We have a Bailey provance this is our first van and we got it new in oct 06. Van is great but just wondered if anyone uses the shower in their van and if so how long does the water stay warm. When we have shower it dosen't stay warm enough for 1 full shower this is with the 240v heater, someone suggested putting the gas on at the same time as it would heat the cold water coming in quicker i have tried this and no difference so firt thing am i using it right i have the gas supply switched on and when i turn the knob to gas the thermostat goes green but i dont hear any gas igniteting just a thought do i have an ignition switch that i dont know about or is it the one on the fire. I will pop into my dealer as he is really helpful but thought id like to know if it was just the way they are and i was expecting to much but someone told me they can all shower family of 4 no problems
so please help as i am now having to share a shower with the wife (only joking if you read this sweetheart)
The hot water tank only holds about 9 litres so you must not expect too much.
But it is correct that putting on the gas as well as the electricity will give you a bit more hot water. Not sure about how your water heater works, on ours we just flick a switch on the electrics panel and the gas bit is all done automatically.
When using the shower you need to first get wet, then turn off the water while soaping, then rinse off. I really do not believe you can shower 4 people from 9 litres of hot water. 2 may be possible, but we allow 20 minutes for the water to reheat between users and always refill the aquaroll and empty the wastemaster just in case. A lot will depend on how much hair you have too. DD has long hair so uses a full tank, while OH who has very little hair is a half tank man!
You can tell if the gas is burning by feeling if the gas vent is warm, you have removed its outer cover I presume? It will not work otherwise.
Our water heater holds 10 litres. With a full 40 litre aquaroll, we get two good hot showers when using just the mains electrics, and do not run out of water.
After initial dowsing, we turnoff water whilst soaping body, then turn water on again to scrub and rinse.
We find men can shower fine but women cant (mmmmmm) 9 litres,so we tend to pick sites with nice showers.But gas and electric do give you a hotter shower.
------------- jacko or denise.
COOL RUNNINGS.PEACE BE THE JOURNEY.
We always hest the water up with both gas and electric as we have found it gets hotter quicker and for some reason does seem to stay hotter for longer when running it.
You dont always hear the gas igniting but if you get a green light then its lit, if it goes red then theres a problem.
My advice is, is whoever goes first soak, turn off, rinse, turn off. Whoever goes second then just keep it running.
You dont mention how long you leave it before you take your shower. In some cases this can be upto 45mins but less if you use both gas & electric.
We are very happy with our shower and hardly ever use site facilities. My only worry is that in the summer its going to be too warm and thats just the cold water.
On our water heater when the green light is on the gas is lit and heating the water up , when the green light goes out the water has reached the set temperture , if your water heater works the same it could be your not leaving it on long enough to get hot .
We have an early morning routine. The water heater switch is fitted in the front panel of my bunk, so I switch on as soon as I wake up. Next, I switch on the convector heater and send warm air to the bathroom. Then I make ourselves a cup of tea. I open the bathroom mini Hiki one notch, then one of us goes in shower. Next one goes in immediately afterwards. Last one wipes down the shower cubicle.
Opening the mini Hiki and keeping the blown warm air going maintains a cosy atmosphere and prevents condensation in the bathroom.
Whilst OH gets breakfast ready, I refill aquaroll, empty grey water, do the toilet chores (if necessary) and wash hands.
We are then ready to have breakfast in the awning, then have the whole day for whatever we want to do.
Since having the end bathroom, we find the comfortable facilities cause us to rise and shower earlier than most. We have usually finished breakfast whilst others are still going to the on site showers.
Quote: Originally posted by jennifernn on 06/2/2007
The hot water tank only holds about 9 litres so you must not expect too much.
But it is correct that putting on the gas as well as the electricity will give you a bit more hot water.
I don't think it gives you more hot water as the boiler only holds 9 or 10 litres and does not expand for more hot water however it does make the water hotter so it lasts a little longer. We are hopefully fitting an extra electric only boiler in series with the current boiler within the next few months and hopefully all hot water problems with disappear.
just make sure your water's thermostats set to the highest setting then you can mix more cold in it and it should last longer. If you have kids like me though don't forget to turn it down afterwards or they'll burn their hands! like mine did!
Ian....it does give you more hot water to use as the cold water entering the water heater is heated more quickly when using both gas and electricity. And if you take a few minutes to do the soaping/shampooing part then this leaves even more time for heating up the cold water that replaced what you used to get wet to start with. Seems logical to me.
BTW....not all vans have adjustable thermoststs on the hot water.
If on a CC or decent site we use the site showers when possible. DD uses the regular ones, I get to use the disabled place as I need help, so OH uses it too. Saves on the water fetching and emptying! But using our own is great in bad weather, we have end shower room, would not be without it.
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Topic: Hot Shower
