Electric water heater

Hi,

    Can anyone tell me if the electric water heater is hooked into the inverter? If I turn on the electric switch, will it heat the water from the batteries?
    There are two reasons I ask this question. 1. Will it run down the house batteries while parked?    2. Can I heat the water while driving? 

Thank you in advance,
Tom

The 120 V heating element operates only when you are connected to shore power or are running the generator. The heating element would quickly drain your batteries if it were wired to the inverter. The propane burner on the heater is for use when you are not on shore power or running the generator. You can use the propane side when you are driving or dry camping. The propane heater requires 12 V from the coach to operate its igniter and control circuits whether on 120 V or 12 V.

When 120V is available, you can run the electric and propane heaters to heat the water faster!

I would be careful about using the propane on the water heater when driving.  I inadvertently did that once on a trailer and the heat from the exhaust marked the side of the trailer.  That was in the 80's so maybe the routing of exhaust has been improved with time.

Reviewing and adding.....

Hot water heaters opperate 2 or 3 different ways, depending on the model of the hot water heater.

1) 110V from shore power or generator (may also use 12v for electronic support)

2) propane to heat the water and 12v for electronic support

3) from the main vehicle engine, anti-freeze running through the hot water heater

We special ordered a 2007-2350.  The 2007 brochure stated a 3-way hot water heater, but we got a 2-way.  I never did question that, though I should have.  Now years later, I am glad I have a 2-way hot water heater for mechanical simplicity.  Having heater hoses from the V10 engine running back there would be a plumbing mess.

On our trips, we rarely have shore power and minimally run the generator, so we don't have hot water available all the time.  We usually heat the water with propane, sometimes when driving.  So far no issues from the heater's exhaust.