Turning your Prius into a home away from home requires extra effort. Just as a tiny home often requires downsizing the footprint of your appliances, a Prius can’t always accommodate the items you’d normally fit in a trailer, van, or an SUV. Fortunately, there’s a workaround for many things, and this compact water heater is one of them.
Measuring just a tiny bit more than a square foot, it heats up water up to 167 degrees in seconds, and provides endless hot water, dependent only on your supply of propane and your willingness to haul heavy containers full of water in the event that it’s not connected to a hose. The water pressure is provided by a 12v DC pump that runs off your car’s cigarette socket, and for the truly geeky among us, you can connect the pump to a small 12v battery and leave your shower at the campsite while you go grocery shopping at the lodge. All you need is a cigarette socket, connected to alligator clamps that connect to your battery.
The hoses that connect to the heater are standard, with quick disconnect adapters. They are too tight when they ship, but once you loosen them, they will fit securely onto the heater and not leak. The pump doesn’t indicate the power draw, but it seems to be somewhere around 1 amp. If it ever goes bad you can replace it with a small pump used for fountains. The unit comes with a carrying bag that holds all the attachments and your propane tanks. A small green tank will last for several showers, but you might want to use an extension hose and a 20 gallon tank if you have a large group.
Last but not least, you’ll probably want a privacy tent if you intend to shower in a public place. Fortunately your options are many, with prices as low as 30 dollars, and a small popup privacy tent will fold down to take up almost no space at all. You may also want to buy a small, foldable kiddie pool, so that you aren’t leaving the ground muddy or soaking wet for the next person in your group who needs to shower. Small ones cost about $20 and with around 4 pounds. Check the area of your privacy tent and the diameter of the kiddie pool to make sure it will fit. To drain the pool you can either attach a hose that runs downhill, pump it out manually, or use another 12v pump to siphon your grey water into whatever container you use for that purpose. In the event that your dumping your water on the ground, use biodegradable soap and don’t dump it near a lake or river.
There are other logistics that I leave up to you, like whether you want to rig something that will hold the shower head, or setting up a system that will deliver hot water alternatively between your kitchen sink and your shower. As you can see, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
Enjoy your shower!
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Tiny Prius Travel 