How long should it take to heat the water?

It took 90 minutes to heat the tank of water to 60c last night in my 2013 Kingham. I did have the heating on too but this seems an awful long time. 

Is there possibly a fault with the heater?

I'd try again without the heating on, if it still takes over 1 hour, you may have a problem.

Our van heats quicker on gas than leccy.  Try a time comparison

I was wild camping near Stone so on Gas alone.

Seems a long time, I'm sure I wait less than 30 minutes and can get a full shower.

Greyhound wrote:Seems a long time, I'm sure I wait less than 30 minutes and can get a full shower.

30 minutes is not far off, as long as you are heating only the water and using gas. I reckon on 40 minutes for two careful showers.

Electric alone takes much longer, but if you adopt Peter's suggestion it takes about 30 seconds!!    I jest of course, but with both gas and electric together you would be amazed at the heat output, and if you turn the blower to high it sounds like a jet engine.

You boys are hard core camping in this weather.

Out of interest I checked the specs. They say heating time from 15 degress C to 60 degrees C
boiler only 20 minutes
boiler and heater 80 minutes

asuming your starting temp was less than 15 degress C then it seems you heater is within spec

How do you know when the water hits 60?

Also the specs show the max heat output in Gas mode is 6,000 watts but in mixed mode it is 5,800 watts so (slightly counter intuitively) the maximum thermal output is found in gas only mode. Electric mode is just 1,800 watts.  Figures for a Combi 6E from winter pack.

AutoSleepyDon wrote:How do you know when the water hits 60?

On our LCD panel the little icon (second from the left on the top row) stops flashing. Not so easy with the rotating dial type. 

If you can put up with the pair of grinning idiots and the plummy narration, this is quite interesting!

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The notes for my Combi 6E say that the maximum heat input for water is 2 kw on gas and 1.8 kw on electric. You cannot use the full 6 kw on gas alone to heat water alone.

If you are using ehu the choice is wider, in that you can select 0.9 kw, or 1.8 kw. What you seemingly cannot do is have both electric and gas heating the water at the same time. The notes are quite clear that the maximum heat to water is only 2 kw on gas alone, or 1.8 kw on electric (in which case there will be no gas heat input to the water.

Gromit wrote:

AutoSleepyDon wrote:How do you know when the water hits 60?

On our LCD panel the little icon (second from the left on the top row) stops flashing. Not so easy with the rotating dial type. 

It is easy to see when the water hits 60 on the older dial type of controller, because the orange heating light goes out. The heating light is in the controller that is used to set the temperature, not the controller that sets the energy source.

In my ignorance, I thought that the "Boost" choice, when on mixed fuels, resulted in the most rapid heating - of water and / or air.

Peter Brown wrote:

Spospe wrote:What you seemingly cannot do is have both electric and gas heating the water at the same time.

According to Truma, you can use them at the same time if you select mixed mode in the heating and hot water mode.  If you want to speed up water heating, turn the room temperature down.

You can use mixed mode but the maximum output (marginally) is when using gas only as (hopefully) this extract from p8 of the manual shows
6000 W on gas only
5800 W using mixed gas and electric.  seems the gas is limited to 4000 W when using mixed

Peter Brown wrote:If you want to speed up water heating, turn the room temperature down.

Yes I think that would speed up the water heating a great deal.

Gromit wrote:

AutoSleepyDon wrote:How do you know when the water hits 60?

On our LCD panel the little icon (second from the left on the top row) stops flashing.

Your right, Thanks.



I might have the same problem as the OP. I have it on Mix 2, BOOST and no heating and its still going after 30 minutes and the water is not that hot either. Van is warm as I'm using the Truma Comfort AirCon which has a 2 kw heater function which I never thought we would use but I can see it coming in handy for emergency water heating in the cold.
Obv not helped by me drawing water off every 5 minutes to see how hot is it.
I have not had the van long and this is the first time I have run the heater more than 5 minutes. I think I am up to speed with the theory but the practice is not working out unless I have a fault.

Never mind what Truma say, I'm going to let it cool down overnight and time it scientifically tomorrow on Gas and HOT.

AutoSleepyDon wrote:You boys are hard core camping in this weather.

I like going away in the winter, especially when you get those nice dry crisp days.

Away next weekend actually, hoping it will stay nice.  Just gives me more of an excuse to take plenty of winter ales to keep warm ;)

oAutoSleepyDon wrote:

Peter Brown wrote:

Spospe wrote:What you seemingly cannot do is have both electric and gas heating the water at the same time.

According to Truma, you can use them at the same time if you select mixed mode in the heating and hot water mode.  If you want to speed up water heating, turn the room temperature down.

You can use mixed mode but the maximum output (marginally) is when using gas only as (hopefully) this extract from p8 of the manual shows
6000 W on gas only
5800 W using mixed gas and electric.  seems the gas is limited to 4000 W when using mixed

Peter Brown wrote:If you want to speed up water heating, turn the room temperature down.

Yes I think that would speed up the water heating a great deal.

you are right in your figures for the heating side....6kw (gas only) and 5.8kw (mixed)
however, reading the online manual, for water heating this is not true.
electric only figures are straight fwd....0.9kw or 1.8kw
for gas only, the burner uses its lowest setting of 2kw
for mixed mode water heating this is not possible and the unit defaults to electric only at whatever level has been set...0.9 or 1.8kw.....

bolero boy wrote:for gas only, the burner uses its lowest setting of 2kw

Are you sure the gas mode is limited to 2KW for hot water only mode?
I think the manual contradicts itself.
I have been trying to time it on my own van but in the process found I have a fault in my van, so I have not been able to confirm for certain but it seems it will go from 10 degrees C to 60 degrees in C in about 30 minutes.

in the download manual from the website it says:

in Heating and Hot Water (together) mode....the unit automatically selects the operating level that is required (presumably, upto 6kw?)

in Hot Water mode....the water is heated at the lowest burner setting (i assumed 2kw as the settings are 2,4,6).

Peter Brown wrote:I've been asking around people who actually have the combi unit in their van and the consensus seems to be 30min at this time of year.

Peter, we have a combi 6E in our van and 20-30 mins is more than enough on 1.8kw electric or 2kw gas, when not using the heating...
however, as soon as you have the heating on as well, the boiler will be doing far more and cant heat the water as quickly...possibly twice as long...
water can be prioritised over heating by selecting BOOST (all this does is stop the heating)
similarly, heating can be prioritised over hot water by selecting BOOST (all this does is slow up the water heating)

I don't know whether I am lucky or not but the Rinnai heater in my van gives instant hot water. It is one of the geezer type boilers and doesn't have storage. I switch it on to full power, turn the temp knob to 40 (for shower) and I can go straight into the shower. The control is normally left at 40 but if I require boiling water I simply turn the control to the top. However, I am informed that these units cannot be fitted at the works anymore....

Not sure if our water heater is different being older but our routine is water on electric heat, kettle on, drink brew, shower. To boost the heat for management I then put the gas on. I havnt tried it on gas only because we have only been on sites with hook up especially during the winter. We have gone soft now. Being away in tents, trailer tents and the Duetto at Easter with frost or snow on the ground was normal for us . People wouldnt go away with us until it was at least June.