Asked on Oct 08, 2014
Best modulating lp furnace
by
Ric635391
modulating lp furnace
2 answers
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@Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com might be able to give you some suggestions?
Hannah V
on Oct 09, 2014
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Rich, choosing a modulating furnace is tricky. I use Coleman brand and have been for over 30 years. Simple equipment, great warranty, but most of all parts and local suppliers handle the equipment which is most important. Do not choose by brand, choose by local suppliers that handle the brand your looking at, Choose by selecting a contractor who is trained in that brand, Choose by a contractor who does quality work with great references. The manufacturing industry these days makes really good equipment, the biggest difference between brands other then price, is the quality of the contractor who is installing the equipment. Name brands such as Trane, Carrier etc. Your paying more for their equipment not because its better, but because they spend hundreds of thousands more in radio, TV, and billboard advertising. If you break the equipment down, most of the parts are produced by pretty much the same manufacture that makes the parts for the brands that people never hear of. Sort of a Generic version. Same recipe in making it, just not using the brand name on the label. So there are some things however you must understand before you install a modulating furnace. These units only work with new construction or in homes or businesses that have duct delivery systems that are designed correctly and deliver the air properly to all rooms. Almost 90% of the homes where these furnaces are installed do not fall into that category and the result is your spending a few thousand more for a furnace and will never benefit from its high tech air delivery system. These high tech furnaces deliver air and heat depending upon the air temps being delivered back to the furnace. It learns how the house temps are responding to the thermostat setting. With full modulation equipment the gas side as well as the air delivery side throttles down really low, Keeping the furnace running longer which allows for better air cleaning, more even temps, and a more steady air temp in the house. But this will only work if the air delivery system was properly sized, installed, sealed and designed. Most retrofit homes simply do not fall into that category. Meaning the rooms that have had issues with heating in the past, will remain the same if they do not get worse. A normally installed duct system that is around 20 years old can waste up to if not more 30% of the heat the furnace generates. Meaning that all the money you used to generate the heat never makes it to the room(s) that your trying to get warm. Many people are fooled into thinking a modulating furnace with a new high tech blower motor and air delivery system will solve these issues. This is simply not the case. While on high speed you might see a difference in the air flow out of some grills, once the system begins to throttle down, which is most of the time, rooms that were difficult to heat will get worse. Your going to spend several thousand dollars on new equipment where you may find you will save only a few pennies on operation as compared to what your pulling out. Making this investment worthless. My advice is to get the duct system checked by using a duct blaster evaluation. This test will determine the rate of leakage of the ducts and identify where all the heat is leaking to. New standards only allow 3 CFM of air per 100 square foot of floor are being heated. A 12,000 square foot house is only allowed to have a leakage amount of 36 CFM of air. That is about the amount of air that leaks out around your current furnace where the air conditioning pipes enter into the duct. Putting in a 98% furnace in a duct system that is 20 years old that was not designed properly, and leaks, your overall efficiency will only end up being around 70%. Take your current 80% furnace first and correct the air duct leaks and properly balance the duct system first, end up with an overall efficient system of around 75% and your saving thousands of dollars on not a buying a furnace that you would not need to use and only end up paying around a $1000 worst case getting the system working properly.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Oct 09, 2014
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