Did not really expect to have to run it as much as I have however we're in the late April freeze here in PA and she's getting a good workout.
Having assisted my uncle years ago in his HVAC business, I got some exposure to the basic concepts and even helped in teardown of furnaces, helped charge and repair central air units and even did work on window units. Most of his work was residential some some light commercial. He was a Rheem/RUUD fan, not sure where he stands now.
As such, one thing I learned on a successful HVAC, regardless of furnace brand or reputation, is installation, installation, installation. This includes following installation instructions but also correctly sizing the unit to the needed home taking into consideration ductwork layout, placement, size and the like.
Being that my first home is new construction, we can and should assume the layout for the vents and return air was properly planned and sized so as to avoid hot spots or drafty areas. Sufficient return back to the air handler is key to keeping the air moving and not "piling" up in a given area
Thus far, my observations are on point, the HVAC contractor sized the vents and return air properly. In fact, each bedroom and the hallway has two return air vents; on on the floor and a closeable vent close to the ceiling. You can probably see these in some of my pix. Combined with the Aprilaire 413 collapsible filter to provide very good filtering capability, I can have my bedroom door close if I have it cracked open say 4 inches and have the furnace kick on. I found a seller on Amazon that prices them at 34/2 in a box. Already have them on order.
The thermostat is Aprilaire. Non programable, backlit when a soft touch button is pressed. I had to calibrate it for the on/off cycles as out of the box, it allowed too much lag time on the off part of the cycle and I would notice it being quite cool before it called for heat. Now it is spot on with reasonable cycle times and more even warmth. We'll see how this works when the A/C season comes on. It makes a very slight click when it calls for heat and also clicks when the temp is satisfied. No drama here. It also has a circ mode where the fan will come on 20 minutes after the furnace has come on, run for 10 minutes, then go off, and repeat. This is to ensure near constant movement of air to the Aprilaire filter to keep it clean. I guess. I don't really use it right now but perhaps I will find a use in the future.
Now on to the furnace.
It's an interesting beast and the first hi eff unit I have owned. My condo had an 80's era Heil-Quaker (branded Whirlpool) that had a metal flue and probably had a carbon footprint the size of King Kong. But it worked. For 16 years, each winter, it reliably provided heat. In fact, I never had a service call the whole time I lived there.
The Goodman OTOH, is much smaller in physical size. It has an interesting startup. First the t-stat calls for heat. Then a smaller blower comes on to do the venting to the outside. Then a slight click and the burner lights up. After a period of time, the main blower kicks on, out comes nice hot dry air from the ceiling vents. Once the t-stat is satisfied, burner kicks off but fan continues to run to extract all the heat from the heat exchanger. Then it goes off. It does not, like the unit in my condo, come back on to get more heat out. Once off, it stays off until the next cycle.
It is a single stage, fixed blower speed unit that is rated at 96% AFUE. Whatever that means! What I marvel at, and still cannot get over, is my flue pipe out is a 2 inch PVC pipe! that's it! that's what sticks up on my roof. I cannot believe that all that heat which is generated and all it needs is some doggone plastic for venting. Blows me away. Not that I am complaining, but totally amazed at how it works. Rated at 60,000 BTU, it heats 1047 SQ of living space. Garage not included in that sq ft area!
Now for the bad part. This thing is laden with electronics. I gave up studying the repair manual for this beast. I mean it even has a controller board for the main blower. And a host of other relays and limit switches and probably more diodes than an 80's Atari VCS. I can only hope they are more reliable and serviceable than what I have read about on washing machines. I have no illusions that when something breaks, it will be expensive to fix. Let's hope Goodman sourced decent components (face it, all they make is the cabinet and heat exchanger, all the other bits and pieces come from someone else).
It also has not one but two condensate drain lines. I was like, WTF is causing water to run into my drain in the floor when I'm not running the A/C for god's sake? back to forums and research and I learned that this is a condensing unit, meaning it has a secondary heat exchanger that wrings even more heat out and in the process, condenses the air and voila, water is extracted out. I read more than I probably care to admit but I felt it was a good study so I understand what I have and not waste time and $$$ calling for help when it is running properly.
Thus far, it seems to work well. I guess. I can't say for sure because we're not in a dead of winter situation here so the actual test, if you call it that, is not really a tough one. The house seems to hold heat well and I don't notice excessive cycles even with the t-stat adjusted. The master bedroom is probably the coolest part and I'm talking 2 degrees difference. Literally.
