RV Water Heater – Gas or Electric

As we were fond of telling our rental customers, there are 4 appliances that are on fire and only one is safe to have on while going down the road – Well the RV Water Heater is NOT one of them! The water heater must be OFF while the vehicle is in motion – including the pilot light (if applicable); and
all pilot lights or LP gas appliance must be off when filling the gasoline or LP gas




There are two ways to heat the water in the water heaters:  Propane (LP) or Electric.  Some RV’s are LP only, some electric only, but most are dual system of LP or Electric depending on your camping circumstances.

Propane (LP) Water Heater

When the RV water heater is powered by propane will ignite in one of two ways:  A pilot light (manually light with a match) or is direct spark ignition (DSI) system.

If your RV water heater has to be ignited manually, it will typically be done from an access panel on the exterior of the RV.  There will normally be directions in that area for lighting the pilot light.  Following are generic instructions for lighting:

  • Turn the lighting control dial to the position labeled “Pilot” or “Pilot On”.
  • Depending on the model of the controller you will need to either hold down the reset button or turn the lighting control know PAST ON to the pilot position
  • With a long wooden match or camp stove lighting device, light the pilot light.
  • Once lit – continue to hold the pilot “ON” button for about 30 seconds to get the thermocoupler hot
  • Turn the control knob to the ON position
  • If the pilot goes out, repeat steps B.C and D
  • Once the water heater is burning, set the temperature control to the mid-point
  • Close the access door panel

For a Direct Spark System (DSI) you will follow these steps:

  • The water heater is activated by turning on the switch
  • Even though your water heater runs on LP gas, it does have an automatic ignition system which requires battery power and a few moments to light itself
  • Initially the light on the switch will come on to indicate that the heater is trying to light itself
  • On many RVs when the switch light finally goes out and remains out, the heater is properly running – this is rather couter intuitive becuase there is no light to remind you that the water heater is on – Remember This and Know Your System!
  • You can confirm this by listening to the noise of the pilot light
  • Turn the water heater on 30 minutes prior to needing hot water.  You may leave it on at your campsite because it has a thermostat, but please turn it OFF when you are driving for safety sake.




Electric Water Heater (or Electric Mode)

If your RV Water Heater is electric or has the option of electric or LP this is a nice feature for when you are camped and have full hook ups so that you can save on your propane.  Operation is simple, its the flip of a switch, however just as with the propane water heaters, it will take about 20 minutes to heat up the water and it will likely be thermostatically controlled.

Even though there is no spark or flame associated with an electric water heater, it is still advisable to have it OFF while driving as there will not be a power source for it. But remember it will only operate on electricity if the RV is plugged into a power source.

Some Common Water Heater Issues

Problem:  The water heater will not ignite

  • Check to see if you have LP gas in the tank
  • Check the condition of the house battery (on models with DSI ignition)
  • Turn the hot water faucet – if the water is hot, the heater may not be igniting because the thermostat is automatically controlling the igniter, and it may not need to ignite.




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