water heater options

Marksearay

Member
Sep 6, 2018
80
Orange beach Alabama
Boat Info
1999 da500
Engines
Dd6v92
Im in the process of replacing a 20 gal water heater. currently 240v. Has anyone had experience with tankless? Is this a viable option. pros..cons? Any other options? Marine rariton heater is of course more expensive. Saltwater environment. Comments?
 
What's the heat source for a tankless heater?

20 gallons is pretty big. You might be able to downsize to a 10-12 gallon for more efficient heating. Also many tanks are 120v.

What you do you mean by "salt water environment"? Do you have a raw water cooled engine that doesn't use an antifreeze coolant loop to deliver heat to the hot water heater? My boats with hot water have both had such as setup to use engine heat to provide domestic hot water when AC power is not available. Also, I'd think a boat your size has a generator as well.
 
I would think the tankless would have such a high amp draw as to overtax your shore power or generator capacities. I assume your boat has a 20 gallon tank so to hot water sources can be used at the same time. A tankless that could provide that much hot water would have a very high amp draw.
 
If you have a propane system with the requisite vented locker for the tank you might consider a tankless propane unit if there is space to install and vent it properly. Paloma and Bosch are both good units I have used in off grid applications , I do not know if they have any marine specific units
 
Tankless units pull a lot of amps, we just replaced ours with a Kuhma 20 gal 240 volt. Available at most boat stores
 

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