Furnace Installation in Elizabeth, NJ
A new furnace here will run from October through April every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Union County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Elizabeth asks a furnace to run seven months a year
From October through April, your furnace is what keeps the house livable. Winter nights average 26°F here, cold enough that the burner is cycling on and off most of the night, every night, for months at a stretch.
Most homes in the area heat with gas, and any non-weatherized gas furnace built since November 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE by federal rule. That is the floor, not a feature, so it is worth knowing what you are actually installing beyond that minimum. Power outages are also common enough here to plan around. If your furnace runs on electric ignition, a new one should start back up on its own once the power comes back, no relight needed.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 26°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 82%
- 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 Union County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Union County home, from EIA household energy data, New Jersey fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
New Jersey requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the State Board of Examiners of Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors, and it belongs to the contractor, not to any one job. New Jersey tested that contractor and keeps a record of them. Towns and cities in New Jersey are not allowed to add their own license on top of it, so the same state license applies no matter where in Union County the work is done.
For a furnace installation, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. Most cities and counties also require a permit for a furnace replacement, with an inspection once the job is finished. That permit and inspection come from the local building office, separate from the state license. Most homes in Union County heat with gas, and this is the kind of job that needs both the license behind the contractor and the permit behind the work itself.
Sources: New Jersey Legislature · New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not a rule of thumb based on square footage alone. A contractor measures your walls, windows, insulation, and how the rooms are laid out, then works out how much heat the house loses on a cold night. Get this wrong and you end up with a furnace that short cycles because it's too big, or one that runs constantly and still can't keep up because it's too small. With winter nights here averaging 26°F, sizing it right matters more than it would somewhere milder.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Age is one thing to look at, along with how often you're calling someone out to fix it. Rising repair costs are a sign, especially if it's happening more than once a season. If the furnace can't heat the house evenly anymore, or it runs longer to do the same job it used to do quickly, that points to the heat exchanger or blower wearing out. Homes here need heat from October through April, seven months of the year, so a furnace on its way out doesn't get much of a break to recover.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how long you plan to stay in the house and what you're paying to heat it now. Since November 2015, non-weatherized gas furnaces sold have had to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, so even a standard replacement today burns less gas than an older unit. A furnace rated above that minimum burns even less to produce the same heat, which adds up over seven months of heating season here. A contractor can look at your current gas use and the house itself to tell you whether paying for a higher rating makes sense for your situation.