Furnace Options from American Standard?

Question

I need to heat a 2 story (1st/2nd floors of 3 story bldg) condo in Massachusetts. We are about 1500 square feet. Unfortunately, due to the location of the venting we cannot have high efficiency. Our HVAC guy is works w/ American Standard. He originally proposed the Freedom® 80 Single-Stage Furnace, but when I went to the American Standard web site this furnace had low efficiency and quiet ratings. I noticed three other options all with better ratings in efficiency and quiet:
The Freedom 80 High Efficiency Single-Stage Furnace
Freedom 80 two-stage furnace
Freedom 80 Comfort R Variable Speed Furnace
Is anyone familiar with these 3 models?
Which might you recommend?
Will I really save on efficiency? Is the noise difference significant?
When I inquired with my HVAC guy, this is what he wrote (which I am a bit confused by):
***As for the multi stage furnace option, this is something that can be considered. This option does carry a higher price and may require new wiring between the furnace and the thermostat. This is something that will require me to take a look at the existing wiring to determine what would be necessary to install this option in the proper way. If a 2 stage furnace is simply connected to a single stage thermostat it will operate at low fire for a predetermined time and then just automaticallyswitch over to high fire. This method does not give you a TRUE 2 stage and would not be worth the extra investment***
Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

sounds like he is a pretty smart guy,however most air handlers come with multi speed motors,i assume that you are talking about nat.gas correct? have you given any thought to electric heat,there some pretty good units out there and has a very high efficiency ratings,might be something to look into.but if i had to go with gas it would be the 2nd and have the low volt wiring upgraded to get a full 2 stage operation

Answer 2

High efficiency furnaces condense water from the exhaust and need to have a way to remove the water.



A two-stage furnace has two burning rates; low fire, and high. A two-stage thermostat needs two heating wires to run to the furnace. If the house is cold, the first stage fires up, and if there is more than four degrees difference between your target temp and the room temperature, the second stage fires. When the room is to temperature, the first stage fire is enough to maintain your target temperature.



With a single-stage thermostat, the furnace burns on low stage for fifteen minutes. If the house has not warmed up to temperature in that amount of time, the second stage comes on to give it more heat.



If you are not satisfied with the quote from your contractor, call two or three other companies and ask for quotes. Be sure to contact people who will be there to maintain and repair the unit, not some guy who sells out of the back of his truck.

Answer 3

i could pass with selection # 2 if it have been me. What you will spend on the extra desirable seer score on the condensing unit will take you twenty years to establish your return on investment. i could additionally look at getting costs on a goodman device. i could stay removed from any furnace that has the variable velocity motor. long term era while its out of guarantee is costly to repair. seek for a furnace that have the generalpersistent equipment and 2 point you will get the main bang on your greenback, on an identical time as reducing the gasoline fee to warmth your place. If selection # 2 is offering armstrong, then they must be waiting to offer you the condensing unit besides. I dont understand the mismatch in manufacturers, in spite of the certainty that it is going to artwork, I only dont get it in the adventure that your going all new. i could run from york stuff all day long. provider is sturdy, yet your buying the call. Armstrong has a 10yr guarantee. only dont get the backside variety 13 seer get the subsequent variety above up in 13 seer in case you could. only make beneficial interior the fee quote they are changing here, new line set, disconnect, skill whip and condensing pad. In new device replacements i in no way reused the line set. And consistently replaced the disconnect and skill whip. The can reuse the tsat wiring and exisiting skill feeding the outdoor unit besides because of the fact the furnace.

Answer 4

hi Lets break this down for you model "freedom" . the efficiency of the heat exchanger, ie how much goes up the chimney, 80% in home 20% lost.Single stage furnace has one rate at which the furnace's gas valve can use fuel to heat the home.two stage gives you a low fire and a high fire consumption rates to supply the home this allows for a finer control of temperature burning only as much gas as is need to reach set temperature.the higher rate is used to warm up the home, lower rate is used to maintain temperature with out over heating the home. the variable speed means the fan has a variable speed fan feature to push the air at different flow rates to allow even finer control of temperature. as for the " wiring " he needs to look at he is referring to the number of wires from the thermostat to the furnace.

Answer 5

Will the American Standard Freedom 80 Single-Stage HVAC work with a Nest Thermostat?