nunya asked:
i am getting estimates to replace my furnace. one of the guys told me that the Trane xl80 is the same price as the xr90. In other words i could give up the comfort and quiet of a two stage and get better efficiency for the same price.
i am getting estimates to replace my furnace. one of the guys told me that the Trane xl80 is the same price as the xr90. In other words i could give up the comfort and quiet of a two stage and get better efficiency for the same price.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I believe the 80% should be less expensive.The 2stage will have high & low fire burners witch could result in more even house temps.Get estimates in writing,the 2 stage should be less $.
You don’t have to give up the comfort for the 90%. You will be wasting your money if you buy an 80% furnace. Check out the furnace page at. You will find a lot more info you should see before you buy.
get the 90, you will be better off in the long run
If your furnace guy said that they are the same price, then Yes. Shop around; he may be pushing one model over the other. That’s what they did with me. I asked for written quotes for each model.
The 90% efficiency furnace gets 10% more heat out of the gas you buy than the 80% unit; no matter how you slice it 90% will save you money. You can get better comfort with the 90% unit than the 2-stage if you have the right thermostat. I love the UPM THM501 or THM701 thermostats (1.888.468.6876 or); they use time-proportional control technology (sorry for getting technical). Time-proportional control is important to prevent the temperature swings you get with ON-OFF thermostats. The UPM units cycle your furnace every few minutes to maintain a very stable house temperature and prevent overshoot. The cycle rate is set for the furnace type to not damage it. Any time-proportional thermostat will do.
2-stage furnaces are not any quieter. They have two flame levels, neither of which makes much noise. It’s the fan that makes noise and at either flame level, you would want to move the heat at the same fan speed, therefore the same noise level. Trane is a good make, and it will be relatively quiet. It sounds to me that they are trying to push the 2-stage furnaces for some reason that has nothing to do with you (an internal sales promotion maybe).