Does Atwood Gas/Electric RV Water Heater AT94186 Heat Faster with Electricity or Propane
Updated 07/24/2018 | Published 07/23/2018
Question:
I just ordered a replacement water heater, which is the same as the one that failed. We have owned our Park Model RV for 10 years and have always used the electric for heating the water. Our neighbor has the same unit and has always used the propane. Does the propane recover the heat faster than the electric ?
asked by: Ken C
Helpful Expert Reply:
Thank you for your purchase of the Atwood Gas and Electric 10-Gallon Water Heater # AT94186 to replace your RV's failed unit.
In most RV applications an electric power source will tend to be more consistent than a gas source and so for that reason Atwood's technician told me that in typical use electric power delivers faster heating of the water. This is not a rule so much as simply the typical behavior of these devices.
RV gas pressure can change quite a bit from when a tank is full to when it is half-full, and also from changes in ambient temperature. A 20-lb propane tank with 4.7 gallons of propane in it will put out only 20-psi pressure at 10-degrees Fahrenheit, but that same tank will put out 135-psi if the outside temperature is 100-degrees.
So the difference in heating speed relates to the consistency of the incoming energy source, not so much to one method of heating necessarily always being better than the other.
