Thermostat suggestions for York modulating furnace

edee_em · February 02, 2021, 10:16:35 AM

Hi. Hope everyone is well and safe.

I have a York YP9C080C16MP12CB modulating furnace attached to an Ecobee3 Lite thermostat. I got the ecobee for free during an energy saving promotion and it was in place when I had the furnace replaced.

I've learned since then that the ecobee is not designed to do variable speed/modulation. As it is, when the stat calls for heat I get a whisper of air coming out of the vents until the end of the heat cycle at which point the fan comes on louder (stronger?) to blow out the remaining heat (my guess?) from the ducts. In a nutshell, my furnace is acting like a single/dual stage furnace and not a modulating one.

So, I'm looking for the proper thermostat to take advantage of the features of this furnace. I see at the York website they list very specific thermostats. They are relatively expensive (I've seen $400+ US pricing so I'm assuming in the $5-600 CDN range).

My question would be do I have to use a York thermostat to run the furnace properly or are there alternative/competitive brands that you guys know about and have used? Thanks

Admin · February 02, 2021, 02:18:04 PM

That furnace is designed to work with a conventional thermostat. I never saw the benefit in having 100 stages of heat and don't believe it would save much fuel. It should be 98% efficient on any stage.

Likely you need to adjust dip switches or jumpers on the furnace control board so it works well with the Ecobee. You can likely force the high fire stage to kick on sooner.

tenletters · February 02, 2021, 04:28:58 PM

Quote from: Admin on February 02, 2021, 02:18:04 PM
That furnace is designed to work with a conventional thermostat. I never saw the benefit in having 100 stages of heat and don't believe it would save much fuel. It should be 98% efficient on any stage.

Likely you need to adjust dip switches or jumpers on the furnace control board so it works well with the Ecobee. You can likely force the high fire staging to kick on sooner.

Once you use a properly setup modulating furnace/AC, you'll never look back. Ideally, the furnace will run most of the day in the lowest stage replacing the heat as it's lost.

They're not installed to save money. It's all about the quiet and comfort. It's annoying when salesmen sell them on savings. You'll never make the savings.

Admin · February 02, 2021, 04:38:48 PM

In new construction I never get to play with the cool stuff LOL

edee_em · February 02, 2021, 06:18:36 PM

Thank you for shattering my dreams (modulating not worth it and never save money)

May I ask how to properly set up the furnace? Are there resources I can refer to? Thanks

Porcupinepuffer · February 02, 2021, 06:46:54 PM

The mod will have shorter on/off cycles by the fact it can run at very low output on days when it really isn't that cold. This helps a lot with the wear and tear of a furnace that will just simply go on and off on either single stage or two stage heat that is completely controlled by the stat. The mod has its own built in algorithms to figure out how to operate as effectively as it can to drastically reduce short cycling. Infact, the York mod may even run when it's not even getting a call from the ecobee. The furnace is made to work well with that stat. There would be no need to try and waste any money on trying to upgrade to a york specific communicating stat. Assuming the installer has set temperature rise and cooling airflow settings correctly, it's fine. The mods will run quieter and with better comfort by hardly knowing they're even running.

edee_em · February 03, 2021, 03:21:32 AM

Quote from: Porcupinepuffer on February 02, 2021, 06:46:54 PM
The mod will have shorter on/off cycles by the fact it can run at very low output on days when it really isn't that cold. This helps a lot with the wear and tear of a furnace that will just simply go on and off on either single stage or two stage heat that is completely controlled by the stat. The mod has its own built in algorithms to figure out how to operate as effectively as it can to drastically reduce short cycling. Infact, the York mod may even run when it's not even getting a call from the ecobee. The furnace is made to work well with that stat. There would be no need to try and waste any money on trying to upgrade to a york specific communicating stat. Assuming the installer has set temperature rise and cooling airflow settings correctly, it's fine. The mods will run quieter and with better comfort by hardly knowing they're even running.

Thanks for this. I can't seem to recall the installer doing any settings on the furnace. In fact, he had to take two whacks at wiring the ecobee properly. What should I ask for from a tech I bring in to make the adjustments?