Coleman Furnace: Review of Coleman's Echelon 97.5% Furnace

First, realize that the Coleman Echelon 97.5% High Efficiency Furnace is unlike anything you may have owned before. It's an unusual experience, and you will first want to understand the three major types of furnaces. If you're accustomed to the huge blast of heat followed by the long period of interior cooling that you find in traditional one-stage furnaces, this is completely different. Also, it is interesting to note that the Coleman furnace is made by Johnson Controls, which also makes York and other furnace brands.

Is it impossible to objectively judge a furnace, considering that the previous furnace was over a half-century old? Certainly, anything will be better than the previous furnace, right?

That's what I thought at first. And when it comes to volume of air output, that is especially the case. My previous furnace barely put out a trickle of air. After the Coleman furnace was installed, the blast of air blew out clouds of dust from the ducts.

It didn't help that the HVAC company had removed the air filter. Sofas, walls, windows, and everything horizontal was blackened. I estimate that I have six to eight hours of dusting and mopping ahead of me just to return my house to normal. Though my dust problem is an issue with the HVAC company, not the Coleman furnace, it is a testament to the volume of air the Coleman put out to expel that dust.

Noise? This Coleman furnace is loud. Remarkably, it is as loud or even louder than my previous fifty year-old furnace. And I'm not talking about the increased volume of air whistling through the vents. I mean the furnace unit itself is loud. Luckily, because the unit modulates, you only occasionally have to listen to the unit blowing a full capacity.

The reason I bought a modulating furnace: I hate that long, cold period that precedes the single stage furnace kicking back on.

It sounds childish--and it may very well be--but it's also tied to very green and eco-friendly results. Because I like a warmer house, I tend to set the single stage or even dual stage furnace quite high to compensate for those cold periods. Thus, I'm running a very hot furnace that turns on constantly.

But with the modulating furnace, I set it right at the desired temperature of 72 degrees and find it to be quite comfortable.

The biggest task that this modulating furnace takes on is first thing in the morning, when it is called upon to heat up a very cold house. Instead of blasting away at full force right away, this Coleman furnace gradually increases its heat over a period of about fifteen minutes. It's a nice way to wake up.

Even if you purchase the same Coleman furnace, your cost will vary, since factors are different: regions, dealers, installation, and your ability or willingness to negotiate.

I went through Sears Home Improvement, a middleman between me and the HVAC installer. In the end, because I did have problems with the furnace installation, it was a good thing to have Sears there. The Sears rep kept the repair job on track.

This Coleman furnace cost $5,042.03. I did not attempt to bargain down the price with the Sears Improvement salesman. This price includes taxes but does not include any federal tax credits or local energy company rebates.

My local energy company rebate for this Coleman furnace is $250. Federal tax credits on this model are $1,500.

Now that I have run this Coleman furnace for one full season, I have a truer feeling about its operation. While I still cannot compare year-to-year energy bills, I do have to say that this furnace pushes out some major heat. Even in my presumably uninsulated house, this furnace kept the home toasty warm throughout the winter. But I'll add that I don't live in severe winter conditions. Most of the time, I was irritably walking to the thermostat and turning it down because I was too hot. This is all variable (my house isn't very large) and subjective (I don't love forced-air heat), but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!