HVAC Installation in Washington, MO
A new system here will heat from October through April and cool from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Franklin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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A system that has to work almost every month here
Franklin County only gets a break from heating or cooling for a few weeks a year. Furnaces run from October through April, working hardest on winter nights that average 24°F. Then the air conditioner takes over from May through September, cooling homes through afternoons that average 87°F. A new system here has to be sized to handle both ends of that range, not just one.
Most homes in the area heat with electricity, so a winter storm that knocks out power can take the furnace with it. Franklin County has seen 9 winter storms and 72 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Missouri almost one in five households lost power for a day or more in 2024. That is worth thinking about when choosing a new system and how it is installed.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- When should I replace my HVAC system?
- Replace it when repairs get frequent, the system is old, or it can't keep up on the coldest or hottest days. Homes here need heat from October through April and cooling from May through September, so there's no real off season for either system to rest. If a contractor has been out more than once this year for the same unit, that's usually the sign it's time rather than another repair.
- Should I replace my furnace and air conditioner at the same time?
- If both are old, replacing them together is usually the better plan. They're often matched to work as a pair, and putting in a new furnace with an aging air conditioner means the older unit will likely fail first anyway, leading to a second installation not long after the first. A contractor can look at both and tell you whether one is close enough behind the other to make sense of doing them together.
- What happens during an HVAC installation?
- A contractor removes the old furnace, air conditioner, or both, and sets the new equipment in place, connecting it to the existing ductwork, gas line or electrical circuit, and refrigerant lines. They test the system to confirm it's heating or cooling correctly and check that airflow through the ducts is right for the new unit. The exact steps depend on what's being replaced and how the current setup is configured, so a contractor walking the house can tell you what your installation will involve.