Do I have an electric water heater? - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

mrdorkdar · 08-13-2020, 12:47 PM

So my window sticker for my 2003 Hilo 22 shows an optional 6 gallon dsi and 110v electric water heater but when I’m in the trailer I don’t see any switches for it. Is there some place to see how to turn the heater on if I don’t want to use propane?

JackandJanet · 08-13-2020, 01:49 PM

In my trailer, the same switch that turns the propane heat to the water tank turns the electric heater on too. It's a 3-position rocker switch. In the middle, everything is off. Tilted to one side, it's propane and to the other it's electric. Do you have this kind of switch?

- Jack

anchorwood · 08-14-2020, 12:30 AM

In my 1999 22' Classic, the electrical switch is a little rocker switch on the heater itself, accessed by opening a cabinet door.

It took me a little while to realize I had electric as well as gas hot water. It heats a lot slower than the gas but is fine for maintaining once the water is hot. Just be sure to turn it off when not using it.

oldcarguy · 08-23-2020, 09:28 PM

On our 2307C there are two water heater rocker switches on the monitor panel (panel is on the side of the refrigerator cabinet, facing the front of the trailer) - one starts the gas heater function, the other starts the electric heating element.

We've only used the electric function once or twice because it heats so slowly - not sure if it works this way, but if the trailer was hooked up to shore power, it may be possible to use both in tandem to keep the water hot with minimum propane use.

JackandJanet · 08-23-2020, 11:57 PM

oldcarguy, the water heater in our trailer uses very little propane. I always run our water heater, as well as the refrigerator on propane, even if we camp in a place that has electrical hookups (which is rare, since we prefer boondocking). We've been out for about two weeks, using propane for some of the cooking that we might do inside, as well as hot water, the refrigerator and now and then the furnace if it's cold, and we've NEVER had to fill a propane tank. At the most, one will be empty after the trip, but the other will still be supplying gas.

- Jack

oldcarguy · 08-24-2020, 12:43 AM

We also use very little propane - we've spent over a week at a time in no-hookup coastal campgrounds here in Northern CA, and even with wind and very cool temperatures we've never even used one full propane tank, let alone both of them.

If we were going to stay in a spot with full hookups for several days, I might leave the electric side of the water heater going just to insure there's always hot water (I generally don't leave the propane water heater going when we're not there, and I HAVE forgotten to restart it occasionally), but otherwise there isn't much reason to use it.

Trblandy · 08-24-2020, 05:49 AM

You will find a picture of the switch on my 2003 2203 T at this link. I’ve kept the switch As pictured and always use propane. And I fire up that burner as needed. With the wall switch off, water stays warm for several hours. https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/att...i-lo-2203t.jpg