Furnace Installation in Rochester, NY
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Monroe County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Rochester winters keep a furnace working eight months a year
From October through May, your furnace is what stands between the house and a winter night that averages 20°F. That is eight months of the year it needs to start reliably and keep running.
Most homes here heat with gas, and any new non-weatherized gas furnace installed now has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE. Rochester has also logged 18 winter storms and 154 damaging wind events over the past ten years, the kind of weather that can knock out power along with the heat. A new furnace should be sized and installed with both in mind.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 20°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 75%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A high-efficiency gas furnace would save about $150 a year to run in Monroe County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Monroe County home, from EIA household energy data, New York fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not a square footage chart. A contractor works out how much heat your house loses through its walls, windows, attic and ductwork, then matches the furnace to that number. Too big and it short cycles, heating the air fast then shutting off before the house evens out. Too small and it runs constantly without keeping up. With 8 months of heating season here and winter nights averaging 20°F, getting this number right matters more than it would somewhere milder.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Age is the first sign. A furnace running well past its expected life is more likely to break down when you need it most. Watch for rising repair calls, uneven heat between rooms, or a furnace that runs longer to hold the same temperature. If yours is old and something major fails, like the heat exchanger, replacing it usually makes more sense than repairing it. In a place where the heating season runs October through May, a furnace on its way out is worth replacing before it fails on a 20°F night.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- For a house here, most likely yes. Every non-weatherized gas furnace made since November 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so that's the floor, not the ceiling. High-efficiency models go higher than that, meaning less of the gas you burn goes out the flue instead of into your house. With most homes here heating with gas and 8 months of the year needing heat, that difference gets used all winter, not just on the coldest nights. A contractor can walk you through which efficiency level fits your house and your furnace's venting.