Furnace Installation in Howell, MI
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Livingston County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Howell asks a lot of a furnace
Eight months a year, October through May, your furnace is the thing standing between your house and 18 degree nights. That is most of the calendar. It needs to start reliably every time, all winter and into spring.
Most homes here heat with gas, so the furnace itself matters more than in places that lean on other fuel. Any new gas furnace has to meet 80 percent AFUE, the federal minimum since 2015. Michigan also sees real winter storms, ice and wind that knock out power, so whatever gets installed should come back on and run again once the power does.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 78%
- 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 $130 a year to run in Livingston County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Livingston County home, from EIA household energy data, Michigan fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Michigan requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Michigan's license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, so it covers the business doing the work rather than this particular furnace. That license comes from the Board of Mechanical Rules, which means the state tested the contractor and keeps a record of them, not just the crew sent out for the day.
On a furnace install, that license is what stands behind the work. In most cities and counties, a furnace install also needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the job is done, separate from anything the state license covers. In Livingston County, 77.8% of homes heat with gas, so this is work the local building office sees often.
Sources: Michigan Legislature · Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
- What size furnace does my house need?
- A contractor has to calculate this by looking at your square footage, your insulation, your windows, and how the house is laid out. Two homes the same size can need different sized furnaces depending on those factors. Going too big wastes fuel and cycles the furnace on and off too often. Too small and it will run constantly and still struggle to keep the house warm on the coldest nights here, when lows average 18°F. Ask for a load calculation, not just a guess based on the size of the old unit.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch how often it needs a repair and how the repairs compare to the cost of a new furnace. If a repair is priced close to what a new furnace would cost, replacement is usually the better call. Also watch for uneven heat between rooms, a furnace that runs longer than it used to, or a gas bill that climbs without a reason. Homes here need heat from October through May, eight months of the year, so a furnace that's already struggling has a lot of months left to fail in.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how long you plan to stay in the house and what furnace you have now. Every new gas furnace sold today has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, and high-efficiency models go higher than that, meaning less of the gas you burn is lost up the vent. With eight months of heating a year here, that difference adds up more than it would somewhere with a short winter. A contractor can tell you what efficiency level makes sense for your house and your furnace's condition now.