Upgrade your RV's ducted or ductless AC with this complete system from Furrion. New R32 refrigerant meets 2025 EPA regulations. Not backwards compatible with any AC systems from 2024 and earlier.
Features:
Specs:
Note: This system is not backwards compatible with any AC systems from 2024 and earlier. New R32 refrigerant meets 2025 EPA regulations.
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hello neighbors, it's Brad here and today I'm in Elkhart, Indiana, which is the RV capital of the world. And if you have a camper, the name Lippert probably is somewhere on your camper. And today we're at the corporate headquarters and we're gonna be talking to some of their product experts to take a closer look at their products. So let's hop inside and get to chatting. When it comes to any upgrade in an RV or replacing, you know, products, one of the things that I would always fix immediately, and I think a lot of campers will, is gonna be the air conditioning unit. Nothing ruins, you know, a good camping in your camper with no AC.
It's gonna be hot, miserable, and you can replace those really easy and Furrion's got a bunch of great options. Whether you go with the Chill HE or a slim profile, you have options but today we're gonna be talking about a game changer, something that, you know, I see 18K, that's a number I've never seen associated with any ACS until now. Right. So the 18K is the largest unit available on the market. It's also the quietest unit available on the market.
It's also the most efficient unit on the market. So we can go into, you know, the ins and outs of the unit. But one of the things I want to mention right off the bat is that it also has a remote control. So with the remote control, they can control that, not have to have a thermostat on the wall. And you can also control everything from the ceiling assembly as well.
It's gonna make it an easier installation 'cause you don't have to worry about running thermostat wires or using the thermostat wires that you already have in there. Your only connection points are gonna be your 120 connection points. So literally you only have hot, neutral and ground. There is no 12 volt wires and there are obviously no thermostat wires. So even if you are replacing something, you're gonna be capping a lot of those wires off and it's gonna be a easier, more straightforward installation.
Yeah, the hardest part's probably just getting it up on the roof, but other than that, that's super easy. Correct Correct. And being that that's gonna be a a mobile thermostat, Follow Me is something that's interesting. What is Follow Me Yeah, so that's probably one of the biggest features of having the remote control. So there's a button on here called Follow Me. What that does is now the remote becomes your thermostat. So typically a thermostat is gonna be static on the wall, you're gonna set it to 70 degrees and it's gonna be 70 degrees wherever that thermostat is at. Now with this being the thermostat, hitting that Follow Me mode, now anywhere that you go within the rig it's going to make sure that it's at that set temperature that you set it at. So again, a lot of times the AC might be on one end of the rig and the kitchen's on the other end of the rig. So with the remote control with you, it's going to make sure that it's at set temperature. Now while looking at that too, Turbo Yeah, so Turbo mode is basically a lot of campers will leave their rigs at the campground and they get there, they obviously wanna cool that rig down as quickly as possible. So one press of a button, with your Turbo mode, one press of a button is basically just gonna ramp the compressor all the way up. It's gonna turn your fan speed all the way up and it's gonna cool that rig down five times faster than anything that's out there in the market. Because this has a variable speed compressor, there's literally almost no turn on amperage at all. I can show you on this display here, you'll notice that the unit is off. Right now we're pulling zero current as we stand. So if I turn the unit on (unit beeping) the fan is going to turn on first. So you're gonna see a current draw from the fan. And then after a few seconds the compressor will turn on and then you'll see the current draw of the compressor. But what you're gonna see is this thing does not pull more than 3.8 amps when this unit turns on. Typically start amperage is gonna be between 35 and 45 amps for about 10 or 15 milliseconds. So again, virtually no startup amperage because of that variable speed compressor. Brad And how much of a temperature drop does this offer So it's a 30 degree delta from your ambient temperature to your cool temperature. So that being said, if it's 100 degrees outside you can easily get down to 70 degrees within your rig. Most ACs on the market are only giving you about a 17 or 18 degree delta. So this is giving you easily a 10 degree delta more than anything offered on the market. So you have a thermostat you can take with you, it's quiet, it's running and we're having a normal conversation so you're not having to speak over it. I mean, efficiency, an 18,000 BTU, so, like, it seems like it's checking all of the boxes across the board. Yeah, so again, you know, when we created this thing, we did exactly that. We wanted to obviously create something that was gonna check all of those boxes. People don't want to talk over an AC. They don't want listen to the AC. They obviously need that 18,000 BTUs to overcome how hot it is outside. And then another big one is obviously your current draw. So startup amperage where you used to have to have soft start kits and things like that, with the 18K having that variable speed compressor, you don't have to worry about that at all. So another thing that I did want to mention is the fact that the non ducted ceiling assembly has a vent that actually oscillates. What that's doing is because you have quite a bit of CFMs coming out, you're getting a better air mixture as the cold air comes out of the unit so that you don't have any hot or cold spots within the room. Brad I love it. Now looking at the buttons on this, Eco Gear, what is Eco Gear So Eco Gear is an off grid setting, if you will. So what you can do is you can actually set this unit up to run it either 75% of its capability or 50% of its capability. So people that are camping off grid, typically an AC is a no-no because it pulls so much current and uses so much energy. So for people that are using energy off of lithium battery packs, for example, you can tune this thing down to say 50% of its capacity so that you can use less energy from your battery packs. Tons of features and something not only, you know, with 18,000 being new, but also there's a new refrigerant. What is R-32 So R-32 is a new refrigerant that pretty much all ACs are having to use now. We went from 410-A to R-32 and R-32 is just a more efficient coolant. You use less coolant to create the same cooling power and then it's also better for the ozone as well. So it's really hard for me to quantify how quiet this is, you know, through a camera. So what's a normal DB range for, you know, a standard AC versus what the Chill Cube brings So typically ACs are around 70 to 75 DB. The Chill Cube is around 60 DB. So it's easily 10 DB quieter than most ACs on the market. I believe that. Yeah, I feel this is, you know, an open display here. The noise that I was hearing was from up top, but in a camper this thing's whisper quiet, it's great. Correct, correct. Yep. So again, that's a just another added benefit. I guess the only downside was, like, if you like a really loud white noise. Right. (laughs) You're missing out on that. Right. But other than that, that's huge. So another just added benefit.
