BougeRV water heater assessment: sizzling showers to go

Scorching water is like web connectivity for many Verge readers: you simply anticipate it to be there. However that’s unlikely to be the case this summer time when tent tenting at a music pageant or road-tripping into the nice unknown. That’s the place BougeRV’s battery-powered bathe is available in.

The $310 “Portable Propane Outdoor Camping Water Heater” from BougeRV isn’t solely optimized for search engine discovery, it additionally delivers an expensive spray of sizzling steaming water to the unwashed, be they human, canine, or cussed pots and pans. Cost up the battery, connect a propane canister, drop the pump right into a jug of water, and also you’re able to get sudsing.

It’s so helpful and versatile that I’ve ditched my plans to put in a everlasting bathe cabin and costly sizzling water system inside my journey van, even when I don’t fully belief it.

My current portable shower consists of an 11-liter water bag, a guide foot pump, and a sprig nozzle. To make it sizzling, I’ve to warmth water on the range or grasp the bag within the solar for a number of hours, but it nonetheless prices over $150. For $310, the BougeRV heated bathe looks as if a cut price.

The BougeRV system can produce a most warmth output of 20,500 BTUs — about half of a typical residential fuel water heater. It measures 15.75 x 6.7 x 14.57 inches (40 x 17 x 31cm) and weighs 13.2 kilos (6.21kg), making it compact and pretty light-weight with two large handles for straightforward carry. The hoses and cabling make it somewhat unwieldy — able to producing nice chaos inside a small area except dealt with with care.

Meeting begins with screwing in a simple to seek out one pound (454g) propane canister that attaches on the rear of the unit. That’s the dimensions BougeRV recommends, however you wouldn’t be the primary to as an alternative run a hose out of your RV’s current propane tank to the stress regulator on the water heater. Two quick-connect water hoses — labeled blue and crimson for idiot-proof attachment — route the water out of your chosen receptacle, by means of that fuel furnace, and out by means of the showerhead. The lengthy 2.5m (8.2 ft) bathe hose permits for versatile placement of the heater.

The small water pump measures simply 2.24 inches (5.7cm) throughout, so it simply matches by means of the opening of ordinary jerry cans. The pump is electrically powered by the BougeRV unit, which is powered by its rechargeable battery, an AC wall jack, or 12V adapter that plugs into the cigarette jack of your automobile or photo voltaic generator.

The 2500mAh / 12V (30Wh) built-in Lithium-ion battery takes about three hours to cost from the included charger. A full battery and one-pound (454g) canister of liquid propane fuel can pump out about an hour’s price of sizzling water earlier than each run dry. The bathe’s fuel consumption price is 20MJ/h.

Alternatively, it can save you fuel with a protracted press on the pump button to place the bathe into chilly water mode — ideally suited for rinsing off your mountain bike, climbing footwear, or moist go well with, for instance.

The dial on the entrance of the heater controls the dimensions of the flame. I did a handful of exams, beginning with water measuring between 13 and 16 levels Celsius (55–61 levels Fahrenheit) based on the show on the BougeRV water heater. With the dial turned all the best way to the left, the water pouring from the bathe head rose to 23–25C (73–77F) after only a few seconds. Turned all the best way to the suitable, the temperature maxed out at a steamy 34–41C (93–105F) in about 30 seconds.

Recycling the water could make it even hotter, in the event you dare. After two or three cycles on max, the heater boosted the temperature above 51C (124F) earlier than the unit shut down with an error, by design. It’s not meant to exceed a median water temperature above 50C (122F). A easy on/off reset the E6 error.

Water circulate is between 2.2 and three liters per minute — effectively under what you’ll be able to anticipate from a 9 to 12 L/min circulate of a contemporary dwelling bathe. That’s nonetheless acceptable, in my view, and much superior to nothing, which is the standard different when tenting away from dwelling. The bathe head has a rocker change to toggle between hardish, combined, and gentle water circulate charges in addition to an on/off limiter button to assist preserve water between lathers.

It’s surprisingly quiet even with the pump turned on. There’s some fast clicking to ignite the fuel (adopted by a whoosh of flame) each time the circulate of water returns, and the pump produces a low-level hum that’s shortly drowned out by the sound of spraying water.

The water heater can be protected against tilts, bumps, and an empty water supply. After I leaned my assessment unit over about 30 levels, the unit shut off. It additionally shut off routinely after two minutes of making an attempt to pump from an empty bucket. A grasp override on/off change on the button prevents the unit from turning on by chance if the on/off button on the entrance is bumped throughout transport or storage.

I’m impressed by BougeRV’s water heater, however I’m somewhat involved about its sturdiness over time. After utilizing it on the seashore on a windy day, I bumped into bother as soon as I returned inside: the heater didn’t warmth and the water was decreased to a trickle out of the showerhead. It’s attainable that some sediment trapped within the traces decreased the circulate price under the 1.2L/min required for ignition. However, the difficulty was resolved after a couple of minutes of fidgeting with the hoses and filters, and turning the unit on and off once more.

BougeRV presents a two-year guarantee and says the water heater is rated at IPX4. So whereas it’s proof against splashing water, there’s no assurance supplied towards mud and blowing sand.

I do have just a few different gripes. These hoses could be a tripping and snagging hazard, and the plastic clip meant to carry the showerhead to one of many lifting handles is simply too weak to maintain it from rotating and spraying your environment. I additionally want BougeRV bundled the heater with an adjunct bag to hold all the facility adapters and hoses. And when placing the machine away, it’s a must to tip it ahead to empty all of the collected water from the inlet and outlet — there’s no automated expulsion mechanism.

However actually, these are trivial points for what the unit does at this value.

Previous to this assessment, I had been within the late planning levels of getting a bathe cabin, water pump, fuel heater, extra-large water tank, and all obligatory plumbing put in in my Sprinter van. Whole value: about $4,000. I’m now satisfied {that a} transportable system like what BougeRV presents is a greater possibility. Why pay a lot for one thing so everlasting that’s solely used a couple of minutes every week, for possibly half the yr?

As a substitute, BougeRV’s $310 transportable water heater can operate as an out of doors bathe throughout the summer time months or be moved inside (with air flow) when coupled with a portable shower curtain and basin, all for lower than $600. That appears like a greater use of my cash, and possibly yours in the event you’re an aspiring vanlifer.

And when the van is parked, I can deliver these sizzling (or chilly) jets of water wherever my adventures would possibly take me: to scrub up after mountain biking within the muddy forest or kitesurfing within the salty sea, to scrub the canine exterior after rolling in shit once more, or to take a refreshing bathe throughout a sweaty four-day music pageant.

A near-identical water heater is bought below the Ranien and Camplux manufacturers, however these have bigger 4000mAh (48Wh) batteries and record for between $349 and $399. So it’d pay to buy round.

Images by Thomas Ricker / The Verge