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Hello all,

I am considering swapping a propane-only HWH to an electric/propane model and wanted to ping you folks to get a feel for the level of effort and skill needed to do so. I have a '01 Zanzi 3646 with a Suburban SW10 D currently. While not using the coach heavily yet, I plan to go 50% time in the coach in the next year or two with "boondocking" being the rarer case. My thoughts are that maybe its not worth it due to cost and effort while weighing the fairly low cost but inconvenience of propane fills.

Would love to hear some opinions and those who might have done this upgrade.

Thanks!

Chuck, The hardest part (in my mind since I did the same years ago to a class C) is finding a source of 110 power and figuring out how you are going to put a switch in the circuit if that's the option you want to have. The actual tanks are exactly the same dimension, and the hookups are the same, just the added 110 power wires.
The previous owner of mine converted over to a dual power unit and went cheap - as in he put a 12' piece of romex onto the wires for that circuit with a cord end and usually just plugged it into the 110 outlet on a power pedestal. I ran a new wire and put a switch inline from my power panel down to where my hot water tank is and cleaned it all up, so now all I've got is a guarded switch (so that I don't turn it on by mistake when the tank is empty), plus on the back side of the tanks there is a switch there to turn on the element (I don't use it since I have switched power, but a lot of people do - to each their own).
As far as cost goes, you have to decide what you want, truthfully. I only have a 6 gallon tank, so I use both gas and electric for our water for showers (the rest of the time I leave it on strictly electric if we are connected). Our boondocking is few and far between since the wife likes to have the comforts of power and water when we go out, so our gas is used for those roadside stops and the likes normally.

chuckster wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:31 am Hello all,
I am considering swapping a propane-only HWH to an electric/propane model and wanted to ping you folks to get a feel for the level of effort and skill needed to do so. I have a '01 Zanzi 3646 with a Suburban SW10 D currently. While not using the coach heavily yet, I plan to go 50% time in the coach in the next year or two with "boondocking" being the rarer case. My thoughts are that maybe its not worth it due to cost and effort while weighing the fairly low cost but inconvenience of propane fills.
Thanks!

Chuckster
My Suburban SW10 D uses very little propane if/when it's CONTINUOUSLY ON for 3-4 months.

IMO you answered your own question: "Not worth it.

stuplich@ymail.com wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 1:11 pm

chuckster wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 11:31 am Hello all,
I am considering swapping a propane-only HWH to an electric/propane model and wanted to ping you folks to get a feel for the level of effort and skill needed to do so. I have a '01 Zanzi 3646 with a Suburban SW10 D currently. While not using the coach heavily yet, I plan to go 50% time in the coach in the next year or two with "boondocking" being the rarer case. My thoughts are that maybe its not worth it due to cost and effort while weighing the fairly low cost but inconvenience of propane fills.
Thanks!

Chuckster
My Suburban SW10 D uses very little propane if/when it's CONTINUOUSLY ON for 3-4 months.

IMO you answered your own question: "Not worth it.

I suppose they must be pretty well insulated then. Thanks for the opinion!

Chuck,

I could be wrong, but I vaguely remember that they might have made an adapter kit to add electric heating to the gas hot water heater. Might be worth looking into. FYI, my propane heater does not take much fuel to run either.

I wonder how this could be accomplished? Seems like electric heater coils hard to add around tank? Dunno.

chuckster wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 5:37 pm I wonder how this could be accomplished? Seems like electric heater coils hard to add around tank? Dunno.

chuckster
With a HottRod kit.

See how to videos here: https://tinyurl.com/y6pk9jxp

chuckster wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 5:37 pm I wonder how this could be accomplished? Seems like electric heater coils hard to add around tank? Dunno.

Chuck, The bad thing about doing the HottRod kit (or any others like it) is that it replaces the anode rod (which is a bad thing in my experience). I filter all water that goes into my rig, regardless where we are at, and even then we ruin an anode rod every year from it corroding (as it's designed to). You take that out of the equation, and the tank is now the easy target for corrosion. Just my .02

05wingrider wrote: ↑Tue Sep 22, 2020 4:48 pm

chuckster wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 5:37 pm I wonder how this could be accomplished? Seems like electric heater coils hard to add around tank? Dunno.

Chuck, The bad thing about doing the HottRod kit (or any others like it) is that it replaces the anode rod (which is a bad thing in my experience). I filter all water that goes into my rig, regardless where we are at, and even then we ruin an anode rod every year from it corroding (as it's designed to). You take that out of the equation, and the tank is now the easy target for corrosion. Just my .02

Concerns about the Anode Rod with a HottRod kit?
Read this: http://www.casitaclub.com/forums/topic/ ... er-heater/

https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/man ... 20V1.3.pdf

I found this helpful PDF covering Suburban water heaters produced by The Heartland Owners." It shows a plug for the electric element to the left of the drain plug/anode rod. I'd be surprised if all the water heater tanks didn't come ready for an electric element. If that's the case, isn't there some way of upgrading a non-electric Suburban water heater to electric?