Furnace Installation in Charleston, WV
A new furnace here will run from October through April every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Kanawha County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat a year in Kanawha County
Winter nights here average 27°F, and homes need the furnace running from October through April. That is seven months of the year the burner has to work, more than half the calendar. A new furnace has to hold up to that kind of use, not just handle the occasional cold snap.
More than half of homes in the area heat with gas, and any non-weatherized gas furnace built since November 2015 has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE by federal rule. Power matters too. Over a third of West Virginia households lost power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and the region has logged 16 winter storms and 259 damaging wind events over the past ten years. When the power goes out on a night like that, the furnace needs to come back on by itself, with no one having to reset it.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 53%
- 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 Kanawha County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Kanawha County home, from EIA household energy data, West Virginia fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
West Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is issued to the contractor, not to this particular job. It means the state tested the contractor and keeps a record of them with the Commissioner of Labor, and that record carries from one job to the next.
For a furnace installation, most cities and counties also require a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. That permit and inspection are separate from the state license. Gas heat is common in Kanawha County, where 52.7% of homes use it.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- What size furnace does my house need?
- There is no single number that fits every house, and guessing high is as much a problem as guessing low. A furnace that is too big will short cycle, heating the house in bursts and wearing out its parts faster, while one that is too small will run constantly and still leave you cold on nights near 27°F. Sizing takes a load calculation, a room by room look at square footage, insulation, windows, and ceiling height, done by a contractor rather than a rule of thumb based on your old unit.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- If your furnace is struggling to keep up on the coldest nights, cycling on and off more than it used to, or needing repairs more winters than not, it is time to start pricing a replacement. Homes here need heat from October through April, seven months of the year, so a furnace that is already falling behind will only get worse as it ages. A furnace made after November 2015 has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, so if yours is older than that, a new one will likely burn less gas for the same heat. A contractor can tell you whether a repair still makes sense or whether the unit has reached the point of diminishing returns.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how long you plan to stay in the house and how much gas your current furnace uses to get through the winter. With heat needed seven months a year here and over half of Kanawha County homes heating with gas, a more efficient furnace has real work to do rather than sitting idle most of the year. High-efficiency models also condense exhaust gas, which means a different venting setup than an older furnace uses, something a contractor will account for during installation. A contractor can walk you through the options for your specific house and let you decide what fits.