Hello everyone. I am pricing a new furnace for a 2832 sq ft house. It was built in 2008. The furnace was damaged in a flood prior to my purchase of the home and it was a Bryant Plus 90t. I am planning on reusing the existing AC coil but would like to go with a different furnace. I do not have the size of the existing furnace but have had one of two contractors give me quote. One was for a Bryant 925TA 100K BTU 2 stage which came to about 4K. The other ball parked it at 2k to 2500k. I like the lower price(I may have gotten it because he is my old neighbor who sells furnaces.) The two he is suggesting is a Century or a Concord? I found the web site for both makers and noticed that Century is made by Lennox but not sure on the other. Any thoughts?
Also, should I go with a variable stage or a 2 stage furnace. Any difference in the long run with energy savings?
Thanks in advance for the comments!
I found the web site for both makers and noticed that Century is made by Lennox but not sure on the other. Any thoughts?
It looks to me like Concord is made by Lennox......
Lennox International: Residential Heating Cooling
......and Century is made by Heat Controller.
Heat Controller, Inc : THE SOURCE for Residential and Commercial Heating and Cooling Equipment.
I am not an HVAC professional, but I believe I would lean toward the Concord and a two stage rather than variable. Anything variable means to me a lot more electronics that are expensive to repair. The possible repairs could wipe out any additional operational savings.
Also, should I go with a variable stage or a 2 stage furnace. Any difference in the long run with energy savings?
Are you certain the choice was variable stage vs. 2 stage and not variable speed AND two-stage?
Variable speed refers to the blower that circulates room air. While having a variable speed blower does entail more controls and the motor itself IS considerably more expensive than a conventional three or four speed motor it also offers several benefits. Among them are an ultra low continuous speed option to keep the air circulating throughout the house that is so quiet that in most cases you will not hear it. This allows for continuous filtering and will cause the temperature to be much more even in all rooms. It also allows for a dehumidifying speed when used with the A/C and two separate speeds to be used with a two-stage heating system. Best of all, the variable speed motor WILL use significantly less electricity than a conventional motor.
Two-stage refers to having two distinct heating outputs; the lower usually about 60% of the maximum output. This, when accompanied with the variable speed blower makes for a more comfortable house both in terms of lower noise and closer temperature control. Although it by no means eliminates the necessity of properly calculating the required size for the furnace it DOES make the ultimate sizing a bit less critical. The furnace will normally only operate on the first heating stage although it will burn for a longer period of time. The longer burn time IS more efficient and less wear and tear on the furnace and it greatly reduces the freeze or fry of an oversized furnace that burns for three minutes and is then off for seven minutes. I strongly advise for both options.
If you go for the two-stage furnace you MUST also use a multi-stage thermostat for best results. Some installers will try to tell you that the furnace has an internal timing circuit that will bring in the second heating stage after a predetermined time and so the new thermostat is not necessary. While they are correct that the furnace DOES have the timing circuit it is a poor substitute for the multi-stage thermostat.
I have a Lennox variable speed / two-stage furnace and I would NEVER go back to either a single stage or a standard blower.
Tags: century, bryant, concord, furnace, variable, speed, variable speed, Century made, made Lennox, stage stage, variable stage, variable stage stage, with variable
