Furnace Installation in Mount Vernon, WA
A new furnace here will run from September through July every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Skagit County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eleven months of heat a year in Skagit County
Homes in Skagit County need heat from September through July. That is eleven months of the year, with winter nights averaging 30°F from December through February. A new furnace here has to hold up to a long season, not just a few cold snaps.
Any non-weatherized gas furnace built since November 2015 has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE. That is the federal floor, not a selling point, so ask what the unit going into your home actually rates.
- 11 months
- September through July, your furnace is on duty
- 30°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Registration means the business is on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. Nothing about that is a trade exam, so it doesn't test what the contractor knows about gas appliances or how well they've done past work. It tells you the business is on record, not that the installer is any good at this job.
For a furnace installation, the protection comes from the permit and inspection your local building office requires, not from the registration. In most cities and counties in Washington, replacing a furnace needs a permit, and an inspector checks the work once it's done. That inspection is what catches a bad gas connection, which is the part of this job that can actually hurt someone.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- What size furnace does my house need?
- A contractor has to work this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage. That calculation looks at your insulation, your windows, your ceiling height, and how the house is laid out, because two homes the same size can need different output. With winter lows here averaging 30°F, a furnace sized wrong runs longer and wears faster whether it's too small or too big. Ask whoever quotes the job to walk you through the numbers rather than just naming a size.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch for a furnace that cycles on and off more than it used to, rooms that don't heat evenly, or a rise in what you're paying to stay warm. Homes here need heat 11 months of the year, so a furnace that's struggling gets worked hard almost all the time. Repairs that keep coming back, or a furnace running past the years its parts are rated for, both point toward replacing it rather than fixing it again. A contractor can tell you whether what's failing is worth repairing or not.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- Any new non-weatherized gas furnace sold today has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, and some models go higher than that minimum. With heat needed here 11 months a year, a furnace runs more hours over a year than it would somewhere milder, so every point of AFUE above the minimum applies to more hours of use. A contractor can run the numbers for your specific house, since the size of the furnace, your ductwork, and how the house holds heat all factor into whether paying more for a higher rating pays off.