Furrion Tankless Water Heater - Cold Weather

[newbold1]

I find it aggravating and misleading to have an "Arctic Package" RV that can only handle temperatures below 39 degrees if you accept having no water. it's not just no hot water but no water period. The tankless water heater was installed with no ability to bypass it.


I emailed Grand Design the following:

My wife and I just purchased our second Grand Design RV. We bought the 2022 Grand Design Reflection 367BHS. This model came with the Furrion tankless water heater. Furrion indicates that this water heater has no cold weather protection and will be in jeopardy if not winterized during freezing temperatures. However, I am thinking that our RV with the arctic package should provide some protection to the water heater as it is surrounded by the RV structure, insulation inside the RV, and probably some ductwork related to the propane heating system. Is this a correct assumption? Do you have a “don’t go lower than” temperature that would be advisable for using the water heater in cold weather versus having to winterize it?

15 days later I received this email in response:

Good afternoon,

Thank you for reaching out to Grand Design and I apologize for the delayed response. The Furrion tankless water heater does not have an internal temperature gauge and is heated based on the flow of the water. When you are not using your hot water, the water will sit in the tank. The arctic package does not provide extra coverage for this. The arctic package refers more to the living space of the unit and not as much of the plumbing.

Furrion indicates the temperature should not go below 39 degrees.

Thank you,
Customer Service
Grand Design RV
11356 CR 2
Middlebury, IN 46540
574-825-9679

[newbold1]

How can they say the Reflection fifth wheel "remained functional" when tested at zero degrees? The truthful answer would be that it remained functional except for the plumbing / water system which has to be disabled.

[Ynot4me2]

That would really be a show stopper for a lot of us. Also why 39f, doesn't freeze at 32f.

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[newbold1]

That would really be a show stopper for a lot of us. Also why 39f, doesn't freeze at 32f.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

They claim 39 degrees due to the potential for frost causing an issue. At least that is what the manual indicates. This winter I am going to see if I can manage to keep the RV basement warm enough to prevent any issues. We usually stop using the RV once the weather gets into the 20s at night. In late Sept / early Oct we will be camping in Wyoming for a couple weeks and while the days should be mild we will likely have some evenings where the temps are in the low 30s and high 20s. This will be a good test. If we have issues then I suppose in the Spring of next year I will be looking into swapping out that tankless water heater. I'll either get a tankless one that has freeze protection built into it or else revert back to a 6 gallon or 10 gallon tank heater... which we are accustomed to having anyway.

[pnoetzel]

They claim 39 degrees due to the potential for frost causing an issue. At least that is what the manual indicates. This winter I am going to see if I can manage to keep the RV basement warm enough to prevent any issues. We usually stop using the RV once the weather gets into the 20s at night. In late Sept / early Oct we will be camping in Wyoming for a couple weeks and while the days should be mild we will likely have some evenings where the temps are in the low 30s and high 20s. This will be a good test. If we have issues then I suppose in the Spring of next year I will be looking into swapping out that tankless water heater. I'll either get a tankless one that has freeze protection built into it or else revert back to a 6 gallon or 10 gallon tank heater... which we are accustomed to having anyway.

I certainly would have NEVER purchased a 2021 311 BHS had I known the deception of the Artic package and tank heater’s for cold weather living.
I think that Grand Design will be needing to replace Tankless with our traditional electric/ gas hot water heater.
My unit is in the shop for numerous flaws and this will add to the frustration.
Very disappointed

[newbold1]

I certainly would have NEVER purchased a 2021 311 BHS had I known the deception of the Artic package and tank heater’s for cold weather living.
I think that Grand Design will be needing to replace Tankless with our traditional electric/ gas hot water heater.
My unit is in the shop for numerous flaws and this will add to the frustration.
Very disappointed

Sorry to hear you're dealing with a number of problems and this is yet another one.

I don't know whether you have tried your unit out in cold weather with the tankless water heater. I am going to be doing that soon and will be posting my findings afterward. Hopefully, I may find that the basement heat is sufficient to allow for lower than that stated 39 degree limit and if so maybe that will relieve you of one issue. Depending on how cold you go with your RV.

[pnoetzel]

Sorry to hear you're dealing with a number of problems and this is yet another one.

I don't know whether you have tried your unit out in cold weather with the tankless water heater. I am going to be doing that soon and will be posting my findings afterward. Hopefully, I may find that the basement heat is sufficient to allow for lower than that stated 39 degree limit and if so maybe that will relieve you of one issue. Depending on how cold you go with your RV.

That below freezing information would be good to have. Too many nights go at or below freezing, then into the 50/60 temperature range during the day as we camp in the SW during the winter.
Also, I need to get more information on the bypass, the red knob on the PS1 used to be the bypass switch.
Thanks for the information

[Greyhound]

Took delivery of our fourth 5th wheel in April, a 337RLS. It also has the Furrion Tankless water heater and we've used it in temperatures as low 35 F. We've found if we are city water then the system works great with an endless supply of hot water. When dry camping the Furrion system works great in the shower and bathroom sink, but is very intermittent in the kitchen. It seems the heater cuts in and out too much. Anyway going back to dealer at the end of season for a couple minor warranty things, but other than that we are very happy with the unit.

[newbold1]

I'll post my cold weather results with this tankless water heater after I have some experience with it. Hopefully, I'll find that the basement warmth keeps it working in temps lower than 39 degrees and maybe even a bit below freezing temps. I think that would be some good news for those of us that have this water heater and worry about whether it will be a problem or not.

[newbold1]

So, although the Furrion tankless water heater doesn't have any bypass valves installed on it, the red knob on the Nautilus P1 takes care of it. Turning the knob sideways cuts the water flow from going to the water heater. So, at least bypassing is not an issue.