HVAC Installation in Columbus, OH
A new system here will heat from October through May and cool from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Franklin County will get in touch.
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Franklin County asks for eight months of heat and four of cooling
Winter nights here average 24°F, and homes need the furnace running from October through May. Summer afternoons average 84°F, with cooling needed June through September. Between the two, a system here works nearly every month of the year.
Most homes in the area heat with gas, so the furnace carries the bulk of that eight-month stretch. Wind is the bigger threat to the equipment itself. Franklin County has logged 174 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and 18% of Ohio households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024. A new system here should be sized to handle both the cold and the heat, and installed with that kind of weather in mind.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 4 months
- June through September, it cools
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
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 testing contractors at the state level. Whatever Franklin County requires of a contractor comes from the county, not from a state record. 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 or a test anyone has to pass.
For an installation, the thing that actually gets checked here is the permit. Putting in a new furnace, air conditioner or heat pump needs a permit from the local building office in most cities and counties, and an inspector looks at the finished work before it is signed off. That inspection is where a bad gas connection or a wiring mistake gets caught, since no state license stands behind the job the way it would in a state that licenses HVAC work directly.
Source: Ohio Legislative Service Commission
- When should I replace my HVAC system?
- Once your furnace or air conditioner is breaking down more than once a season, replacing it makes more sense than sinking money into repairs. Watch for signs like rooms that won't heat or cool evenly, a system that runs longer than it used to, or a repair bill that costs a real fraction of a new unit. Heat is needed here from October through May and cooling from June through September, so there's not much of the year your system gets to rest, and a unit on its last legs tends to show it. A contractor can tell you whether what you're seeing is a fixable problem or the system nearing the end.
- Should I replace my furnace and air conditioner at the same time?
- If both are old, yes, it usually makes sense to do them together. Your furnace and air conditioner share a blower and often a coil, so replacing one while the other is worn out can mean the new equipment isn't matched to what's left behind. Winters here average 24°F at night and summers reach 84°F in the afternoon, so both sides of the system are working hard across the year. If only one has actually failed, a contractor can size the replacement to work with the equipment you're keeping.
- What happens during an HVAC installation?
- A contractor first sizes the new equipment to your house rather than just matching what's there now, since the wrong size unit runs poorly no matter how new it is. The old furnace, coil or condenser gets removed, and the new equipment gets set in place and connected to your ductwork, gas line or electrical, and the refrigerant lines. Once it's in, they test it, check for correct airflow and refrigerant charge, and make sure the thermostat is talking to the new system correctly. Anything specific to your ducts or your home's setup gets worked out on site, since every house is run a little differently.