How a Two-Stage Furnace Works

There are so many options today when it comes to choosing what furnace you want installed for your household comfort, whether as a replacement for an older system or as the first installation in a new home. If you’re interested in a furnace that will work at a higher efficiency than standard models and save you money each year, one of the model types to consider is a two-stage furnace.

“What’s that?” you ask. We’re glad you did, because we’d love to tell you about the advantages of going with one of these heating systems.

The basics of the two-stage furnace

Let’s go to your kitchen for a moment and take a look at the gas range. Don’t worry, this won’t take long. Turn on one of the burners. How high is the flame? Okay, now make it go higher. Now bring it down to middle heat. Now down low once more.

A conventional (or single-stage) furnace can’t do what you just did with the burners on the stove, which is adjust the level and strength of the flame. A standard furnace runs at one setting—high—and no other. When you heat, you heat with full power, even if it’s unnecessary.

What the two-stage furnace does is offer you both a high and a low setting for the burners. The furnace will run at the lower setting as long as it keeps the house sufficiently warm. At this lower setting, the furnace uses about 65% of its power capacity. When the temperature in the house turns colder, the furnace burners will switch to high until the home is at the desired temperature.

Not only does a two-stage furnace save money by spending more time in its lower setting, it also helps to distribute heat more evenly and keep the furnace from shutting off too rapidly.

Raleigh Heating & Air, Inc. offers installation of furnaces in Apex, NC. Call us today to arrange for service.