Furnace air handler blower with enlarged backward curved impeller and associated method of use

A blower comprising:

• a blower housing having a cutoff and a top portion with an air outlet opening;
• a fan within the blower housing, the fan being adapted for rotation about a fan axis and having an outer diameter, the fan comprising a first set of backward curved impeller blades, and a second set of backward curved impeller blades, the first set of backward curved impeller blades being spaced axially from the second set of backward curved impeller blades and a distance between the outer diameter of the fan and the top portion of the air outlet opening extending along a vertical line between the fan axis and the air outlet opening being less than seventy-five percent of the distance between the outer diameter of the fan and the cutoff of the blower housing extending along a line between the fan axis and the cutoff and the angle between the vertical line extending between the fan axis and the air outlet opening and the line extending between the fan axis and the cutoff being at least ten degrees;
• a motor having a stator and a rotor, the rotor being rotatably coupled to the stator for rotation about the fan axis, the rotor and fan being coupled such that the fan rotates with the rotor;
• and
• a support member connected between the stator of the motor and the blower housing and extending generally radially from the fan axis, the support member supporting both the motor and the fan, the support member located between the first set of backward curved impeller blades and the second set of backward curved impeller blades.