My furnace is the ASC Gold 80V (ADD2B080A9V3VAB) and the condenser is ASC Gold 17 (4A7A7036A1000A). Furnace is variable speed fan and both are two stage. The installer doesn't do many 2 stage condensers in this area so not sure the thermostat I got will work (White Rodgers/ Emerson 1F95EZ-0671). I am considering a color touch screen ASC thermostat. Thanks again.

I looked up the thermostat you currently have and it appears it has the ability to control two stages of heating and cooling. The fact that the thermostat clicks when you lower the temperature seems to indicate the thermostat is trying to energize the second stage of cooling.

The most likely problem is the furnace and AC are not wired correctly. It could be there are not enough wires between the thermostat and furnace to support two stages of heating or cooling, or the installer doesn't know how to do this installation. Getting the American Standard thermostat (which may be a rebadged Honeywell thermostat) may have the same problem.

Did you show the installer the problem? What was his comment?

I have emailed the business owner to come out to demonstrate that everything is working. I read in the manual that the air should come on at 70% fan and low condenser, then ramp up 'if necessary'. Thanks for your comment, I will update after his visit!

The tech is coming out tomorrow. There still seems to be a question as to the air flow. Please answer this if you can: I understand the two stage condenser means it will output two levels of refrigerant to the indoor coil, and its own fan is variable. BUT I expect the indoor blower to blow at low speed normally, just as the heater does, and only blow and cool at high when needed. Is that correct? My installer says the blower speed difference is only minimal when switching between cooling stages. I will be very disappointed if that is the case.

I can't find any documents on your condenser, so I don't know the capacity split of the two stages. Let's assume it's 75/100% which would be about 2.25/3 tons. If you assume the air flow is 400 CFM per ton then the air flow split should be 900/1200 CFM. I think you would notice a 300 CFM air flow difference. If the air flow is not slowed down, then you are not getting the humidification benefit of your 2-stage condenser.

Tigerdunes is probably right about the dip switches. The blower speeds for the furnace and AC can be set independently. This done so the furnace can support a single stage AC condenser.

Your thermostat needs 6 wires between the thermostat and furnace. You may only had 5 wires available. The Y2 terminal controls the second stage of the AC and may not be connected. I would ask about this in case the tech can't resolve the problem with the dip switch setting.

Thanks guys, I'll better prepared. I do indeed have a two stage thermostat. I have noticed three speeds of air flow: fan only: very low; heat: med, high; AC: high. I pointed a decibel meter at my air return and it doesn't change during AC even when I hear a click on the thermostat, like it does during a heating blower change. I'll report back ;-)

Speeds of airflow does not mean you have a two stage thermostat or that is setup properly. Just so you know.

TD

Ok I had a different tech show up this morning to check on my complaints. He found a 'Y' wire on the compressor was always turning it on high (should have been Y2 I think). He also found on the furnace that the 'BK' wire wasn't connected correctly.
Now it *is* shifting gears on both heat and AC ;-)
However, I wish the AC low speed blower was slower.
For comparison of the different modes, I am holding my Radio Shack db meter up to the air return.
Here's what I have:
everything off - 48 db
fan only - 65
heat low - 72
heat high - 78
ac low - 76
ac high - 79
Also, from low to high, at the outside condenser, the db increase about 10.
I would really like the ac low to be as low as the heat low, but the tech said the ac will always be higher. He said he called and talked to a factory tech to ensure he had things set up correctly. He said he could adj the blower lower with the dip switches, but would only do so if I signed a waiver. No thanks on that.
In the furnace manual is a chart of airflow setting vs dip switch setting vs ext static pressure. I don't know how to grok that table, but it shows Low as 350cfm/ton, Normal as 400cfm/ton, and High as 450cfm/ton.
That's all I got.
Thanks!

Typical bad installation. It happens more often then you think.

You may be able to go down to 350 cfm/ton. I assume this variable speed motor will try to keep a constant air flow within a static pressure range. If the air flow is too slow then the coil might freeze.

I don't like the "you have to sign a waiver" nonsense. Try it for while before making any changes. Buy an inexpensive temperature/humidity monitor. If you can keep the humidity in the 40-45% range then you are doing fine.

My neighbor got himself a device what he calls an innovative controller for air conditioners. Not too sold about it myself yet but it looks pretty neat. Basically, it's a small device you put near your AC, connect them through Wifi and then you can adjust different settings on an app. He showed it to me once and it seemed to have all the basic features: fan speed, mode, on/off etc. Also, it shows room temperature, humidity and weather report.

I've been doing research about it for about a week. You can find the so-called "smart AC controller" here. It's European it seems but they do ship to the states. Can't find any reviews on it but by the look of it, it's quite good. Still not exactly sure about it but have a look and tell me what you think about it.

David, the Air Patrol controller you linked to controls a split system air handler via IR, replacing its own remote. I do have one of those wall-mounted units in my upstairs, and I believe they are very common or even the norm in Europe and rest of world. So that looks like a useful device for adding smart phone control to replace what is probably crude control by their normal remotes. It would not be useful on a standard furnace/ condenser setup where the wall- mounted thermostats can already provide sophisticated control and some are even WiFi enabled like this Air Patrol device.

I have the cousin Trane system and had a similar question about noticing changes in condenser noise/speed between stages. My installer demonstrated it's difficult to hear/see changes between condenser stages, but then connected an amp meter to show the current change between stages (stage 2 draws more current than stage 1).