Trane Furnaces: An Overview and Guide to the Top 3 Models
Trane is an American manufacturer and distributor of products designed to both heat and cool your home or place of business. In the specific realm of furnaces, Trane produces both gas and electric models. Each of these types has inherent advantages and drawbacks because of the basic technology employed.
What Types of Trane Furnace Are There?
Trane produces a variety of furnaces. They specialize in gas furnaces and offer a range of sizes that are appropriate for residences varying from cozy one room studio apartments to huge furnaces capable of providing heating to the large homes now becoming popular in so many areas of the country. Trane produces both single stage and multistage furnaces and offers a full line of styles and models with AFUE ratings in excess of 95%, considered to be a minimum rating for a furnace to be considered in the acceptable range of efficiency. Some Trane furnaces operate far above the 95% AFUE level.
Many Trane furnaces feature advanced features such as air filtration and noiseless fan operation.
Factors to Consider When Buying Trane Furnaces
Any purchase of a furnace is an individual choice relying on more factors than can be comfortably listed in an overview like this, but in general the following guidelines are sound issues for all prospective furnace consumers to consider:
- How large a furnace do I need to adequately heat my home?
- What amount will my personal finances allow me to pay or carry in terms of a loan?
- Is electricity or gas the better fuel option in my region of the country?
- Does noise bother me to the extent that I need a noiseless fan?
Advanced Features of the Top Models of Trane Furnaces
Trane furnaces come equipped with a wide range of attractive and useful features, particularly as consumers scale their proposed purchase upwards toward the high end of the cost spectrum. As the old adage says, you do get what you pay for, and in the realm of furnaces, an item that it supposed to heat your home for several years if not entire decades, it does not make sense to skimp. Buy the best and you will not be disappointed.
Here then, are the major features that consumers can expect to see represented in the most excellent models of gas furnaces. (However, some high end features may be present even in low efficiency furnaces, depending on the model. Premium versions of low end furnaces may offer some of these advanced features).
- Variable speed blowers. These are advantageous because they can operate at multiple speeds, which means the heater will not be on “high” just because it is turned on. This allows the furnace to gauge forced air fan speed to the appropriate and necessary level to maintain the desired indoor air temperature. The advantages of this are numerous. Consumers will save money because a lower fan speed consumes less electricity. Drafts in the house and wild swings in temperature, which can cause considerable discomfort, particularly to older Americans, will also be reduced if your furnace comes equipped with a variable speed blower.
- Variable heat output. A companion feature to the variable speed blower, variable heat output allows the heater as well as the fan to operate on “high” and “low” settings instead of merely being on or off. This also produces a savings in power, either in electricity or gas depending on how your furnace produces heat. Some very advanced furnaces have more than two possible heat outputs, though two is the most commonly seen arrangement.
- Dual heat exchanger. Seen in a gas furnace only, the heat exchanger is the part of the furnace that siphons heat from the action of burning gas in the heating chamber. A furnace with a single heat exchanger will end up allowing some of the produced heat to escape, since a given surface area of metal can only absorb a certain amount of heat. By providing a second heat exchanger, a great deal more of the generated heat can be absorbed and transferred into the air that will later circulate through the home or business. Therefore, a dual heat exchanger is an efficiency feature that will cause you to purchase and use less fuel in order to produce the same amount of heating. Keep in mind, though, that a dual heat exchanger is irrelevant when it comes to the entire category of electric furnaces.
- Pilotless ignition. In the “good old days” of gas furnaces, each furnace had to have a pilot light in order to stay lit at all. This meant that a small flame was continuously burning and consuming liquid propane or natural gas, even during times when the heater was not on and producing heat at all. This quite obviously led to an inefficient situation in which fuel was being wasted. A common feature of all modern furnaces is an ignition system that lacks any sort of pilot light. Even inexpensive furnaces may offer this advanced feature. In a furnace with an ignition system, a spark is generated each time the furnace needs to switch on. This leads to increased efficiency and an AFUE rating that a pilot light system could never attain.
- Zoned heating. Generally considered a very advanced feature, zoned heating involves the use of a number of thermostats scattered throughout the home, along with a set of dampers to regulate the air flow through the ducts, and a central controller that functions much like a traffic officer, deciding where and when air will be allowed to flow. Zoned heating is of inestimable use in a large home where heating the entire dwelling continuously to the same temperature would be prohibitively expensive. Units that utilize zoned heating will most often be super-deluxe models that incorporate both heating and cooling functions into a single all-purpose interior temperature solution. However, zoned heating systems are sometimes regarded as more likely to break down and need repairs; contractors in particular may take this view and counsel you against their use.
- Electrostatic air filters. This advanced feature is more than the simple thick mesh air filter that all furnace units possess in one form or another. Advanced air filtration involves the use of electrical charges to collect particles in a HEPA (high efficiency particulate arresting) filter. The use of HEPA filters is controversial and hotly debated. Some indoor air quality experts regard them as absolutely essential for all consumers. Others advise that their use is largely unnecessary and will not help prevent or alleviate allergies of diseases of the respiratory system. A middle view is that electrostatic air filtration systems can provide some benefit to people suffering from chronic diseases that affect the lungs or breathing, such as asthma, but that for all other people they are not beneficial.
- Warranty. Virtually all new furnaces come complete with a warranty period, and even if there should be no expressed warranty, each state has laws that confer upon consumers various rights after purchase. However, premium and advanced models will frequently offer a warranty period that is longer than their low end cousins. Indeed, this has become a standard features among advanced models.
Top Recommendations for Trane Furnaces
1. XC95m Gas Heating Furnace from Trane
This furnace, as the name indicates, offers 95% AFUE and has a variable speed fan with quiet operation. A patented air filtration system removes pollen and dust from your air, and ComfortLink II technology provides a way for all components of the system to seamlessly interact.
2. XV80 Oil Furnace
This furnace differs from the average furnace in that it consumes heating oil rather than gas. In some areas of the nation, such as the Northeast, oil is a more economical choice than propane or natural gas, neither of which may be available due to the prevalence of furnaces that run on oil instead. This unit offers 85% AFUE, which is lower than the XC95, to be sure, but the tradeoff here is that the XV80 is far more affordable. With a two stage fan motor, this model provides a warm and comfortable indoor environment with a reasonable level of fuel efficiency. It also features advanced air filtration.
3. XL90 Gas Furnace with Two Stage Heating
This model is an acceptable compromise between the other two in terms of efficiency. Running on natural gas or propane rather than oil, it offers 92% or more AFUE and comes standard with a CleanEffects advanced air filtration system. Other features include:
- a variable speed blower with four speeds
- ability to install vertically or horizontally
- self diagnostics
- sealed combustion using outside air for oxygen so as not to deplete the indoor air quality
- single rather than dual heat exchanger
- silicone igniter for durability
- insulated cabinet made of heavy, durable steel
The Final Word
In my opinion the very best all-purpose furnace solution from Trane is the XL90 described directly above. It is an ideal combination of efficiency and affordability, offering many of the advanced features consumers should expect from a quality furnace.