When I am on my own in the van I leave the water heater on all the time, when hubby arrives he always switches it off and when I go to wash the dishes I have to wait for the water to heat which I find a pain. He tells me that by leaving the heater on I will burn out the element is this the case?
I would say no as, it should be on a thermostat. depends on how much you use it i suppose? I use mine all the time due to 3 kids using toilet them washing hands, food prep etc. i suppose i could turn it off during the night but i dont.
We were only on about this at the weekend, I switch it on when we're setting up & it's on the whole time, we've never had a problem but hubby worries in case it can cause damage when you run out of water?
Elements have a finite life, but through element jacket/sheath corrosion rather than the electrical side.
Obviously the more often you use it, the more heat/cold cycles it will go through, but once turned on it will last a bit longer if on continuously, rather like a PC or a light bulb.
It's the on/off thermal cycling that does for it in the end.
Mine always stays on and I always make sure the barrel has water in. If theres no water in the aquaroll though the pump has nothing to push out the hot water replacing with cold so won't run out in the tank.
When on hook-up we normally leave it on when we are in the van but switch it off when going out for the day. When not on hook-up (i.e. on gas) we only run it when needed (it only takes about 15 mins to warm up)
For years we used to leave ours on from when we arrived on site until we left again. Lately we just switch it on when we need it ... takes very little time to heat up.
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Hi BOBSONK, Switch mine OFF at night(some times it gets too warm under bed), switch ON before going to toilet block, water hot when I get back, switch it OFF before going out for the day, return switch ON and put kettle on, hot water ready for the washing up. On cold nights I leave ON, helps keep cold chill off van.
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We turn ours off if we go out and at night to reduce the slight fire risk due to it being unattended. I dont think its very environmentally friendly to just leave it on all the time, and could help to keep the costs down for the site which I assume may benefit everyone in the future, by the site not having to put their EHU prices up by as much.
I turn mine off at night as it is located under the rear bunks and I don't like the fact it is on when my son it sleeping above it incase anything happens (worrying about nothing I know but I like to be safe).
It only takes 10 mins to heat the water back up up again in the morning so I put it back on again just before breakfast so it is ready for the dishes.
Cheers
Richard
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We leave ours on all the time we are in the van. It uses less electricity than switching it on and off all the time.
John, how do you know that this is correct ? I would have thought the opposite is true. A truma ultrastore holds 10 ltrs, if its on overnight, say 8 hrs, I would have thought the element will cut in perhaps 5 mins or so in every hour just to keep it warm, so around 40 mins during the night, (just to maintain the temperature), instead of just 15 mins to warm it up from cold in the morning, so I reckon 3 times as much electricity. Over the whole country, for every caravan, that probably adds up to a whole powerstation.
We leave ours on all the time we are in the van. It uses less electricity than switching it on and off all the time.
I would have thought the element will cut in perhaps 5 mins or so in every hour just to keep it warm, so around 40 mins during the night, (just to maintain the temperature), instead of just 15 mins to warm it up from cold in the morning, so I reckon 3 times as much electricity. Over the whole country, for every caravan, that probably adds up to a whole powerstation.
That's just as much a guess as you say mine is although years ago I was told that leaving the hot water on permanantly at home was more economical that letting it go cold and heating it all up again. That's my principal and I am sticking to it!
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Topic: Water heater leave on or off.
