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Score one for RV consumers!
What do I mean by that? Well, back at the 2015 RVIA show, we made a video introducing people to Truma (the company and the products). One year later in 2016, we couldn’t swing a cat on the show floor without hitting a Truma-equipped rig. (We have a cat. Don’t swing cats.) The reason Truma has been able to grow like this is because we, as RV consumers, have been pulling the product through the supply chain into the market. Basically, RV manufacturers told Truma, “Your products are too expensive. Consumers want cheap crap.” Truma didn’t believe them, did their own research, got a foot in the door, and the RV buying public is doing the rest. Hear it straight from the CEOs mouth:
Almost every RV buyer complains at some point about cheap components and shoddy quality. I like this video because it shows that sometimes, someone gets it right. What manufacturers used to see as a liability (e.g. a more expensive water heater, or furnace), is now seen as a quality feature that sets their models apart. It’s episodes like this that will change the industry for the better… one component at a time.
In the video, you’ll see us running around highlighting different rigs that contain a Truma product. Here’s a list of the ones we saw at the show that contain either a Truma Combi furnace and water heater combo, or the Truma AquaGo tankless (hybrid) water heater:
- Airstream BaseCamp
- Coachman Galleria
- Coachman CrossfFit
- Dynamax REV
- Dynamax Isata 3
- Dynamax Isata 5
- Forest River Berkshire (All)
- Forest River Legacy (All)
- Forest River Charleston (All)
- Forest River Sunseeker/Forester (All) Ford Transit
- Hymer Aktiv
- Leisure Travel Vans All (Option on Wonder)
- Pleasure Way (All models)
- Fleetwood Discovery (All)
- Holiday Rambler Endevour (All)
- Winnebago Travato (All)
- Winnebago Era (All)
- Winnebago Paseo
- Winnebago View/Navion
- Winnebago Aspect
- Winnebago Via
- Winnebago Forza
- Taxa Cricket
We fully expect this list will have grown by next year. After all, nobody uses a phone from the 1960s anymore, we shouldn’t have to settle for 1960s technology in our RV water heaters either.
Cheers!
If you are interested in purchasing a Truma Combi for your US or Canadian RV, they are now available from a North American seller (So you do not have to import from Britain or Germany)
http://www.trumaheaters.com
After months of issues (comfort and operation) with our factory installed Atwood on-demand OD50 water heater, on our 2026 Berkshire XLT 43b, we decided we MUST get it replaced. We did! We had the Truma AquaGo Comfort installed and OMG, it’s GREAT! How amazing to turn on your faucet and have hot water within seconds. Yes, I said seconds. The Truma AquaGo Comfort produces hot water faster than I get at home. My grown kids will again now travel with us on our RV…the grandchildren always would, but we had to shower them in bathhouses, because our Atwood on-demand was NEVER consistent. The wife and I are ecstatic. While the Truma AquaGo Comfort is not cheap (in excess of $1,400 installed), it IS worth every penny!!!
I may have been one of the first retail customers in the US of the Truma AquaGo. I bought it because the wife wanted to take 29 minute showers. I installed it in a 2015 Trailmanor and we got hot water in about 3 seconds to the faucet from a cold start. We are back in the market again for a motorhome and we will not buy one that does not have it! I posted on every forum that I visited about how happy I was with it, so I think I helped get the word out like you did…but now where near the impact!!!
29 minute showers, lol! Your wife rocks!
I had a Truma AquaGo installed in my 2008 Airstream Classic 25fb trailer. It replaced the Atwood 6 gal water heater. When we picked up the trailer from the installer we only had one night to use it before winterizing. Reading the documentation, Truma limits the water temperature to 120F. From my limited use I wish the temperature was set about 8-10F higher to make up for longer water runs and cold weather. Maybe when I use it during the Spring and Summer 120F will be enough. Love the simple winterization and not having to heat up 6 gallons of water and waiting for the water to heat up. I hope altitude doesn’t affect the Truma like it did my Atwood which kept relighting no matter what I did to the flue adjustment.
You may want to call Truma customer support to see if there is a way to override and change the high water temp. They’re very helpful.
I suspect you’ll do better at altitude as well… we’ve never had any trouble with our Combi at altitude.
Hi, James,
when I checked the Reimo website (it is something like your Camping World in Germany) in english, they would not list any Truma components. When I do it in German, you get everything you want:
https://www.reimo.com/de/suche_solr
And if you go to the Truma website in German, you also get a list of everything they have:
https://www.truma.com/de/de/heizsysteme/uebersicht-heizsysteme.php
And if you get this book which just got finished in English and is the “bible” if you want to build a Motorhome all by yourself, Ulrich is describing in detail, how he did it on over 500 pages and drawings and photos and installing a heating system is also in it:
https://www.selfbuildmotorhome.com/
Keep up the great work, all the best
Matt
More reasons to learn German!!
