permanent water heater bypass

I'm wondering if there is any harm in keeping the water heater in permanent bypass position.  After my first summer podding, I have found it is faster to heat up water on the stove for dishes and "bird baths."  I doubt I'll ever use the shower because I'm usually dry camping and conserving water (old habits from my tent-camping days die hard).   Of course I'd have to be careful not to accidently hit the "on" switch.

Thanks to all you phps who answer questions for us newbies and not-so-newbies.  I really appreciate the time you must devote to the website and have learned so much in my first season.

No reason for it to hurt a thing..

just seems like a waste to me personally, we went to a camper to get away from all that tent camping stuff.. LOL.

And I agree with Goose, shut that breaker off, and maybe tape a note to yourself inside the WH compartment..

   I'm with the others wondering why you don't want a shower. No, we're not ganging up on you, just curious. DW and I have a pup (looking at pods now), and a shower for dry camping was a must-have. We camp for several weeks at a time in national parks, and we're 'hard core' hikers, so we need that shower at night.  We used to tent camp too, and did the outside hair washing and inside-tent sponge bath, throwing gray water on the ground. That's a no-no now.
 
    Of course, it's work to manually fill water and to catch and dump gray water.  But, just one more camping task. 

If you really don't want it, take it out.  Assuming you have a place to store it.  By taking it out you would gain some storage space.  If later on you decide to sell it just put the heater back in again.

Terry

Originally posted by janice I'm wondering if there is any harm in keeping the water heater in permanent bypass position.  After my first summer podding, I have found it is faster to heat up water on the stove for dishes and "bird baths."  I doubt I'll ever use the shower because I'm usually dry camping and conserving water (old habits from my tent-camping days die hard).   Of course I'd have to be careful not to accidently hit the "on" switch.

This subconsciously nagged at me all day... Hot water from the hot water heater is almost instant if you leave it on all the time or plan ahead a little bit.  I leave mine on pretty much the whole time I'm set up at camp.  I might turn it off if I'm going to be gone all day.  I could turn it off more often, I guess, but I don't know that there is a big reason to.

The propane or electricity is only on for a short time whenever the thermostat drops below a certain point.  I suppose since the propane switch is right there on the wall, the temptation is to turn it off until you need it, but why?  You probably don't do that at home.  The water heater is pretty well insulated and it costs very little to heat water that's already hot.  With electronic ignition there isn't even a pilot light.

We dry camp a lot.  Our favorite places mostly don't have hookups at all, so we're used to conserving water too and 30 gallons is an iffy supply for two people in one place for a week, but so far we've done okay most of the time.

TT