Furnace Installation in Kingston, NY
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Ulster County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, and nights near 18°F
Furnaces in Kingston run from October through May. That is eight months of the year the burner has to work, on nights that average 18°F. A new furnace here has to be sized for that cold, not for a mild winter somewhere else.
42.9 percent of homes in this area heat with fuel oil, so the fuel your new furnace runs on is worth deciding early, along with its size. Any new gas furnace built after November 2015 also has to meet the federal minimum of 80 percent AFUE. Power is worth planning around too. New York saw storms strong enough to cut power to 11 percent of households for a full day or more in 2024, and this area has logged 33 winter storms and 372 damaging wind events over the past ten years.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, how well it's insulated, your ceiling height, your windows, and how many rooms it has. Kingston winters push furnaces hard, with nights averaging 18°F from December through February, so an undersized furnace will run constantly and still leave rooms cold. An oversized one heats too fast, shuts off before warming the house evenly, and wears out sooner. A contractor will do a load calculation on your actual house rather than go by square footage alone, and that's the only way to get the number right.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- If your furnace is struggling to keep up, cycling on and off more than it used to, or needing repairs every winter, it's time to start looking at replacement. Age matters too. A furnace working hard for 8 months a year, October through May here, wears faster than one in a milder climate. Rooms that stay cold, a yellow flame instead of blue, or a rising gas bill with no other explanation are all signs the furnace is losing efficiency. Have a contractor look at it before you're choosing a new one in the middle of a cold snap with no heat at all.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- For a house that needs heat 8 months out of the year, a high-efficiency furnace has more time to earn back the difference than it would somewhere with a short winter. Any non-weatherized gas furnace made after November 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so even a standard model sold today isn't inefficient. High-efficiency models go well beyond that minimum, which matters more in a house that's heating constantly from October through May. Whether the higher upfront cost makes sense for your house is a question a contractor can answer once they know your fuel type, your current furnace, and how your home holds heat.