If you know that your furnace will need to be replaced in the near future, it's a good idea to start shopping around and figuring out your budget before the system actually breaks down. The cost of installing a new furnace may cause shell shock, since it's not a minor maintenance or repair project but a major homeowner expense.
Residential furnaces come in a wide range of prices, with many variables. The fluctuations in costs depend on the type of furnace purchased, in terms of both fuel and efficiency, the brand name, and the labor cost of installing a new furnace in our geographical area. The type of furnace you choose with regard to fuel depends on what you had before, and whether you want the expense of changing from one type of fuel to another, for instance electric to natural gas. Here are some pros and cons of each fuel type:
Electric furnaces
- Cheapest to buy & install
- Safest to operate
- Easy to maintain
- Highly efficient but uses a more expensive energy source
- Life expectancy 15-20 years
- Higher cost then electric to install, especially if you don't already have gas lines and venting for combustion gases
- Less efficient to operate, but uses the cheapest fuel, natural gas, in terms of BTUs provided
- Warm spaces faster
- Life expectancy 15-25 years
- More safety concerns with gases that need to be vented safely and some fire hazard
Oil Furnaces
- Rarely installed any longer
- Expensive fuel that requires a special storage tank
Green options
- Solar panels
- Geothermal
- Cost is much higher initially for both options
- Much lower operating costs
- Can help reduce carbon footprint
- Incentives available including generous federal tax breaks for qualifying systems
Cost estimates for your new furnace generally will include more than just labor to install a new furnace and the cost of the furnace. There will be other materials and delivery charges, preparation of the worksite, clean-up and debris removal, removal of the old furnace, etc. Ask a lot of questions about costs not included on your estimate and what the possible extra expenses could be once the job is in process.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Fort Wayne and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues. For more information about HVAC topics, please contact us at Hartman Brothers Heating & Air Conditioning Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in New Haven, Indiana and surrounding Fort Wayne area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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