The Story Behind Australia's First Certified Portable LPG Hot Water System

In 2006, there was no such thing as a certified portable LPG hot water system in Australia. If you wanted hot water away from a powered site, your options were cold, expensive, or complicated. Nobody had brought a product to market that was safe enough, practical enough, and certified to Australian gas standards.

That is where Country Comfort started. Not with a business plan. With a caravan renovation and a walk to the amenities block that Rhonda decided she was done making.

The problem that started everything

Rhonda and Steve were renovating an on-site caravan. The work was consuming and the days were long. Every time Rhonda needed a shower, she walked to the amenities block. One day she did not feel like making that walk anymore.

"We need a hot water system." That was the beginning of Country Comfort.

Electricity was the obvious option. The caravan park said no. Gas was the alternative, but there was nothing available that was designed for portable use, small enough to mount on a van, and certified to Australian standards. The certified portable LPG hot water system simply did not exist in this country.

So Rhonda and Steve went looking. They sourced internationally, found a supplier, and began working on a unit that could be brought to Australia. The supplier they found in that initial search is the same supplier they work with today, more than 22 years later. When Rhonda talks about that relationship, she describes knowing each other's families, and a level of trust that comes from two decades of building something together.

Two years to get certified: the fight to bring this product to market

Getting AS2658 certification was not straightforward. The Australian Gas Association had never seen a product like this. A portable, tankless, LPG-powered instant hot water system had no existing certification pathway. The people responsible for approving gas appliances in Australia were being asked to certify something that had no precedent.

They were not immediately keen.

The process took two years. Engineers flew in from the overseas supplier. Rhonda and Steve attended meetings in Melbourne. The unit was tested against Australian standards. It was knocked back once. They went through the entire process again.

In July 2012, Country Comfort was handed its certification. Originally certified through SAI Global GSCS20224 and current Certificate number GMK10277. The product launched onto the Australian market that same month.

Every Country Comfort unit sold since then carries the AS2658 safety compliance plate with that certificate number. It is not a marketing claim. It is a plate on the unit.

What AS2658 certification actually means for a buyer

AS2658 is the Australian standard for portable gas appliances. To hold this certification, a unit must be designed and manufactured to meet specific requirements for gas valve quality, ignition systems, flame-failure protection, and overall build materials.

For Country Comfort, certification locked in the component specification from day one. The stainless steel burners and full brass gas manifold. The stainless steel faceplate. The specific heat exchanger design. These are not choices Country Comfort made for aesthetics. They are the configuration the certifying engineers required to meet the standard.

That is why the product has not been cheapened since 2012. It is not possible to swap out certified components for cheaper alternatives while maintaining certification. What you buy today is built to the same standard as the first unit certified in July 2012.

Why the stainless steel faceplate matters in Australian conditions

Australia runs hot. It also runs cold. A product used on a corrugated dirt track in the Pilbara in summer is operating in very different conditions to the same product in the Victorian high country in winter. Powder-coated finishes degrade under those extremes. Stainless steel does not.

Country Comfort customers have taken the unit around Australia in camper trailers over red-dirt roads. They have used it at alpine campgrounds in sub-zero mornings. The unit keeps working because the construction spec was set by engineers who understood what Australian outdoor conditions actually look like.

The first show: Rural Scene Caravan & Camping Show Wauchope, NSW, 2012

Country Comfort's first official public appearance after certification was at the Rural Scene show in Wauchope, NSW, on the Mid North Coast. They had been advertising in equestrian, caravan, and camping magazines before the show. The phone was already running hot.

Rhonda was taking orders on the phone while Steve drove to Wauchope. By the time the show wrapped, they had moved around 750 units and were placing a new container order on the way home. Both of them were doing everything because, at that point, Country Comfort was exactly two people: Rhonda and Steve.

It still is. In more than 20 years and across 76,000 units sold, every customer who has contacted Country Comfort has spoken directly to one of the two people who created it.

That is not an accident. It is a deliberate decision. When someone calls with a setup question, they are not routed to a support team who read from a manual. They speak to the people who have seen every possible setup configuration across two decades of real-world use and can tell them exactly what will work for their situation.

What 76,000 units sold actually looks like

Country Comfort is used across camping and caravanning, equestrian and horse wash, mobile dog grooming, off-grid cabins and tiny houses, farms and rural properties, and more applications than Rhonda and Steve could have predicted when they started.

Units have been taken on long-haul trips around Australia, down corrugated outback roads. A group of 30 people showered from a single unit in a single day. A customer used theirs every single day for more than ten years. Another bought three units for different purposes at the same property. Horse float manufacturers have been installing Country Comfort as standard for years.

None of those stories came from advertising. They came from a product that does what it says, backed by two people who answer the phone when something is not right.

The unit count and what it does not reflect

The 76,000 figure reflects units sold directly through Country Comfort. It does not include units on-sold through retail partners or resellers. It does not include the customers who bought a second or third unit after their first. It is a floor, not a ceiling.

What this means if you are considering buying today

The portable LPG hot water market in Australia has grown significantly since 2012. There are more products and more price points than there were when Country Comfort launched. Some of those products are good. Some are not.

The questions worth asking about any unit are the same questions Country Comfort had to answer to get certified in the first place:

- Is it AS2658 certified? If yes, ask for the certificate number. If not, it has not been through the Australian standard.

- Who do you speak to when something goes wrong? A call centre, an email form, or the people who built it?

- What are the construction materials? Stainless steel or powder coat?

- What is the warranty, and how long has the company been honouring it?

Country Comfort's answers: AS2658 certified, GMK10277. You speak to Rhonda or Steve. Stainless steel faceplate and full brass gas manifold. And a warranty from the company that invented the category in Australia.

Frequently asked questions

Is Country Comfort AS2658 certified?

Yes. Country Comfort holds AS2658 certification with certificate number GMK10277. This is the Australian standard for portable gas appliances. Every unit carries the AS2658 safety compliance plate.

Was Country Comfort really the first certified portable LPG hot water system in Australia?

Yes. When Rhonda and Steve began the certification process, the Australian Gas Association had no existing pathway for this type of product. The certification process took two years, including a knockback and a second full assessment. Country Comfort was certified in July 2012 and was the first of its kind on the Australian market.

Who owns and runs Country Comfort?

Country Comfort is owned and run by Rhonda and Steve, the founders. The business has operated this way since 2006. Every customer who contacts Country Comfort speaks directly to one of them. There is no call centre.

Why does Country Comfort use stainless steel instead of a powder-coated finish?

The unique stainless steel faceplate, unmatched industry stainless steel burners and full brass water manifold were part of the certified component specification set during the AS2658 certification process. The materials were chosen to meet Australian gas standards and to handle the full range of Australian outdoor conditions, from outback heat to alpine cold. Country Comfort has not changed this specification since 2012 and is still standalone in the water heater world.

How long has Country Comfort been in business?

Country Comfort has been operating since 2006, with the product officially launching onto the Australian market in July 2012 following certification. More than 76,000 units have been sold in the years since.

What is the Country Comfort warranty?

Country Comfort is backed by an industry-leading warranty. This warranty is offered by the same two people who built the product and have been supporting customers since 2012.

Want to find the right setup for you?

Browse the Country Comfort portable hot water system range to see the full lineup of packages and accessories. If you are setting up for camping and caravanning, the camping hot water system page walks through the most common configurations. If you need hot water for horses, the horse wash setup page covers the equestrian-specific details.