Hot water systems

Hi all, First post, so bare with me....
I am designing/building my own slide on camper for my ute, and I am thinking of adding a simple hot water system, for washing dishes and very short showers. I would prefer instantaneous due to space and weight. The only models I have seen are the 'Rezi' unit and 'RV Hot Water'. Both available fairly easily in Australia.
Couple of questions; Have anyone used/installed these units? If so, would you recommend for or against getting one? And which one?
Also, are there any other units on the market that I haven't seen on the www?
Any information will be appreciated.
Simon.

hi and welcome
have you considered a heat exchanger unit?
not really instant unless car is up to temp
but fairly foolproof and a lot of people love them

Hey,
Thanks for the quick reply,
I have considered that, and thanks for the reminder. Alot cheaper too. I think I penciled that off my list because it meant I had to have the vehicle running for a while before hand.
I will look back into those units and have a think...
Cheers again.
Simon

Welcome, and Sparra is correct

Seriously, if space is a premium don't bother with the hassle of a separate HWS. Even with a full-sized caravan like ours (that has a shower/toilet AND a hot water system) we don't always use the HWS. One kettle full(ish) of boiling water added to 7-8 litres of cold water provides enough nicely heated water for two children or one adult to have a shower using a 12V hand-held shower (which is how we do it, in spite of the shower, to conserve water). Wet down, soap down, rinse off, dry off. At least you're clean, is my motto.

Even when we DO use the HWS we use the same method, because we're not always in range of fresh drinking water so wasting buckets of it while we're taking a 20 minute shower isn't feasible.

We've also used the campfire to heat a 10L or 20L stock pot (sometimes we take one, sometimes the other). Sit it at the edge of the coals and let it go. Works okay for a modest fire, but if you like burning lots of logs, maybe hanging the pot over the fire using an A-frame is better for you - but either way, you get hot water, add it to a bucket and off you go.

Dishwashing is the same. We used to boil half a kettle and pour it in the semi-filled sink until it was at the right temperature.

An option if you want to consider it is a Coleman portable HWS, or an Aqua Cube (I think that's what they're called). Rays Outdoors sell them. They use gas cylinders but they're pretty nifty and heat water on demand - then you store them away wherever they'll fit.

I'd look to the Companion Aqua Cube, I have a Coleman hot water on demand and whilst it worked fine new it developed issues over time.

Good points Old.Tony, I have done the 'add hot water to cold water' trick before, but im just after a little luxury for the missus.
I will google both of the HW units you mentioned tanz, but from what i glanced at in the usual camping shops, they look fairly large and means I need to carry another source of gas. But Ill look into them again. Cheers everyone!

The carry bag I had with my Coleman had room for its charger and a spare gas bottle (or two). Bulky it was, but we bought it because the HWS in our caravan broke and we had need of a source of hot water when we couldn't have a campfire (eg National Parks or during total fire bans) and didn't want to just boil the kettle. Having the caravan allowed us the room to store it during travel - I would not have made the same choice if I had a camper trailer.

I have the latest top model cube, it comes with a built in battery, it also can be used from your own 12v or from mains power. the gas is a small bottle bought from camping outlets or hardware stores.
it has a tap on the side or a connection for a hoses or shower rose and you can chooses between them.
you can select how hot you want and the rate of flow.

The things im not that impressed with is, the pump is quite small so the flow rate is slow, this however is probably due to how long the heating process takes and leads me to my next negative, if the water you are using is really cold due to the time of year you are using it like winter the water that comes from the cube will need to be circulated to raise the temp to be suitable for washing dishes or showering.
The last time i used it was in winter and it was a very cold weekend (we even had snow just five minutes from camp) and i had to circulate the water through a bucket for a couple minutes.
the next point is they have the pump on the end of the hose due to it being a submersible type which stops you being able to have it tapped into you tank.

A mate has made his own system where he heats the water on the stove and then adds cold water to suit and then uses a high flow pump with pressure activation and has a tap on the shower head to control flow.
That works quite well but does take a bit of setting up.

Another mate has installed a continuos flow system from a caravan into the back of his patrol, this is the best unit i have seen, water is set to your desired temp and comes out at that temp straight away he has also hooked it up to a high flow pressure activated pump that can be controlled via a standard mixer tap that he has run to a flexible retractable kitchen style shower/tap head.

he does have to connect the gas when at camp for safety reasons and he does run a permanent 100mm flexible exhaust stack out the back doors of the patrol which has been neatly finished with a vent grille that is mounted of to the side of his drawers.

I can find out what brand he has if you like and get back to you, maybe hit him up for a pic or two as well.