Small Gas Water Heaters Available?

[kwright]

I'm intending to install a small water heater in my under-construction garage. Say, a 12 to 16 gallon unit. I'd also like to fire it with propane as I already have propane being run to the garage for the radiant heat boiler. Note the intended usage of hot water is for a wash up sink and a couple of hose connections for the occasional need to wash something. As my usage of hot water is limited, I don't have the need for a large water heater so a large unit would be a waste.

Well, was I surprised. I went to both Home Depot and Lowes and neither of them offer a gas heater in anything smaller than 29 gallon, even special order. Small, very small, heaters are available in electric, down to five or six gallons (even smaller if special order).

I'd never given it a second thought, that being, a small water heater not being available in gas. I guess I figured that small gas-fired water heaters would be used in hunting/summer cabins, camping trailers, etc... especially propane.

Either I'm looking in the wrong place (entirely possible) or small gas water heaters are not available. Note I also did a quick search on the web and didn't find much there, either. I didn't check with a plumber.

Am I looking for something that's not commonly available?

 

[Ryan87LX]

Did you look in camper supply, hunting type places?

I'd think something like this would be useless to most people in a house, but I agree that there must be something like this in motorhomes and camper trailers.

I'm sure that you will find something.

 

[mikeyr]

what about those instant hot water heaters ? no tank and continuous hot water, seems to me that should work.

If you don't mind going electric, you can get 5gallon water heaters for boats, they are 12V and also have 120V hookup, I would think that end up very expensive but maybe you can find a trashed one at a boat yard. I had to replace 2 in my years with boats because the 12V part went out but the 120V part still worked.

I really think a instant hot would be best.

 

[kwright]

what about those instant hot water heaters ? no tank and continuous hot water, seems to me that should work.

If you don't mind going electric, you can get 5gallon water heaters for boats, they are 12V and also have 120V hookup, I would think that end up very expensive but maybe you can find a trashed one at a boat yard. I had to replace 2 in my years with boats because the 12V part went out but the 120V part still worked.

I really think a instant hot would be best.

Though the instant water heaters are an option, I can't justify the cost given my intended use.

Thanks for the thought, though.

I'd just as soon not go electric as I have LP readily available and I could avoid the apparent cost premium of using electricity for the energy source.

I can readily buy a small electric water heater, Lowes had several different small model on the shelf.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

If you haven't already bought you boiler, you could get a combination boiler that has a seperate heating loop for domestic hot water, or you could use a heat exchanger and small tank. Either solution is going to be more expensive than an electric water heater, or a 30 gallon gas unit.

While you are correct that electricity is the most expensive "fuel" to use in a water heater, if you aren't going to use a significant amount of hot water, it may not be as much of an issue. In fact, if you put it on a switch and just turned it on when you thought you'd be needing it (say 30 minutes before), the energy cost wouldn't be significant.


Phil

 

[Franz©]

Bad News
Any new propane water heater comes with a hydrocarbon sensing safety. A heater under a garage will probably go nuts seeing enough gasoline fumes to shut down.

Camper type units may be available without the sensor.

 

[kwright]

If you haven't already bought you boiler, you could get a combination boiler that has a seperate heating loop for domestic hot water, or you could use a heat exchanger and small tank. Either solution is going to be more expensive than an electric water heater, or a 30 gallon gas unit.

While you are correct that electricity is the most expensive "fuel" to use in a water heater, if you aren't going to use a significant amount of hot water, it may not be as much of an issue. In fact, if you put it on a switch and just turned it on when you thought you'd be needing it (say 30 minutes before), the energy cost wouldn't be significant.

I already have the boiler, so using a heat exchanger will get involved.

Your suggestion regarding electric may just be the route I'll end up going, though. In the bigger scheme of things, it may just be the easiest and most straightforward.

I'm going to look into camping heaters a bit first, before making a decision.

 

[UnSub45]

If you already have a boiler you could also go with an indirect water tank and heat it as a zone off of your main system.

Suburban and Atwood are two companies that make heaters for RV's.

http://www.rvcomfort.com/suburban/products/water/water.php

http://www.atwoodmobile.com/Products/default.cfm