Short answer: yes. If your RV’s tank water heater has both a propane burner and an electric element, running both at the same time is allowed, normal, and the fastest hot water your rig can make. The manufacturers publish separate recovery rates for each mode because they expect you to combine them.
There’s one real trap in these systems, and it isn’t the both-at-once part. Let’s do the numbers first.
The Short Version
- Gas and electric together is fine on dual-mode tank heaters, and recovery rates roughly add up
- A common 6-gallon Suburban recovers about 10.1 gallons per hour on gas, 6.1 on electric, and roughly 16 combined
- The real danger is dry-firing: running the electric element with an empty tank kills it in seconds
- Electric is slow but free at hookups; gas is fast; both is for showers in a row
The Recovery Numbers
Recovery rate is how fast the heater replaces the hot water you use. For a common 6-gallon dual-mode Suburban, the published figures are about 6.1 gallons per hour on electric, 10.1 on gas, and since both heat sources run independently in the same tank, combined recovery is roughly the sum, around 16 gallons per hour. (Retailer spec sheets quote that combined figure; treat it as “roughly,” not gospel.)
What that feels like in practice: on electric alone, the second shower waits a while. On gas, it’s a short wait. On both, a family can shower back to back and the little 6-gallon tank punches far above its size, because it’s refilling with hot water almost as fast as a low-flow head spends it.
The sensible defaults fall out of the price of the fuel:
- At a campground with hookups: electric mode, all the time. The pedestal power is paid for. Flip on gas too when you need fast recovery.
- Boondocking: gas only, and heat the tank when you need it rather than all day.
- Company visiting: both, and nobody gets the cold-shower short straw.
The Mistake That Actually Costs Money
The electric element must be underwater to survive. Run it in an empty tank, even for seconds, and it burns out. RV electrical writer Mike Sokol’s warning is worth quoting in spirit: a few seconds of dry-firing is enough, and RVs are uniquely exposed to it because we drain our tanks for winter.
The dangerous moment is spring. The tank got drained in the fall, somebody flips the water heater breaker while recommissioning, and the element dies before the tank ever fills. Two habits prevent it completely: turn the electric switch and breaker off before you drain the tank in the fall (our when-to-winterize guide covers the timing), and in spring, fill the tank and open a hot tap until water runs steady before electric ever comes back on.
While You’re Thinking About The Water Heater
Tank water heaters collect sediment, and a yearly flush keeps recovery rates at their published numbers. A cheap wand like Camco’s tank rinser attaches to a garden hose and blasts the sediment out of the tank bottom (we covered the how-to in our water heater cleaning post):
Suburban tanks also have a sacrificial anode rod that needs periodic checking, and choosing the right one has its own answer: our aluminum vs magnesium anode rod post covers it, and why Atwood tanks don’t use one at all is its own bit of RV trivia.
Sources: Suburban’s published recovery specifications (as listed by RecPro for the SW6DE) and Mike Sokol on dry-firing water heater elements.
