for your wife, and forcing her to be a bit quicker. The usual technique is to turn off the water whilst rubbing in the shampoo and then turning it back on again - maybe she's not doing this?


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi

Maybe look at how much water the shower head allows to flow. In our old van, an Autosleeper, It had two separate taps that controlled the temperature, these were difficult to turn on and off quickly so we used a trigger shower head that allowed very easy control of the water and did not waste any.

In our new van I soon realised that the very smart shower head which was controlled by a modern type of variable tap was passing far too much water so I have carefully plugged up every other hole in the small circular shower head. Don't laugh but I did this with some araldite rapid and a coctail stick :roll: ...and now not only does it pass less water and we can both shower without waiting but the spray it produces is far better :wink: 

Mike


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## foll-de-roll (Oct 29, 2007)

spykal said:


> Hi
> 
> Maybe look at how much water the shower head allows to flow. In our old van, an Autosleeper, It had two separate taps that controlled the temperature, these were difficult to turn on and off quickly so we used a trigger shower head that allowed very easy control of the water and did not waste any.
> 
> ...


Hi Mike

Could you not have replaced the shower head with the trigger type? Or are they too Hi-Tec?

As you commented, in the A/S Exec, we find by having the the trigger control allows you enough hot water, for two showers, as long as you set the mixer correctly

Andy.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

The more hot water you have the longer herself will take to shower.
that means more filling and emptying.

Dave p


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

foll-de-roll said:


> Could you not have replaced the shower head with the trigger type? Or are they too Hi-Tec?


Hi Andy

Yes I did think about doing that but in use we found that the modern mixer tap on the Autocruise was very good and did allow the water temp to be set and then very easily turn the flow on and off. It was just the amount of water that flowed that was wrong, far too much ... if we turned down the flow at the tap to save water the spray became feeble, so by blocking up half of the holes in the head we now have a good strong spray but only use half of the water :wink:

Mike


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## ActiveCampers (Jun 17, 2005)

Get a shorter hair style?


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## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

The Mrs likes showering in the morning, I like showering before bed, so I have the whole tank to myself if I want it 

You could use a thermos to store water made earlier, or if its sunny (!) leave water all day on the dash in something black. My Mrs likes a jug kinda thing to rinse her hair, so water in the sink first from another container wouldn't be inconvenient?

My Eberspacher makes hot water quickly enough that its never been an issue really though 


Jason


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## The-Clangers (Sep 18, 2009)

A Calorifier would be the way to go if you need more capacity. Our current capacity is around 12 litres, but you could increase that by another 25 by adding a Calorifier.

If you look at Force 4 Chandlery, they have a selction up to 25litres, but are around £400 odd.

David


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Low flow rate trigger controlled shower head (get them from boat chandlers. Boat users have to be VERY careful about fresh water usage, no Bornes for them in the middle of the "beautiful briny sea!!) is the best compromise in my book. 

I did think about installing one of those funny restrictors that most water companies now provide to actually reduce the flow rate but figured a trigger controlled head was a more useful gizzmo 

I paid less than a tenner for mine and it works just fine. I have set the mixer tap for the best temperature and just leave it. The shower head is in effect the "tap" that controls the flow.

I agree with the comment about heating the water to the highest setting, you use less hot water to provide the right temperture. 

Even if you provide extra hot water storage you still have to heat it up :wink: (and carry more weight around in the guise of the extra tank or whatever)


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## Roger7webster (Oct 10, 2006)

I had no electric water heating so I have fitted a 22ltr electric water heater obtained from CAK tanks 
Cost less than the Truma 400 watt heating collar and at 800 watts supplies loads of hot water in half the time. Temerature up to 70deg C 
Quite easy to fit if you have the space but smaller versions are available


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## SpeedyDux (Jul 13, 2007)

I put my flip flops on and walk to the shower block - usually not too far away. Plenty of hot water for both of us.  


SD


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## Roger7webster (Oct 10, 2006)

Yes you can but when its cold or raining its some times nice to use the on board facilities.
Roger


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## foll-de-roll (Oct 29, 2007)

SpeedyDux said:


> I put my flip flops on and walk to the shower block - usually not too far away. Plenty of hot water for both of us.
> 
> SD


I think that is called the KISS principle.  

Andy


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Be a bit more ruthless with your training methods! 8O

My friend with the caravan has to "remind" his wife occasionally when she stands under the hot water for ages - doing whatever women do in there? 8O

He makes sure there is just enough water in the container to last until she wants to rinse the suds off - then takes his time fetching some more. 8)

Even easier in a M/H. Time your exit carefully, knock off the pump as you leave, shut the van door quickly and scamper off with your fingers in your ears.

"_Didn't you hear me calling you_?" . . . . . . Quite truthfully, "_No Dear_!". 8) :lol:

Dave.

P.S. This advice is offered purely in the interests of conserving water.
Any hint of sexism, or any other 'ism is purely accidental! :lol: 
(It's also a true tale . . . I've heard the screams!! 8O )


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## motormouth (Jul 3, 2010)

Easy
Just have large posters of Cheryl Cole and George Clooney in the nude. Cold showers will then suffice. I'll leave it to you as to which one has the desired effect.


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## chickann (Sep 17, 2010)

Roger7webster said:


> I had no electric water heating so I have fitted a 22ltr electric water heater obtained from CAK tanks
> Cost less than the Truma 400 watt heating collar and at 800 watts supplies loads of hot water in half the time. Temerature up to 70deg C
> Quite easy to fit if you have the space but smaller versions are available


Hi 
we to only have gas to heat our water, and as there are four of us i can see showering being a nightmare, how difficult was it to fit an electric water heater, i gather that when u are on ehu it works off of that
cheers
ann


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