Looking for water heating options that are really immediate. Many say they are but reading comments they say they aren’t always. Looking for best option that’s semi-budget friendly. Advice please?
Greetings & Welcome!
The water in the line between the water heater and the faucet isn’t normally heated. So for instant hot water, the water heater and the faucet would need to be a single unit. In some countries they haave electric faucets & shower heads that do provide instant hot water, but they’re not common in the USA.
Cheers!
"Everybody has excuses, but the wise have jobs & money." ~ Money Matters
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Thank you! Does this apply to “Propane Tankless Water Heaters” too? I’ve used a set up that looked similar in other countries…and the water was hot right away…not sure if they were elcetric or propane, Also not sure if that makes a difference in speed of heating.
Greetings!
Yes, it applies to all, the line between the heater and the faucet will not be heated, but once that is cleared, you will get hot water.
Cheers!
"Everybody has excuses, but the wise have jobs & money." ~ Money Matters
The fastest hot water system I have used is by Joolca; https://www.joolca.com . I have been using this system for two years when I camp off grid at my cabin in Northern Ontario. Typically, it takes just a minute to produce a stream of hot water.
Thank you! Maybe what I need to be looking at is a 5-6 gallon water tank that stays heated and ready to use. Something like this: amazon.com/Ariston-Andris-120-Volt-Mini-Tank-Electric/dp/B07RT72MV6
Do you think this would make instant hot water?
Greetings!
The problem with that is it’s going to be a power hog to keep the water hot constantly. At least with a tankless, it will only use power/fuel when actually in use.
Cheers!
"Everybody has excuses, but the wise have jobs & money." ~ Money Matters
The best you can probably get without using all of your power is to use an electric in-line Tankless heater (there’s plenty of discussions about these units). And place it as close as you can to the faucet or shower. A propane heater will have venting requirements that could limit your placement of the unit. And you will only be able to have “instant hot” at one of your plumbing locations for example either the kitchen faucet or the shower - not both.
Something to maybe explore is a residential hot water dispenser like the Franke Little Butler, but I’m not certain of the power consumption or if it can be used with all of the vibration in a van.
Thank you Steve! I appreciate your response.
It also depends on what you need the instant hot water for. If it’s for your shower, then you will need an On Demand heater that can handle a few gallons at a steady rate, verses if you simply want your tea water right away when you wake up, that could be a much smaller system. I bet you though this could be just a simple question and answer 
Thank you, Van_Dweller! Sorry, I thought Id responded long ago.
Greetings!
No problem, we’re only human, but thanks for the acknowledgement. 
Cheers!
"A wise man learns from both the successes & failures of others." ~ Off Grid
Where I grew up all water heaters were tankless and natural gas or propane based. They heated metal pipe run through the heater. It was not really 100% immediate hot water, not just because the line with cold water needing to clear, but also metal of the gas burning assembly needed to heat up over some time. Took a while actually! If you put a bit of water into a cold metal mug and put it on top of propane stove, that water would take some time to warm up.