Furnace Installation in Fort Madison, IA
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Lee County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Eight months of heat in Fort Madison
Your furnace works from October through May here, eight months a year. Winter nights average 20°F, and on the coldest ones the burner is running most of the night to keep the house even. A new furnace installed here has to be sized for that stretch of cold, not just for a mild snap now and then.
Any new gas furnace has to meet 80 percent AFUE at minimum, so it turns most of the fuel it burns into heat rather than losing it up the flue. Lee County also sees its share of winter storms and wind, and gas heat keeps working through a power outage in a way electric heat cannot, which matters more here than in places that rarely lose power.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 20°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 56%
- 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 Lee County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Lee 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 tests and licenses HVAC contractors statewide, and the license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job. That means the person installing your furnace carries the same license whether they're working in Lee County or anywhere else in Iowa.
For a furnace installation, that license is what stands behind the work, but it isn't the only check on it. In most cities and counties, replacing a furnace needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is finished. That inspection is where a bad gas connection, which is the dangerous part of any furnace install, gets caught before it becomes a problem in your home.
Sources: Iowa Legislature · Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing
- What size furnace does my house need?
- It depends on your square footage, your insulation, your ceiling height, and how many windows you have facing north. A furnace sized too big will short cycle and wear out faster. One sized too small will run constantly and still leave rooms cold on a 20°F night. A contractor will run a load calculation on your actual house rather than go by a rule of thumb, because two homes the same size can need different furnaces.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch for rising repair calls, uneven heat between rooms, and a furnace that runs longer to hold the same temperature. Furnaces here work hard, since homes in this area need heat from October through May. If yours is old enough that parts are getting harder to find, or a technician has told you the heat exchanger is cracked, replacing it is safer than patching it again.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- Any furnace made after November 2015 already has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so the real question is whether you want to go higher than that. Since this area needs heat for 8 months of the year, a furnace here runs more hours than one in a milder climate, and every point of efficiency gets used over that stretch. A contractor can walk you through the options for your house and venting setup, since higher-efficiency units vent differently than standard ones.