Furnace Installation in Columbus, OH
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Franklin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, and nights near 24 degrees
Columbus asks a furnace to run from October through May. That is eight months of the year, and on the coldest nights the average low is 24°F. A new furnace here has to hold a house steady through that whole stretch, not just take the edge off a few cold snaps.
Most homes in Franklin County heat with gas, and any new gas furnace sold today has to reach at least 80.0 percent AFUE by federal rule. Winter here also brings its share of wind and storms, the kind that can knock out power for a day or more. A furnace that starts back up on its own once power returns matters in a place where that happens.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 67%
- 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 Franklin County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Franklin County home, from EIA household energy data, Ohio fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
In Ohio, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the counties.
Franklin County sets its own rule for who can do this work, since Ohio leaves HVAC licensing to the counties rather than handling it at the state level. Ohio does define a home contractor as someone carrying at least $250,000 in liability insurance, but that is a definition written into state law, not a license anyone has to earn or a credential the state hands out.
For a furnace installation, what protects you here is the permit process. Most cities and counties require a permit from the local building office before the work starts, and an inspection once it's done, and that inspection is what catches a bad gas connection or a venting mistake before it becomes dangerous. With most homes in Franklin County heating with gas, that inspection is doing real work, not just paperwork.
Source: Ohio Legislative Service Commission
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not the square footage of your house alone. A contractor measures your walls, windows, insulation, and layout, because two houses the same size can need different furnaces depending on how they hold heat. A furnace that's too big cycles on and off too often and never runs long enough to heat evenly. Too small, and it runs constantly through the cold months and still can't keep up when the temperature drops.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch for repairs that keep coming back, uneven heat between rooms, or a furnace that runs longer than it used to just to hold the same temperature. Homes here need heat from October through May, so a furnace that's already struggling early in that stretch is likely to get worse before the season is over. If yours is older and the repairs keep adding up, a contractor can tell you whether it makes more sense to fix it again or replace it.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how much your furnace runs and what you're comparing it to. Homes here need heat for 8 months a year, with winter nights averaging 24°F, so a furnace works harder and longer here than it would somewhere milder. Every non-weatherized gas furnace built since November 2015 has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, so the real choice is between that baseline and the higher-efficiency models above it. A contractor can walk you through the difference in equipment and help you weigh it against how your current furnace is running.