Water Heater draw?

[Pete Masterson]

I guess it's a question of what does your water heater draw? My
AquaHot has a 2000 watt heading element -- that would eat a 1kw
generator for lunch. There should be a manufacturer's plate on the
hot water heater giving the electrical draw. Since a heating element
doesn't have an extra draw (like a motor starting up) you can
probably draw 80-90% of the rated power of your generator safely --
but check your generator's operating manual. Many generators are only
rated at a peak value and have a much lower "continuous" value. So 1
kw might _really_ mean 500 or 750 watts continuous.

Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
aeonix1@...
On the road at Lockhart Texas



On Nov 14, 2007, at 5:40 PM, Scott Forman wrote:

> I have to use my bus at a Football game this weekend, and the verdict
> is still out as to whether my generator will be operational. The good
> news is that I really don't need much 110v this time of year at a
> tailgate. I have a small "suitcase" 1KW generator that I plan to use
> to get the batt chargers running. If I have nothing else on, will
> this
> 1KW output be enough to run my water heater?