york 2-stage question

[plott hound]

as of late,we have been installing a lot of york 2 stage furnaces.these are new home installs as well as retrofit installs.am looking on some input as to the best way to operate the 2 stage.at work we use the timer on the board to set 1st stage to run for 10 minutes.is it better to use a 2 stage thermostat?2 stage thermostat is a tough sell to a volume home builder, but to a retrofit application it should be an easy sell.gotta install a 2 stage for my sister next weekend so i can experiment with hers to see what is better as well.

thanks

[joeblo]

Best is to offer all the pros and cons and let the customer decide. In my house I would use 2 stage stat.

[SBKold]

Combustion pros on this site found low stage to be less efficient fuel wise.

It can help even out temps through envelope with increased run times though.

Vent system may be a factor also.

[plott hound]

so basically the 2 stage is a comfort thing.always thought that a 2 stage would rarely go to 2nd stage unless temp was extremely cold.

[SBKold]

Yea I was thinking that low conserved fuel also but have been told otherwise by some reliable sources.

[plott hound]

just another damn gimmick.man the york rep was real convincing as per his job.

[SBKold]

A nice small furnace that will properly stage up and down would be ideal.

[joeblo]

Longer run times equals less cycling and fewer brake downs, more even temps, and the difference in efficiency would be very minor.

[SBKold]

I agree with that statement joeblo.

Very minor. You just wouldn't want to say it will save a boatload when in actuality it doesn't.

[filiberto]

Some two-stage stats use a timer anyway, so using the timer on the board should be comparable.

[beenthere]

Size the furnace to the homes heat loss, don't over size it. Use a high quality 2 stage stat such as the Honeywell IAQ which will go to second stage when it determines that the homes heat loss is at 90% of first stage capacity. Fuel savings are from when the customer sets their stat temp lower because of the improved comfort at a lower set temp.

[plott hound]

thanks for all the replies guys.your input is a great help.

[plott hound]

so i finally found time to install the new 2 stage york 60k for my sister through the holidays.i set the timer to run at low fire for 15 minutes before it goes to high fire.they absolutely love the new furnace.nice and quiet,plus that longer low fire burn gives a nice even heat.its been fairly cold here and they have only noticed the furnace going to 2nd stage once.thought i would update the thread so it may help others.

cheers