FAST AND A GREAT DEAL
You had better know about wiring for a multi zone system because there is very limited instructions. I have a straight through duct system on my Monaco Dynasty and installation with that meant alot of fabrication.
Giving this set up 4 stars for a couple issues I feel shouldn't have been part of the experience but will spell them out. I did no pics or video as there are plenty out there.
This set up was delivered timely and in perfect condition. I got the old rear unit removed and the new Furrion replaced in just a couple hours. As I did with the front. First bad part. The place they gave for the 110 wiring. The engineers that decided this was ok should be made to install one. I was able to get it put in the spot but it took way longer than it should have. I replaced duo therm units that utilized phone cable t Stat wiring. I was a little skeptical about this. I called e Trailer to inquire about that. They were zero help except for the phone number to the Furrion parent Co. No let me tell you, they were awesome. Wiring schematic emailed in seconds and complete confidence given.
Installs went smoothly. I made a small mistake with electrics but was easily remedied. Next bad note. The plastic for air distribution plate is crap. 1 push in and it was broke. Was able to aluminum tape it up and get it fitted. Fire up and viola! Cold ac. I love the led lighting. The external look is rad. Overall I'm very pleased. Operation is much quieter and I'm hoping much more efficient. If you're on the fence about these units, don't be. These are great units.
I purchased the 15K Btu/hr Furrion Chill R32 system to replace a Dometic Brisk Air. The Dometic was noisy and tended to freeze up after about a half hour of use. The Furrion seems to work well and is noticeably quieter than the old AC. So far we haven't seen temperatures much above 80F, so I can't yet say how well it will work when temperatures get into the nineties and above.
The system arrived only two days after it was ordered. Installation was fairly simple. The unit is heavy (~80 lbs) and it took three people to get it on the roof of our camper. This system includes the rooftop unit itself, the air distribution box, a multi-zone controller and a multi-zone thermostat. I didn't need the multi-zone capability, but it works fine as a single zone system.
One obvious difference between the Furrion and our old Dometic AC is the dual fan motors of the Furrion. The Dometic uses a single motor to drive both the evaporator and condenser fans, so setting the fan speed to low slows down the condenser fan. Another difference is how the freeze sensor attaches to the evaporator, using a pre-installed clip to securely hold it where it needs to be. That's a huge improvement over the Dometic freeze sensor, which you just jamb into the evaporator at a random location and hope it doesn't fall out going down the road.
Installation was fairly simple. The Furrion uses a four-wire connection to its thermostat, while the Dometic thermostat is three-wire. Fortunately our thermostat cable had a spare wire, so this wasn't a problem. Also, the furnace thermostat wires for both systems go to AC unit, so that connection was simple. Care needs to be taken to confirm the DIP switch settings inside the controller, which are hard to see. I had to switch on DIP 4 to enable the furnace. There is a foam duct divider shipped inside the AC unit that has to be pulled out and installed between the AC unit and the distribution box.
There didn't seem to be a manual included with the thermostat, although a PDF is available on the Lippert site. Note that the room temperature sensor isn't actually in the 'thermostat', but rather inside the air distribution box intake. There are comments on the web saying that this causes short-cycling, but I haven't seen a problem with our ducted installation. Maybe it's a problem for unducted installations. Kits are available from Castle Winch to relocate the temperature sensor if that's a problem. I believe the furnace temp sensor IS in the thermostat.
There are a bunch of extra wires coming out of the controller, presumably for use in applications that don't accept the standard six pin connector. I capped them off with wire nuts and stowed them in the air intake.
The thermostat is back-lit, making it easy to adjust without turning on a light. When not adjusting the set temperature, the thermostat displays the room temperature. The thermostat has two program settings, although it's not real clear from the manual how they're supposed to work. Although the Furrion has three fan speeds, there's very little difference between them. The auto fan setting seems to work fine.
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