Furnace Installation in New Brunswick, NJ
A new furnace here will run from October through April every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Middlesex County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat, on nights near 26 degrees
In Middlesex County your furnace runs from October through April, seven months of the year. Winter lows here average 26°F, and most homes are heated with gas, so a furnace that struggles on the coldest nights leaves a house cold when it matters most.
Any non-weatherized gas furnace built after November 19, 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE by federal rule, so that's the floor a new installation starts from. The county has also seen its share of winter storms and damaging wind over the past ten years, and power outages that last a day or more aren't rare in New Jersey. A new furnace here has to be sized and installed to keep up with a long heating season, not just a mild one.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 26°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 79%
- 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 Middlesex County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Middlesex 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 is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, so it covers the business doing the work rather than this one installation. New Jersey also does not let cities or towns layer on their own HVAC license, so the state board is the only one keeping a record on the contractor, regardless of where in Middlesex County the job is.
For a furnace install, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. Alongside it, the local building office will need to issue a permit and inspect the job once it is done, which is separate from licensing and is where the gas connection actually gets checked. With most homes in Middlesex County heating with gas, that inspection is the step that confirms the furnace was hooked up correctly.
Sources: New Jersey Legislature · New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
- What size furnace does my house need?
- A contractor has to work this out for your house. It comes from a heat load calculation that looks at your square footage, insulation, and window area, along with how much of the year your home needs heat. That's a real factor here, since homes need heat from October through April. Guessing on size backfires either way. Too small and it runs constantly without keeping up on a 26°F night. Too big and it short cycles instead of heating evenly. Ask for a Manual J calculation rather than a number based on your old furnace's size.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Age is one sign, and a furnace running for many winters is working harder to do the same job it once did easily. Rising repair calls are another sign, especially if a contractor has already replaced the same part more than once. If your furnace can no longer keep the house warm through a stretch of 26°F nights, that's a reason to plan a replacement rather than wait for it to fail partway through the season. Homes here need heat from October through April, so a furnace that struggles has seven months to prove it.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how much heating your house actually does, and here that's seven months a year, October through April. Every new non-weatherized gas furnace sold today has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, so the real choice is between that baseline and a furnace rated higher. The higher the AFUE, the less gas is wasted as exhaust heat, and that difference adds up more over a longer heating season. A contractor can lay out which efficiency levels are available for your house and what each one means for your system.