The cold, snowy winters here in the Northeast Ohio area make a reliable furnace a must. Whether you are replacing an older furnace or adding a furnace to a new home, deciding which furnace is best for your home can be confusing. Other than basic differences in efficiency and capacity, there are three types of gas furnace available on the market – the single-stage, two-stage and the variable speed. Here is a little information about types of furnaces that may make choosing your new furnace a bit easier.
Single-Stage Furnaces
Single-stage types of furnace are just standard gas furnaces that simply turn on and off and can’t operate at different levels. The “stage” refers to the gas valve, which is either all the way open or closed. That means that your furnace will run at full capacity, maintaining the same speed and force at all times, until the temperature on the thermostat is reached. A single-stage furnace is not very energy efficient and can lead to extremely high heating bills during the winter months.
Two-Stage Furnaces
As you might have guessed, two-stage types of furnace have two available “on” settings for the gas valve, fully open and partially open (about 60-65 percent). This furnace usually runs on the lower stage to heat your home, and only goes to the high stage when the lower stage can’t keep up with extremely cold temperatures outside. Two-stage furnaces (and their three- and multi-stage brethren) are much more energy efficient than one-stage furnaces.
Variable Speed Furnaces
Variable-speed types of furnace simply means that your furnace blower motor can run at different speeds instead of maintaining one high speed. Usually running at a slower, continuous speed, they are quieter and provide precise temperature control, which means that your room is always within one or two degrees of the temperature you set on your thermostat. And best of all, they are very energy efficient, which helps keep those heating bills under control. A variable-speed blower motor is typically paired with a two- or three-stage furnace for maximum energy savings.
If you have any questions about these types of furnaces or heating systems for our Lorain or Elyria area home, please contact the helpful professionals at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning. We will gladly assist you and answer all of your questions.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area