Advantage To Modulating Gas Valve

There are many advantages to having a furnace with a modulating gas valve which will be discussed below, but lets start off with a brief description of what a modulating gas valve is. A modulating gas valve has the ability to vary the gas input to match the heat loss of your home at any given point in time. When a furnace is properly sized for you home, it is designed so that it has enough output to keep up with the demand of the thermostat on the coldest of days. But on milder days, you really do not require the same output from your furnace as you would on the coldest of days and that is where the modulation of the gas valve offers some advantages.

Gas Valve Advantages

  1. Comfort: On a milder day, if your furnace would provide 100% of its available output, your furnace would meet the thermostat set point rather quickly and then shut off. Lack of run time is one of the main reasons you feel warm and cold spots in your home, the air does not have enough time to circulate leaving some rooms warm and some rooms cool. If your burner could turn itself down, it would take a longer period of time to reach thermostat set point allowing for the fan to circulate this warm air for longer periods and reduce the hot or cold areas of your home. You may never recognize these longer run times because the furnace is one of the quietest manufactured today
  2. Efficiency: A lower gas input running for a longer period of time promotes energy efficiency. Just like with your car, starting and stopping as in city traffic will cause a higher usage of fuel, the same applies to your gas furnace, allowing a long steady run time is more energy efficient than starting and stopping many times over the same time period. Additionally, as motors start, they consume the greatest amount of energy and any furnace made after 1990 has not only a blower motor, but also a draft motor which must start. So longer run times will not only lower your gas bill, but your electric bill as well.
  3. Longevity: As with any mechanical equipment, the more you start and stop it the greater the wear it will experience. Every time your furnace cycles, the igniter will glow bright orange to start the burner. The excessive heat generated by the igniter may cause it to fail after many cycles. Additionally, when a motor starts, that is the point it draws the greatest amps which puts stress on the motor winding’s which can cause failure over time. Of course at every start of every heating cycle, the gas valve must electronically open putting wear on it’s solenoid.

At RJ Kuhn in Oswego, IL., we not only want you to be as comfortable as possible, we also want to make sure you do it efficiently and get the longest life possible out of your heating equipment. Call us today to so we can throughly explain the advantages of a new Carrier Infinity furnace and get you the comfort, efficiency and peace of mind you deserve.