Furnace installation and replacement in Youngstown, OH

Signs you need a furnace replacement

These are the conditions that push a furnace from repairable to replaceable:

• A cracked or rusted-through heat exchanger. Found by visual inspection, a camera, or a combustion test. This can't be patched.
• Age plus a major failure. A furnace 18 to 25 years old that needs a blower motor, inducer, and board is a poor place to put money.
• Repeated breakdowns. 3 or more service calls in 2 winters.
• Rust and water damage. Corrosion on the burner box, cabinet floor, or vent connector, often from a leaking AC coil above.
• Soot, yellow flames, or flue gas spilling at the draft hood. Signs of incomplete combustion or a venting failure.
• Gas bills climbing while the house gets less comfortable. Common with older 60 to 80 percent efficiency units.
• Parts are no longer made. At some point the board or valve for an old model can't be sourced.

If the furnace has one failed part and is otherwise sound, furnace repair is still the better choice, and we'll tell you that.

How a new furnace is sized and selected

The right furnace size comes from a heat loss calculation on the house. We measure the home and account for insulation, windows, air leakage, and the local winter design temperature.

Many existing furnaces are oversized, because the installer matched whatever was there before or added a margin on top of it. An oversized furnace heats the house in short bursts, wears out faster, and leaves rooms uneven.

After size, there are 3 choices to make:

• Efficiency. An 80 percent furnace vents hot exhaust up a chimney or metal flue. A 90 to 98 percent condensing furnace pulls more heat out, produces water as a byproduct, and vents through plastic pipe out a side wall.
• Staging. Single-stage furnaces are either off or at full fire. Two-stage and modulating furnaces run at a lower rate most of the time, which evens out temperatures and noise.
• Blower type. A variable-speed blower adjusts to the ductwork and improves summer humidity removal if the house also has central air.

We explain what each option costs and what it actually changes in your house, so the choice is yours.

What happens on furnace installation day

1. Gas and power are shut off, and the old furnace is disconnected and removed from the house.
2. The new furnace is set and leveled. The supply plenum and return drop are rebuilt or adapted to fit, and the joints are sealed.
3. Venting is installed. For a condensing furnace that means new PVC intake and exhaust pipes run to an exterior wall, pitched back to the furnace so condensate drains.
4. A condensate drain is run to a floor drain or a condensate pump.
5. The gas line is connected with a new shutoff and drip leg, then leak tested.
6. Electrical and thermostat wiring are connected.
7. The furnace is started and commissioned: gas pressure is set, temperature rise is measured against the nameplate, static pressure is checked, and a combustion analysis is done.
8. The old equipment and debris are hauled away, and you're shown the filter, the shutoffs, and the thermostat.

A like-for-like replacement takes most of one day. Duct changes, a chimney liner, or relocating the furnace add time. Plan to be without heat for the day and clear a path to the furnace and about 4 feet of working room around it.

Permits and chimney venting for furnace replacement in Youngstown

2 local points affect nearly every furnace replacement here.

Permits depend on which side of the city line you're on. A furnace replacement generally requires a heating permit and an inspection. Inside the Youngstown city limits, permits and contractor registration go through the City of Youngstown.

In the surrounding townships, including Austintown, Boardman, Canfield Township, and Poland Township, they go through the Mahoning County Building Inspection Department. An inspection matters to you for a practical reason: it's a second set of eyes on the gas piping and venting, and unpermitted work can come up when you sell the house.

Old chimneys change the job. In Youngstown's older houses the furnace and the gas water heater usually share a brick chimney. When an 80 percent furnace is replaced with a condensing model that vents out the wall, the water heater is left alone on a chimney that was sized for both. The flue is now too large to draft properly, exhaust cools and condenses inside it, and over time that damages the masonry and can cause flue gas to spill into the basement.

The fix is a correctly sized metal chimney liner or a change in how the water heater vents. This needs to be priced into the job from the start.

New furnace cost: What changes the price

The total depends on the equipment and on how much has to change around it.

• Furnace capacity and efficiency. Higher efficiency and larger sizes cost more.
• Staging and blower. Two-stage, modulating, and variable-speed models carry a premium over single-stage.
• Venting changes. Converting from chimney venting to sidewall PVC, or adding a chimney liner.
• Ductwork modifications. New plenum and return transitions are standard. Adding return air or correcting undersized ducts is extra.
• Gas, electrical, and drain work. Bringing an old gas line, shutoff, or electrical disconnect up to current code, and adding a condensate pump if there's no floor drain nearby.
• Access. Tight basement stairs, crawl spaces, and attic installations take more labor.
• Permit fees and any asbestos-wrapped ductwork that has to be dealt with by a licensed abatement contractor before work can proceed.
• Add-ons. A new thermostat, humidifier, or media filter cabinet.

We give you a written price for your house after seeing it. We don't quote furnace replacements sight unseen, because the venting and ductwork decide too much of the cost.

When you need an emergency furnace replacement

A furnace that has been shut down for a cracked heat exchanger or flue gas spillage shouldn't be turned back on, and in winter that makes replacement urgent. If this happens during a cold spell, call us.

While a replacement is arranged, keep faucets dripping, open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, and use electric space heaters with care: plugged directly into a wall outlet, 3 feet from anything that burns, and never left running unattended. Our emergency service covers no-heat situations at any hour.

After your new furnace is installed

Register the equipment with the manufacturer, since many warranties are shorter if you don't. Check the filter after the first month, because construction dust loads it quickly. Keep the outdoor vent pipes clear of snow.

If you're also considering cooling, replacing the furnace and the air conditioner together saves labor, since the indoor coil sits on top of the furnace. For everything else we do, see our main page on HVAC service in Youngstown, OH.

Furnace installation and replacement questions

How long does a gas furnace last?

Most gas furnaces last 15 to 25 years. Maintenance, correct sizing, and adequate airflow push a furnace toward the long end. Oversized furnaces that short cycle and furnaces run with dirty filters fail sooner.

Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it in Youngstown?

Often, yes. The heating season here is long, so the fuel savings from a 95 percent furnace add up faster than they would in a mild climate. The exceptions are homes where sidewall venting is difficult or where the cost of relining the chimney for the water heater changes the math.

Can I keep my existing ductwork?

Usually. The connections at the furnace are rebuilt to fit the new unit. If testing shows the ducts are too restrictive for the new furnace, we'll tell you what needs to change and why before installation.

How long will I be without heat during a furnace replacement?

For a standard replacement, the heat is off for most of one working day and back on that evening.

Should I replace my air conditioner at the same time?

If the air conditioner is over about 12 years old or uses R-22 refrigerant, replacing both together is usually sensible. The cooling coil sits on the furnace, so doing both at once avoids paying for that labor twice and makes sure the blower matches the coil.