Thanks, Matt!
James, absolutely spot on with the quality comments and the Truma Combi unit is outstanding. Thanks for your review and keep it going. The industry needs the nudge you provide.
Here in the UK, EBay have the truma boilers listed in all their guises. So they can be had. I don’t know about diesel truma units. My van has a webasto blow heater that is diesel powered and super efficient, they do a combined unit to heat the water too, like a truma combi. It’s the webasto dualtop. I asked a guy from webasto at a show a couple of years ago about servicing the unit. He said, just run it, needs no maintenance……. They are fairly noisy on start up though.
Jame
We have a 2015 59G. Is it possible to replace current hot water and heater system with the Truma? if so, how much do you think system and labor would run?
Well, I don’t want to tell you anything is impossible, but…
It’s something far more difficult than I would attempt. And I’ve rebuilt an entire motorhome.
If you could even find anyone to do it, It would cost thousands and thousands of dollars.
Also, Truma doesn’t sell the Combi in the aftermarket. They just don’t.
Sorry for the bad news.
James, even though Truma said they do not sell directly to American customers, your viewers could probably import a unit from Britain. The german company Reimo (reimo.com/en) lists Trumas but will not export themself. I have a Truma 6E CP plus in my year old RV (a small class A) but would have gone with an Alde Compact 3020 had I the choice (Alde works like home heating with fluids in radiators, they are also a Swedish company). I really like your yuotubes on rv life even though my rv life is in Sweden and hopefully soon Europe.
Sincerely
Ulf Bylin
Sweden
P.s. Please feel free to edit my post.
No editing necessary.
Glad to have Sweden represented here on The Fit RV!
Interesting idea to import from the UK. Perhaps someone will try it and let us know.
Can you get the diesel-fired Truma units over there?
When I was in Germany I had an old motorhome with an Alde 2925 heater/water heater. Though it was about 35 years old, it still worked perfectly. Now that I’m in the US and planning to build a motorhome, I want something like the Alde, but with diesel rather than propane. I really liked the quality of the Alde heater. I plan to install a Separett toilet, which is also Swedish. Come to think of it, the bus I’m converting is an Olympian, which is now owned by Volvo. It seems that this RV will be mostly Swedish. 🙂
Tony
Lol. Swedish RV conversion? I like it!
If you were to go “Full Time” in the future, the rig this couple put together looks like something to consider (WARNING…. drool worthy features on display)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh_d31rWt2o&t=87s
They bought a military truck chassis cheap on:
http://www.govplanet.com/
Then had their living space built and mounted by GXV
http://globalxvehicles.com/
I know expedition vehicles are typically pricey, but I’m wondering how much they saved buying the chassis used for a few thousand at auction
Interesting stuff!
I don’t know anything about the pricing on those, but I have to imagine the “chassis at auction” is something the builders encounter a lot. Who knows, it may be factored into their pricing already?
Their website is crammed with lots of extra details.
http://twoifoverland.com/
They are a bit cagey on how much they spent. But they claim a rig can be well outfitted for less than $100K and up to a million if you go crazy.
To go this route, you’d have to PROMISE Stef NOT to do anything like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h99gUlJB1Gc
OK, but that looks like fun!
Let me ask you, considering Lance has a few yeas on it, are you considering a replacement? And would you go back to a diesel rig?
Currently, we have no plans to replace Lance.
If we were to replace him though, the whole gas vs. diesel is a non issue for us. At least in a Class B.
We would probably prefer to stick with the ProMaster chassis – just because we like the way it handles so much.
One thing that could swing us back to diesel would be if we could get one of the diesel powered Truma units (or something similar from Espar or Webasto) in the rig. That would completely eliminate the propane for us.
Not that we don’t love the Truma unit we have – but it would be nice to have the Truma AND to be free from propane.
Nothing is better than a new mouse trap!
Since you have extensively worked with both the “old” and “new” technologies, what observations do you have about energy savings (propane and electric) with the Truma?
Andy & Kim
For me to have done a real comparison, I would have had to have made some readings on our old rig, which sadly, I didn’t.
But anecdotally, I can say we get three solid days of heat and hot water in sub-freezing temperatures from what seems to be an undersized propane tank using the Truma.
Also, the Truma is the only RV furnace I’ve ever seen that actually condenses moisture out of the fuel. That’s similar to very high-efficiency appliances that you might see in a home.
Beyond that, it’s just comfort!