# Suburban Vs. Atwood Water Heater



## Insomniak

Since we took delivery of our 301BQ in July, I think we've made 5 or 6 trips. The last two have been to the mountains where nighttime temps have been in the high 30's and low 40's, so not terribly cold. We have been running out of hot water when showering, even though we do the military-type thing and turn the water off between lathering and rinsing. The 301BQ has a 6 gallon Suburban water heater, and for showers we have both propane and electric turned on. In between showers, we always wait until the heater finishes and shuts off. Our old 2008 Outback 28RSDS had a 6 gallon Atwood propane / electric water heater, and I don't remember ever running out of hot water, unless we took a 10 minute shower.

I have checked out the heater and the burner, and everything seems to operating normally. I'm actually starting to think about replacing the Suburban 6 gallon heater with either a 10 gallon model, or going back to an Atwood. The strange thing is, looking at photos of the water heaters on-line at Camping World, the photo of the Atwood XT water heater (which makes even hotter water and uses a mixing valve) looks strangely like the heater in our old 28RSDS. Is it possible that our 2008 model had a better and more expensive water heater than our 2012 model? Or is this just different photos on the web site? Anybody out there have a 2007-2008 model Outback who could eyeball their water heater to verify this?


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## Blip

If it helps you any, I had the same trailer (2011) and we are a family of five. I found out if you leave the hot water heater only on propane, it heats up much quicker. I use to use propane and electric the same time, and it would not recover as quick. Since using on propane, and maybe waiting 15 minutes between showers it was fine. I wanted to switch heaters as well, than I tried that, and it has been fine.


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## outback loft

I have the Suburban water heater and only run out of hot water in the winters, when I am getting icy cold water flowing into it as I use the hot water. Otherwise I can take a 10+ minute shower with the water on the whole time out of the 6 gallons, the key is to not have the pressure turned up all the way. Turn it on just enough to get a decent flow and then leave it on. I had the Atwood water heater on my last trailer and would actually run out of water with that one.


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## KTMRacer

We have the suburban 6 gallon propane/electric in both my trailers and have to really work to get either to run out of hot water. we can do back to back showers and dishes and not worry. we don't scrimp on showers, but don't waste water either.

As far as atwood vs. suburban, looking at the spec's suburban claims to have a much faster recovery rate than either atwood. the suburban also has a much higher input BTU rating than the atwoods. The suburban should be able to recover 16 gal/hr with propane and electric.

Are you also sure the electric is really turned on?? As shipped from the factory, the electric switch inside the suburban is OFF. you need to go and turn it on. It's inside the unit under the outside access cover. If your trailer is like mine, all the electric switch inside the trailer does is turn on the relay for the HWH but if the main switch inside the WH is off, no electric to the WH.


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## Insomniak

The electric is definitely on. When we first set up, I always turn the WH on electric for hot water and then add the propane later for showers. That's funny though, the specs I've read show the Atwood heaters with a much better recovery in gallons per hour. Unless somebody got their numbers screwed up.... What I've seen for the Suburban 6gal LP/elect is 10.3 gal/hr and 11.6 gal/hr for the Atwood.

I suppose this could be a function of having really cold water coming into the trailer, but we've been going to this campground for 5 years now and have camped in much colder temps than we did recently. I dunno, but I hate running out of hot water. Two trips ago, I ran out so quickly I had to stand there for 5 minutes while the WH made enough hot water just so I could rinse the soap off.

The only other thing I can think of is that maybe the thermostat or some other electronic goody isn't functioning properly and the burner isn't firing consistently. I do remember on our last trip, while watching TV, I saw the "fault" light come on, then go off while one of the kids was showering. It may always do that though and I just never noticed?


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## deanintemp

Could it possibly be that the newer shower head has a higher flow rate than the old? If so, maybe a more efficient shower head would help. It could also be the way the newer trailer is piped with the pipes being longer and closer to cold air? Is it possible to gain access to the pipes and install pipe insulation? Just a few other thoughts...good luck.


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## Boomer

Is it possible that your hot water tank bypass (for winterizing) is open or partially open?