The furnace is the only gas appliance I have so the gas bills will reflect 100% of the cost of running it and nothing else.
Having assisted my uncle years ago in his HVAC business, I got some exposure to the basic concepts and even helped in teardown of furnaces, helped charge and repair central air units and even did work on window units. Most of his work was residential some some light commercial. He was a Rheem/RUUD fan, not sure where he stands now.
As such, one thing I learned on a successful HVAC, regardless of furnace brand or reputation, is installation, installation, installation. This includes following installation instructions but also correctly sizing the unit to the needed home taking into consideration ductwork layout, placement, size and the like.
Being that my first home is new construction, we can and should assume the layout for the vents and return air was properly planned and sized so as to avoid hot spots or drafty areas. Sufficient return back to the air handler is key to keeping the air moving and not "piling" up in a given area
Thus far, my observations are on point, the HVAC contractor sized the vents and return air properly. In fact, each bedroom and the hallway has two return air vents; on on the floor and a closeable vent close to the ceiling. You can probably see these in some of my pix. Combined with the Aprilaire 413 collapsible filter to provide very good filtering capability, I can have my bedroom door close if I have it cracked open say 4 inches and have the furnace kick on. I found a seller on Amazon that prices them at 34/2 in a box. Already have them on order.
The thermostat is Aprilaire. Non programable, backlit when a soft touch button is pressed. I had to calibrate it for the on/off cycles as out of the box, it allowed too much lag time on the off part of the cycle and I would notice it being quite cool before it called for heat. Now it is spot on with reasonable cycle times and more even warmth. We'll see how this works when the A/C season comes on. It makes a very slight click when it calls for heat and also clicks when the temp is satisfied. No drama here. It also has a circ mode where the fan will come on 20 minutes after the furnace has come on, run for 10 minutes, then go off, and repeat. This is to ensure near constant movement of air to the Aprilaire filter to keep it clean. I guess. I don't really use it right now but perhaps I will find a use in the future.
Now on to the furnace.
It's an interesting beast and the first hi eff unit I have owned. My condo had an 80's era Heil-Quaker (branded Whirlpool) that had a metal flue and probably had a carbon footprint the size of King Kong. But it worked. For 16 years, each winter, it reliably provided heat. In fact, I never had a service call the whole time I lived there.
The Goodman OTOH, is much smaller in physical size. It has an interesting startup. First the t-stat calls for heat. Then a smaller blower comes on to do the venting to the outside. Then a slight click and the burner lights up. After a period of time, the main blower kicks on, out comes nice hot dry air from the ceiling vents. Once the t-stat is satisfied, burner kicks off but fan continues to run to extract all the heat from the heat exchanger. Then it goes off. It does not, like the unit in my condo, come back on to get more heat out. Once off, it stays off until the next cycle.
It is a single stage, fixed blower speed unit that is rated at 96% AFUE. Whatever that means! What I marvel at, and still cannot get over, is my flue pipe out is a 2 inch PVC pipe! that's it! that's what sticks up on my roof. I cannot believe that all that heat which is generated and all it needs is some doggone plastic for venting. Blows me away. Not that I am complaining, but totally amazed at how it works. Rated at 60,000 BTU, it heats 1047 SQ of living space. Garage not included in that sq ft area!
Now for the bad part. This thing is laden with electronics. I gave up studying the repair manual for this beast. I mean it even has a controller board for the main blower. And a host of other relays and limit switches and probably more diodes than an 80's Atari VCS. I can only hope they are more reliable and serviceable than what I have read about on washing machines. I have no illusions that when something breaks, it will be expensive to fix. Let's hope Goodman sourced decent components (face it, all they make is the cabinet and heat exchanger, all the other bits and pieces come from someone else).
It also has not one but two condensate drain lines. I was like, WTF is causing water to run into my drain in the floor when I'm not running the A/C for god's sake? back to forums and research and I learned that this is a condensing unit, meaning it has a secondary heat exchanger that wrings even more heat out and in the process, condenses the air and voila, water is extracted out. I read more than I probably care to admit but I felt it was a good study so I understand what I have and not waste time and $$$ calling for help when it is running properly.
Thus far, it seems to work well. I guess. I can't say for sure because we're not in a dead of winter situation here so the actual test, if you call it that, is not really a tough one. The house seems to hold heat well and I don't notice excessive cycles even with the t-stat adjusted. The master bedroom is probably the coolest part and I'm talking 2 degrees difference. Literally.
The furnace is the only gas appliance I have so the gas bills will reflect 100% of the cost of running it and nothing else.
