TL;DR
A condensing furnace is a gas furnace of 90 percent AFUE or higher that adds a secondary heat exchanger to wring latent heat out of the flue gases until water vapor in them condenses. The cooled exhaust vents through inexpensive PVC pipe out a sidewall instead of a metal chimney, and the acidic condensate must run to a drain, often through a neutralizer cartridge where codes require one.
What it means
A condensing furnace is a gas furnace of 90 percent AFUE or higher that adds a secondary heat exchanger to wring latent heat out of the flue gases until water vapor in them condenses. The cooled exhaust vents through inexpensive PVC pipe out a sidewall instead of a metal chimney, and the acidic condensate must run to a drain, often through a neutralizer cartridge where codes require one. The efficiency gain over an 80 percent unit shows up most in cold climates with long heating seasons.
Where it sits in the glossary
Condensing furnace is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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