Boomer


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## Bob in Virginia

My 301BQ also runs out of hot water, usually when the DW is showering. She's told me that she wants a tankless water heater installed this spring. There are a couple available, the RV-500 has been around for several years and runs around $1000. The Girard is new and costs less, but reviews have been only so-so, as you have to reduce the water flow in the shower to get good HOT water. Higher flows = lower temps. I hear that Atwood is developing a tankless that may be available at the end of February at a decent price - $7-800. Insomniak, you might want to think about a tankless instead of a different brand of tanked water heater.


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## Insomniak

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll check the winterizing bypass, but I'm pretty sure it's not open, as we never use it. Could have been bumped when I was crawling around the compartment installing the water accumulator though. I've looked at tankless water heaters in the past, but they just don't seem to be quite ready for the RV market and they're expensive. Some folks use the portable tankless heaters and plop them down outside next to the trailer as an alternative. If I can't get good results by fiddling with pipe insulation and all that, I may be looking at the Atwood XT heater. The six gallon model will provide the equivalent of nine gallons of hot water simply by heating to 160 degrees and mixing with cold water as it leaves the heater. Their specs (at least for the 10 gallon model) shows 104 degree mixed water being delivered at the tap at 2 gpm for up to 15 minutes before the temp starts to fall off. Starts out at 160 degrees in the tank, gets mixed with cold water at an adjustable valve to make 135 degree water as it leaves the tank and goes to the faucets where you further reduce the temp as you do now. The height is about 12-1/2", which is the same as the Suburban, but it's about 3-1/2" wider, so some cuting into the trailer wall would be necessary. I'd like to find out if anybody has one of these XT water heaters and hear what they think....


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## Insomniak

Still debating the pro's and con's of Atwood XT vs a larger Suburban water heater. I don't think tankless will be an option for me simply because you're always using propane and not the campground electricity. I actually have run out of propane before and it wasn't pretty. I can't find any reviews of the Atwood XT, and although many places have them in stock, nobody seems to have ever sold one. I've also read a few comments about the mixing valve going bad as well. The water heater / pump compartment on the 301BQ is so big (about 21'H x 32"D x 38"W), I could actually fit a Suburban 16 gallon gas/electric heater in there. What's puzzling though, is that even though the Suburbans have 12,000 btu input, their recovery rate is still less than the Atwoods with 10,000 btu input.

Anybody have thoughts about a 16 gallon gas/electric Suburban vs a 10 gallon Atwood XT?

It would be soooo nice to take a shower in the trailer without having to do it "military" style


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## Michael1

My DW has the same problem with running out of hot water; however, I do not have the problem b/c I stick to the Navy style shower. I think the Suburban hot water heater maybe undersized for the 301BQ, especially in regards to placement. I think some of the heat loss could be due to the amount of travel between the hot water heater and the shower itself. I agree with the amount of room in the hot water heater compartment that an upgrade would be really nice, but I don't know if I can justify spending that kind of coin to accommodate my DW's 20 minute showers!!!

Michael


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## Boomer

I am not sure if your HWT has an adjustable thermostat or not, but could you measure the temperature of the water after the burner has cut off. It may be possible that this temperature is much cooler than usual due to a faulty thermostat. This would in effect give you less hot (hotter) water to mix with the cold for a shower?????

Boomer


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## Insomniak

Boomer said:


> I am not sure if your HWT has an adjustable thermostat or not, but could you measure the temperature of the water after the burner has cut off. It may be possible that this temperature is much cooler than usual due to a faulty thermostat. This would in effect give you less hot (hotter) water to mix with the cold for a shower?????
> 
> Boomer


Nope, these water heaters don't have adjustable thermostats. Next time I have the trailer at the house, I'll check the temp of the water. The WH appears to be working normally, so I may just have to blame this on too many people (sometimes 6) using too much hot water at the same time and having too small of a tank. Being located fairly far away from the shower doesn't help much either, especially in cold weather. We try to heat the trailer mainly with space heaters, so the underbelly doesn't get a lot of heat from the furnace.


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