Furnace Installation in Burlington, IA
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Des Moines County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Eight months of heat in Burlington
Your furnace here has eight months of work to do, October through May. Winter nights average 19°F, and on the coldest ones the burner is running for most of the night to keep up. That kind of stretch is what a new furnace needs to be built for, not just a few cold snaps.
Most homes in Iowa heat with gas, and any non-weatherized gas furnace built since November 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE. That is the floor, and it is worth asking a contractor what a higher rating buys you over eight months of running. Power is worth thinking about too. Iowa saw 15 percent of households lose power for a day or more in 2024, and the last ten years brought 17 winter storms and 88 damaging wind events to work with. A furnace that can restart on its own once the power comes back is one less thing to worry about when a storm knocks it out.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 19°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 68%
- 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 $80 a year to run in Des Moines County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Des Moines County home, from EIA household energy data, Iowa fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Iowa requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Iowa Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board issues that license, and it covers the contractor rather than the specific job. That means the board has tested the person and keeps a record of them, but no separate check happens for each furnace they install.
For a furnace installation, that license is what stands behind the work. Most cities and counties also require a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the furnace is in, and that inspection is where gas lines and venting get checked, since a bad connection there is what makes a furnace dangerous rather than just broken. In Des Moines County, 67.5 percent of homes heat with gas, so that check covers the part of the job most homes there depend on.
Sources: Iowa Legislature · Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, ceiling height, insulation, and window count, so there's no single number that fits every house. Too big and the furnace short cycles, heating the air fast but never running long enough to feel even. Too small and it runs constantly without keeping up on the coldest nights, and here those nights average 19°F. A contractor will do a load calculation on your actual house rather than go by square footage alone, since that's the only way to get the number right.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Age is the first thing to check. A furnace running well past its expected life is worth having looked at even if it still seems to work. Watch for rising repair frequency, uneven heat between rooms, a burner flame that's yellow instead of blue, or a furnace that cycles on and off more than it used to. Homes here need heat from October through May, eight months of the year, so those signs are worth acting on rather than waiting out. If a repair is going to cost close to what a new furnace would, replacing it usually makes more sense than paying to keep an old one going.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how long you plan to stay in the house and what furnace you have now. Every non-weatherized gas furnace made since November 2015 has 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 beyond that minimum, turning more of the gas you burn into heat instead of losing it out the vent. With most homes in this county heating with gas and eight months of heating season here, that difference shows up on every bill through the winter. A contractor can walk through the options and the upfront cost for your specific house.