Furnace Installation in Columbia, MO
A new furnace here will run from October through April every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Boone County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Columbia asks a lot of a furnace
From October through April, seven months of the year, your furnace is what keeps the house livable. Winter nights average 24°F, so it runs hard and often for most of that stretch.
A new gas furnace installed here has to meet the federal minimum of 80 percent AFUE, and Boone County has seen its share of winter storms and wind that can knock out power along with the heat. When you're choosing a new furnace, that combination of a long heating season and real winter cold is what it needs to be built for.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 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 Boone County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Boone County home, from EIA household energy data, Missouri fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, insulation, window count, and layout, not just a rule of thumb. A furnace that's too big will short cycle, heating the house in bursts and wearing out faster. One that's too small will run constantly and still struggle on the coldest nights, when lows here average 24°F. A contractor works this out with a load calculation that looks at your actual house, not a guess based on square footage alone.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- If your furnace needs frequent repairs or can't keep the house warm through the winter, it's time to start looking at replacement. Watch for rooms that stay cold no matter what the thermostat says, a furnace that cycles on and off more than it used to, or a jump in your gas bill without a change in how you use heat. Homes here need that furnace working from October through April, so a unit that's already struggling in fall is a bad sign for the months ahead. A contractor can tell you whether what you're seeing is worth repairing or worth replacing.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how long you plan to stay in the house and what your current furnace is costing you to run. Furnaces made since November 2015 are already required to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so even a standard replacement today is more efficient than an older unit. A high-efficiency furnace goes further, wasting less gas as heat that goes out the flue instead of into your house. With almost half of homes here heating with gas and seven months of the year needing heat, that difference adds up over a furnace's lifespan. A contractor can walk you through the options for your specific house and budget.