kitchen hutch hot

[Chiefblueman]

We are taking delivery of a 315RLTS on Saturday. Very interested in your fix.

[MikeandLibby]

Yes, this is very helpful. Would love to know how you fixed it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MikeandLibby]

Well, I ended up sealing the furnace with reflectix tape (silver metal stuff used for ducts) and that helped a lot in keeping the furnace from leaking hot air. I also stuffed insulation up into the wall area behind the hutch and then sealed that up with refectix tape as well. For once the thermostat is staying within a couple degrees of true temps. That's good enough for me. The hutch and shower wall doesn't get nearly as hot anymore as well which is a bonus. Next project, installing a Nest thermostat.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chiefblueman]

Have had our 315RLTS for a week or so now. We have been experiencing cold temps for this area, in the teens and 20's. We experienced the "hot hutch syndrome". After an hour or so the shower wall was 110* while the adjacent shower walls were 65*. The plastic shower wall was bulging from the heat. That little stud next to the furnace was registering almost 300*! The wall behind the thermostat was getting hot as well as the drawers and the hutch front panel.

All the duct flanges were leaking as well as heat coming up through the hole in the floor for the ducts. I used reflective bubble type insulation. First I sealed off the wall cavities. I placed insulator directly to the back of the shower wall from floor to the top of cabinet, bending it forward to deflect the heat away from the wall cavities. Then I placed insulator on the outside of the studs and stopped about 2 inches short of the cabinet top. This creates a space between the furnace and shower wall that acts like a chimney when it gets hot. I insulated the drawer bottoms, the hutch face, the bottom of the countertop. I made a baffle with the reflective insulation between the furnace ducts and the converter that starts at the floor, running front to back of cabinet and bending over the top of the converter. Those ducts get hot!I sealed the duct outlets on the furnace as well as opening the ducts up from the inside to aid flow. I also stuffed the spaces around the ducts where they enter the basement with fiberglas insulation. The final touch will be a louvered vent on the end of the hutch to exhaust the hot air and pull cooler air into the hutch from the floor.

Without the louver yet installed, after a couple hours of running the furnace the shower wall is maybe a few degrees warmer than the adjacent walls, the hutch front is no warmer than other surfaces, the wall next to the thermostat shows no noticeable temp rise.

Another thing to look at is the heat register in the end of the island. There are two ducts entering from the floor. One of these was stuck half under the floor. Furnace tape that was used to seal the ducts to the floor was also occluding these ducts. After removing the excess tape and getting both ducts fully through the floor, flow was improved quite a bit.

I did all the work on the hutch through the drawer openings. I was able to get my upper body through so I could work with both hands. At nearly 63, 6-1 and 215lbs, this was no mean feat. Took me approx 12 hours, my hands and arms are dinged up and I got a few bruises to boot. My legs and knees were so sore I could hardly walk for a few days. Thanks Grand Design!

This is a prime example of hurried piece work by folks that just don't give a sh**. Grand Designs QC needs to take place during construction, not after.

BTW, drop your AC cover and check the ducts there. I found tape partially blocking the ducts on both AC's.

[GDRV Missy]

Good morning. If you can please message me your e-mail address, or contact number and last 6 of the VIN I'll copy and paste your message and send it to our regional service manager and ask him to please reach out to you on the heating issue you are encountering in your 315.

Thank you so much for the help.

Jes

[Davido]

Good morning. If you can please message me your e-mail address, or contact number and last 6 of the VIN I'll copy and paste your message and send it to our regional service manager and ask him to please reach out to you on the heating issue you are encountering in your 315.

Thank you so much for the help.

Jes

From what I read, I think he has already taken care of it. :-)

Now, I think I will do the same thing to mine because it is identical to yours Chief. Sorry about the injuries you suffered but thanks for the solutions.

[billy.weathers]

We have a 297RSTS and are having this issue also. Its in the shop now and the "fix" the dealer is suggesting, I am not too happy with, which he says was approved by Grand Design. They are wanting to cut a hole below the drawers in the hutch and put in a vent to let the hot air that goes into the hutch escape out of that vent.

Jessica, I too, am going to send you my contact info. If you could have them contact me as well that would be great! There has to be another fix to this than having them cut a hole in our brand new unit!!!

[MikeandLibby]

Yeah, that sounds like a cheap fix which won't fix the real problem. The furnace box is not sealed correctly. Just properly sealing up the furnace with the tin tape will resolve like 80% of the issue. A little insulation stuffed into the crevice leading up behind the hutch will pretty much resolve the other 20%. And of course Chiefs advice above will make everything work the way it's supposed to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TucsonJim]

Dang it! I just read this thread and I'm very disheartened. I though my new 2017 297RSTS had a built in silverware warming drawer. Dang it! Those forks were very nice and toasty when I pulled them out. Now I realize I have a problem and need to take action. Thanks to all of you who've investigated this and posted possible solutions. I thing I'll take a three pronged approach. 1. Seal up the new furnace. 2. insulate and seal the wall. 3. Install an open vent on the hutch to allow warm air to escape into the room. I might even install the computer fans that were mentioned here if I can figure out where to tap into the electrical supply to power them on when the furnace is on.

Jim

[Chiefblueman]

Up date on the hot hutch mod I did. The back side of the furnace gets too hot for the reflective bubble insulation I used. Placing it on the face of the studs put it too close to the furnace, resulting in about a 6 inch circle of deformation of the material. I had no indication that this had occurred but was back in the hutch area working on another project and stuck my hand back there. I could feel the difference in the material. It was stiffer than the rest.

I removed a 12 inch by 24 inch piece of insulation adjacent to the hot box and replaced it with a sheet of aluminum. I also installed a vent in the cabinet to give the hot air a place to go. So far after several hours of furnace time all is well. I apologize if I gave anybody a bum steer. This furnace is only about 3/4 inch from the stud. Placing this type of insulation that close to the fire is not a good idea. Placing this kind of heat that close to dry wood is not a good idea either.