Furnace Installation in Boston, MA
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Suffolk County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, against a cold that doesn't let up
Boston homes need the furnace running from October through May, eight months of the year. Winter nights average 23°F, so the burner is cycling on and off most of the time it's cold, not just on the coldest days.
The power doesn't always stay on through it. Massachusetts recorded 22 winter storms and 140 damaging wind events between 2015 and 2024, and 10% of households in the state lost power for at least 24 hours last year. Any non-weatherized gas furnace installed today has to reach at least 80.0 percent AFUE, the federal minimum, so that part of the decision is already made for you.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 57%
- 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 $170 a year to run in Suffolk County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Suffolk County home, from EIA household energy data, Massachusetts fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
- What size furnace does my house need?
- It depends on a proper load calculation, not the square footage of your house alone. A contractor works out heat loss room by room, looking at your insulation, your windows, your ceiling height, and how the place is laid out. Going bigger than that number is not a safety margin, it just means the furnace short cycles and wears out faster. With lows averaging 23°F here through the winter, getting this number right matters more than in a milder climate, since the furnace runs long hours for eight months straight.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Age is the first sign. A furnace working hard for eight months a year, October through May here, wears out faster than one running a few months a year elsewhere. If yours is cycling more than it used to, running longer to reach the same temperature, or needing a repair call every winter, replacement usually costs less over time than more patching. A cracked heat exchanger or a furnace that trips its limit switch repeatedly is not worth repairing again. A contractor can look at the specific unit and tell you which side of that line you're on.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- For a house here, running the furnace eight months a year, the efficiency rating matters more than it would somewhere with a short winter. Any furnace made after November 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, and higher-efficiency models go beyond that minimum. The higher the AFUE, the more of the fuel you burn turns into heat in your house instead of going out the vent. Whether the higher upfront cost pencils out for your house is something a contractor can work through with you based on your actual heating load.