AS heritage 16 (communicating vs NON-communicating)

[meb12345678]

I am interested in the 3-Ton AS heritage 16 and I have compared information on the American Standard website for the communicating vs non-communicating.


Non-Communicating: Weight: 273 lbs Quietness (1-5, 1 noisy, 5 quiet): 4
Communicating: Weight: 238 lbs Quietness: 2

So the Communicating one is substantially lighter and noiser.

Anyone know why such a drastic change (and in the case of noise a worse product for the communicating)?

Thanks,
Matt.

[motoguy128]

Isn't this the same as a Trane XL16i??? I wonder if the of the info is a mistake. The compressor and sound package should be about the same. Just the control board should be a little different although the communicating model of hte XL16i can still be operated conventionally. Mine is a communicating model, but it's wired normally. The 80% communicating furnace wasn't available when I installed my unit.

The quietness rating difference must be a mistake.

[Daltex]

The 80% communicating furnace wasn't available when I installed my unit.

I thought that Trane's 80% furnaces still don't communicate. What's the model of 80% that does?

[motoguy128]

I thought that Trane's 80% furnaces still don't communicate. What's the model of 80% that does?

The XC80. It popped up on their website 2 weeks after I installed my system. I guess news travels slowly to Trane deales in small towns. I'm a little disappointed that my dealer didn't know about it. He said they had asked about a 80% communicating furnace, but was told there were no plans for it. For dual fuel in smaller homes, or thsoe in more mild climates the economics aren't always there for a 90%+ furnace, but you'd still like to use a communicating heat pump or A/C.

[RyanHughes]

No sound difference in the 3 ton size between the two, looking at American Standard's published tech info. (74 dBA for both).

[meb12345678]

What about the weight?

A single dbA number could be misleading. It could be that the extra noise is not while running normally but could be on start up, going into and out of defrost, going from 1st state to 2nd stage, etc.

Is the published date available on the web?

Thanks

[beenthere]

Well if its loud on start up or defrost only. It would tend to wake you more then if it was just loud all the time.

[capecool]

Some benefits of a fully communicating system are a properly charged system with the use of charge assist (although charge assist can be used if the communicating outdoor is converted back to non-communicating), only two wire connection to the outdoor unit (low voltage), automatically configures air flow settings, the comfort control automatically detect and configures itself, the system constantly monitors and reports alerts to the comfort control if a problem exist that needs imediate attention. There is also a telephone access module available if system is fully communicating.

[beenthere]

And a darn good reason to get the extended parts and labor warranty.

[capecool]

And a darn good reason to get the extended parts and labor warranty.

You are correct sir!

[motoguy128]

What about the weight?

A single dbA number could be misleading. It could be that the extra noise is not while running normally but could be on start up, going into and out of defrost, going from 1st state to 2nd stage, etc.

Is the published date available on the web?

Thanks

If it's like the XL16i... the scroll transitions from 1st stage to 2nd stage, but simply speeding up, it doesn't need to stop and restart. So the only change in noise is the condensor fan and compressor going faster. Most of the increased noise is the blower on the air handler running faster. The noise overall from the outdoor unit isn't much different from low to high.

My unit used to make a fair amount of noise transitoning to defrost the first few weeks, but seems much quieter now.

The noise level test I beleive only test the unit in a steady operating state in high stage.

One consideration I deiscovered about noise, is that depending o nteh location, a taller unit like the XL16i, especially up on snow feet, can be noiser in some location because on most houses, the 1st floor is located almost 2' above grade. So a unit that's 2 ' tall is located mostly below the floor level, while a 4' tall unit is located 2' above the floor.

[beenthere]

If it's like the XL16i... the scroll transitions from 1st stage to 2nd stage, but simply speeding up,

You might want to recheck how that scroll goes from one stage to the next.

[meb12345678]

Back to the original question on why their website has large weight diff.
I found the submittal data for the comm and non-comm heritage 16. Weights are the same and noise is the same.

However I did see that the shipping weight is 273 and the net weight is 238 lbs. The AS website lists shipping weight and this is shown correctly for the non-comm version. But for the comm version they list 238. So they listed the net weight for one and the shippiing weight for the other. So mystery solved for the weight. Not sure why they listed the quietness as different. Likely also a mistake.