Are you looking for a new furnace for your home? Or maybe just getting a furnace motor replacement? If you’re in either circumstance, you’ll have to decide what type of motor to get — a standard PSC (permanent split capacitor) motor or an ECM (electronically commutated motor). The ECM is also known as a variable speed blower motor.
An ECM offers some important advantages over a PSC motor, especially energy efficiency. However, it also costs more than a PSC motor.
How Do They Differ?
A PSC motor only runs on one speed — 100 percent full throttle. It will run until the thermostat setting has been reached, then stop for a while till it gets the signal to resume operation. During extremely cold weather, it will run most of the time.
The variable-speed ECM runs at different speeds depending on real-time needs in the home. Most of the time, it will run at a low, continuous speed, without the stop-and-start operation of a furnace equipped with a PSC motor.
Advantages of an ECM
- Energy efficiency. The short cycling that’s common with a PSC wastes energy, since start-up consumes ample energy. Continuous variable-speed operation, meanwhile, uses less energy. Moreover, the ECM has inherent technological advantages that make it more energy efficient than a standard furnace motor.
- Better indoor air quality. Since the variable-speed blower motor operates continuously, air circulates through your HVAC system many more times a day. This provides better air filtration and humidity control (if you have a whole-house dehumidifier or humidifier).
- Not as noisy. A furnace with an ECM, operating continuously at a lower speed, is quieter than a furnace that kicks on and off repeatedly throughout the day.
- More consistent heating from room to room.
Your trusted HVAC contractor should advise you on the best furnace motor replacement for your home — specifically whether the energy-efficiency advantages of an ECM outweigh the higher upfront cost.
If you’re looking for a new furnace or a motor replacement for your Lorain or Elyria-area home, Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning is the place to go.
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 furnace motors and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.
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Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area