When learning about the different types of furnaces, you may stumble upon two-stage furnaces. Like all furnaces, they generate heat by consuming energy. Some of them consume electricity, whereas others consume natural gas or propane gas. Two-stage furnaces, however, are distinguished from their traditional counterparts by their multi-level heat output.
An Introduction to Two-Stage Furnaces
A two-stage furnace is a type of central heating system that offers two levels of heating. You can set it for either a low or high level of heating at the thermostat. If it’s a relatively mild winter day, you may want to choose the former setting. For exceptionally cold winter days, on the other hand, you can choose the high-heat setting.
As you may have guessed, there are also single-stage furnaces available. Most traditional furnaces use a single-stage method of operation. They don’t offer multiple levels of heating. When a single-stage furnace is turned on, it will produce heat. You can’t control the power of this heat output.
How Two-Stage Furnaces Work
Two-stage furnaces are designed to change the amount of energy they consume in response to the heat setting. When set to the high-heat setting, they will consume more energy. Two-stage gas furnaces will burn more gas, while two-stage electric furnaces will draw more electricity through their heating element. And by consuming more energy, they’ll produce more heat.
Setting the thermostat to the low-heat setting will result in less energy being consumed. A furnace’s heat output is directly influenced by how much energy it consumes. The low-heat setting will tell a two-stage furnace to consume less energy because you only need less heat.
Advantages of a Two-Stage Furnace
With a two-stage furnace, you’ll have more control over your home’s temperature during the winter. You can set the thermostat for either the low- or high-heat setting, depending on your comfort needs.
Two-stage furnaces can also be energy efficient. While the high-heat setting consumes more energy than the low-heat setting, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s less efficient. The high-heat setting is oftentimes more efficient because it requires less running time. It will quickly heat up your home to your desired temperature, at which point the furnace will cut off. With a single-stage furnace, it will have to run for a longer length of time, resulting in the consumption of more energy.
A furnace is considered a two-stage furnace if it offers two levels of heating. They offer a low-heat setting and a high-heat setting, which you can set at the thermostat.
