Furnace Installation in Quincy, MA
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Norfolk County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Quincy asks a furnace to run eight months a year
From October through May, your furnace is the thing standing between your house and a 21°F night. That's most of the year spent working, not a few cold snaps here and there.
A new furnace installed here has to be built for that stretch, and it has to meet the federal minimum of 80 percent AFUE if it's a standard gas model. Power matters too. About 1 in 10 Massachusetts households lost power for 24 hours or more last year, and Norfolk County sees its share of winter storms and damaging wind. Whatever you put in should be sized and installed to hold up through all of it, not just the mild days.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 21°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 54%
- 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 Norfolk County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Norfolk 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?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not the square footage of your house. A contractor measures your walls, windows, ceiling height and insulation and works out how much heat you actually lose on a cold night. A furnace that's too big cycles on and off fast and never runs long enough to heat evenly. One that's too small runs constantly and still can't keep up when it's 21°F outside. Ask whoever quotes the job to walk you through the calculation, not just quote a number off your old unit.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch how your furnace behaves, not just how old it is. Uneven heat between rooms, a furnace that runs longer than it used to, or a rise in gas bills with no other explanation all point to a furnace losing ground. Frequent repairs in the same season is another sign, especially if each one costs more than the last. Your house needs heat from October through May, so a furnace that's struggling now will only get worse as the winter goes on.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how long you plan to stay in the house and what your furnace is replacing. Any non-weatherized gas furnace built after November 2015 already has to hit 80 percent AFUE, so the real choice is between that baseline and a high-efficiency model that runs in the mid-90s or higher. With heat needed here eight months of the year and winter lows averaging 21°F, a furnace that runs often has more chances to make up the difference in fuel use over its lifetime. A contractor can compare specific models and tell you what makes sense for your house.