Modern Furnaces 101: Even Temps

How Multistage Heat Keeps Homes Consistently Warm

modern furnaces 101 - understanding multistage furnaces

Getting a new heating system is not just about replacing an old one that doesn’t work well. It is about ensuring you have the right unit for your home, which includes such factors as furnace size and taking advantage of the newest advancements in heating efficiency including multistage furnaces.

Technological advancements with furnaces mean that modern heaters can keep your home closer to the desired temperatures your family wants throughout winter.

Are you in the market for a new, efficient furnace with multistep heating functions that keep everything heated well all year? Maximum Heating & Air Conditioning wants to provide you with some helpful information about what precisely modern furnaces have to offer homeowners today.

Older Furnaces: Too Hot or Too Cold

Furnace ignition flame

Waiting for the heat to kick back on is something you may have learned to live with. That is how most furnaces work because they have a function called single-stage heating.

Single Stage Heating is a furnace with a single flame either on or off. You can hear a furnace cycle on when the heated air gets pushed through the ducts. After the air has circulated sufficiently to get your home to the desired temperature, that single flame will go out.

It will either blow hot air or no air at all. That means a warm and cold room will receive the same amount of forced hot air from a single-stage system. This can be uncomfortable if you are in an already warm room to feel even more heat coming through the vents.

Modern Heating Technology & Constant Temperatures

Modern furnaces use multistage heating. Multistage heating allows you to get the most out of your heat and make sure it is distributed evenly through every room in your home. This means that you will be warm no matter where you are inside, even if others can’t feel any temperature change.

What are multistage furnaces?

Multistage furnaces use multiple heating elements (also called stages) that simultaneously distribute the temperature throughout the house. That means less time wasted waiting for rooms or areas of floors and furniture around windows to warm up!

Instead of the on-off options of a single stage furnace, multistage systems have steps. It may consist of two steps: low and high. Or a heater could have three steps: low, medium, and high.

Being able to operate at a lower speed, your heating system can be supplying a lower level of heat to maintain your home’s desired temperature. Instead of the heat completely stopping until you feel it start to get cold again, a multistage system will put out a lower level of heated air to maintain an even comfort throughout the day and night.

Saving Energy with Multistage Furnaces

The multistage function is also energy efficient. These modern systems mean less of an impact on our environment because they use much less electricity than older systems. That will result in a lower monthly electricity bill for your household and less of an impact on the environment.

Multistage heating could save you as much as 30% on your utility bill each month!

Modern Multistage furnace

When the weather is relatively mild and your furnace does not need to heat your home much, it runs in a lower, energy-efficient way. With lesser demand for heat, a multistage furnace will run perhaps only 60-70% at its full capacity to get your home up to the desired temperature.

A multistage furnace turns on at low-stage first, heating the home slowly. If the temperature does not get high enough after 15 minutes, it will kick into the high stage. At high stage, the heater is working at full capacity to get your home’s temperatures raised sufficiently.

This means your system will use less energy on milder days when it does not need to operate at full capacity.

Multi Speed Furnace: This low and high heat furnace is a 2 stage unit. But many of the newer furnaces that are coming out are 3-stage options.

Modulating Furnaces: Comfort Control & Efficiency

Furnaces with modulating stages of heating work in precise increments. Instead of set stages, it can fluctuate the heat by small amounts to reach the desired temperature better. These systems typically run at a lower power level to provide this constant well-regulated airflow.

With a modulating furnace, you will not feel that blast of hot air coming out of your vent. Instead, you will feel constant heating just about every minute of the day.

These are the most energy saving gas furnaces, with models performing up to 98% efficiency. That means 98% of all the energy put into the furnace results in heat. These furnaces are typically more expensive because of the incredible efficiency and constant temperature control it provides and is likely to save you a substantial amount on your energy bills.

Multistage Furnaces: Ideal for Illinois

Winter freezing temperatures in Aurora, IL

While multistage furnaces provide incredible flexibility and comfort in heating output, everyone does not need it. This multistage function is ideal for parts of the world that experience more extreme climate changes.

Just looking at last February’s extreme cold snap is all the proof you need to remember how frigid it can get here in the Chicago area. That is what makes these multi-stage heating systems perfect for homes in the Midwest.

Multistage Furnace Installation in Aurora, Il

Furnace installation is a great investment for your home. Purchasing a modern, multistage furnace improves energy efficiency, comfort, and convenience year-round.

If you are considering a new system, it is time to call an HVAC expert. Maximum Heating & Air Conditioning has been providing professional furnace installations across the entire Aurora area since 2001. We install high quality heating solutions that provide consistent heating, energy efficiency and quiet operation.

Give us a call at (630) 788-4688, or you can go online to request a free estimate. We will be happy to provide you with a free quote for the new heating installation your home needs.