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After reading many of the discussions regarding the Furrion tankless water heater and the stated concerns regarding cold weather exposure, I too was curious about the practical value of this unit as we live in Colorado and travel during periods of below freezing weather. We just brought our new 2022 Reflection 337RLS out of storage and prepared for the "maiden voyage" trip to AZ. We've had several days below 20 degrees, and our first stop in Santa Fe was at 28 F last night. The camper and tankless water heater remained winterized from the dealership as we started our trip. A couple of data points for reference:
1. Our unit has the Furnace located to the left of the water heater and there is a thin wall between the 2 compartments. The furnace was set to 62 degrees during the night and ran a good amount, he water heater obviously off. Our outside thermometer read 28 F at 06:30
2. I used a Infrared Thermometer to record temperatures and scanned across several surface areas. The left side wall of the tankless water heater compartment read 57 in the upper left corner (nearest the furnace wall), 54 on the lower left wall, 50 on the water heater vent pipe (~2" diameter) in the center of the unit, 44 on the front plate inside of the unit (aluminum?) just above the electronics box.
3. Of interest, the copper tubing in the right side of the compartment towards the back of the compartment is slightly exposed and read 60 degrees. The Furrion water heater was never turned on- the tubing was obviously absorbing heat from other areas of the unit (mostly the furnace I suspect).
4. I took our outside thermometer and placed it into the compartment and closed the door. Over 20-25 minutes the temperature rose from the outside ambient of 28 to 56 degrees in the compartment.
5. Several days prior I did record the water compartment temp when NO furnace heat was running and the water heater compartment was about 4-8 degrees above outside ambient (23 degrees)
6. I did bring a 100 watt light bulb just in case to heat the compartment per others recommendations but decided it wasn't necessary!
7. What I don't know is, might there be other areas within or outside the water heater unit that could be exposed to freezing temps and cause damage? I haven't seen any drawings but suspect if the box is warm, the entire unit is warm enough?
I am curious if others have taken temp readings within the Furrion water heater compartment and do they correlate to these readings? This past April it was noted from one of the moderators that Furrion/ GD were working on a cold weather solution to prevent damage to the unit during freezing conditions and I hope they follow through with this change. In the short term, I'm thinking with caution and some monitoring I can keep the unit safe from freezing.
Mike
2022 Reflection 337RLS
RAM 3500
1. Our unit has the Furnace located to the left of the water heater and there is a thin wall between the 2 compartments. The furnace was set to 62 degrees during the night and ran a good amount, he water heater obviously off. Our outside thermometer read 28 F at 06:30
2. I used a Infrared Thermometer to record temperatures and scanned across several surface areas. The left side wall of the tankless water heater compartment read 57 in the upper left corner (nearest the furnace wall), 54 on the lower left wall, 50 on the water heater vent pipe (~2" diameter) in the center of the unit, 44 on the front plate inside of the unit (aluminum?) just above the electronics box.
3. Of interest, the copper tubing in the right side of the compartment towards the back of the compartment is slightly exposed and read 60 degrees. The Furrion water heater was never turned on- the tubing was obviously absorbing heat from other areas of the unit (mostly the furnace I suspect).
4. I took our outside thermometer and placed it into the compartment and closed the door. Over 20-25 minutes the temperature rose from the outside ambient of 28 to 56 degrees in the compartment.
5. Several days prior I did record the water compartment temp when NO furnace heat was running and the water heater compartment was about 4-8 degrees above outside ambient (23 degrees)
6. I did bring a 100 watt light bulb just in case to heat the compartment per others recommendations but decided it wasn't necessary!
7. What I don't know is, might there be other areas within or outside the water heater unit that could be exposed to freezing temps and cause damage? I haven't seen any drawings but suspect if the box is warm, the entire unit is warm enough?
I am curious if others have taken temp readings within the Furrion water heater compartment and do they correlate to these readings? This past April it was noted from one of the moderators that Furrion/ GD were working on a cold weather solution to prevent damage to the unit during freezing conditions and I hope they follow through with this change. In the short term, I'm thinking with caution and some monitoring I can keep the unit safe from freezing.
Mike
2022 Reflection 337RLS
RAM 3500
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