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  1. #1
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Here's an Oxy Moron for You. High Efficiency Furnaces Don't Work in Extreme Cold

    True, Dr. Google and several furnace companies say so. Our furnace was coming on many times in short succession yet we were feeling cold. It won't heat to more than 16C (~65F). We checked everything, AMs and PMs are correct, programme is correct, piping outside is not blocked by snow. Seems these furnaces burn so efficiently they leave a lot of moisture in the air. We do not notice a humidity problem inside but apparently lots with these furnaces do. Then, in cold weather, this moisture freezes in the intake and out take pipes and blocks them off and the moisture or lack of air flow, not sure which, flips a switch limiting how long the furnace stays on.

    We are lucky, we do have heat and it's enough for warmth but we have to wear extra clothing inside. It's just started this nonsense again this morning, it was fine the last couple of days in our warm spell. Sheesh. The furnace man is on call, says he expects the pipes need to be bigger. I guess he's waiting to get them.
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  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Snowshoe For This Useful Post:

    barry581 (01-13-2018), POPTOP (01-13-2018)

  3. #2
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    I had this issue when I had the new HVAC 5 or so years ago. It's in the attic, which is obviously pretty cold. The condensation outtake pipe was routed to drain outside. Well of course it would freeze up and cause the furnace to shut down. The owner of the company who installed the furnace said that was code, which made no sense since this caused the furnace to shut down. My son worked for this company as a plumber, so the owner told me to have him re-route the drain into the houses plumbing vent system, which would fix the problem. He said this was the former code for this, and 90% of the house in the area have this set up. Go figure.

    All I know in it's worked fine ever since.

  4. #3
    Senior Dog Blackboy98's Avatar
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    Just break off the ice and everything is fine!! High efficiency means more work.
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  5. #4
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Guess we are lucky that our furnace outtake pipe is only about 8 feet from the sump pump hole and that's where it drains so everything is cozy warm inside.

    Love our new furnace. When needed it pumps on what I call high. When only a little heat is needed, it has a lower speed. It does this automatically so it can start out on high speed and then gear down.

    One thing though, on a cold, sunny day like today, the heat does not come up much which means the basement is pretty cool. We do not have zones and the thermostat is upstairs.
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  6. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    In case it helps anyone else, a temporary fix was to change the rate at which the furnace comes up to heat. A repairman came yesterday. Before, it would roar on and try to up the heat quickly. Apparently this draws in a lot of outside air very fast and that's what shuts it off, with the effect it never gets up to heat when it's cold out. We are still waiting for the service man to come and switch the in and outtake pipes to bigger diameter ones. We were told he has a long list of furnaces needing this switch. Some high efficiency are fussy this way, some are not.
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    Castilleja's Dubhgall Oban, the Black Stranger of The Little Bay
    Oct. 15, 2007 - June 13, 2021
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