Furnace Installation in Kenova, WV
A new furnace here will run from October through April every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Wayne County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat, and nights near 27 degrees
Kenova homes need the furnace running from October through April, seven months of the year. Winter nights average 27°F, so the unit you put in has to carry that load night after night without a break.
A new furnace here also has to meet the federal minimum. Any non-weatherized gas furnace built after November 19, 2015 has to reach 80 percent AFUE. That is the floor, not a feature, so it comes standard on what a contractor installs. Wayne County has also seen 15 winter storms over the last ten years, and power loss across the state is common enough that it is worth asking how your new furnace starts back up once the power does.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
West Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
West Virginia tests contractors through the Commissioner of Labor before issuing a license, and the license is tied to the contractor, not to any one job. That means the same license has to be in place whether the work is a furnace install in Wayne County or a repair across the state.
For this job, the license tells you the contractor was tested and is on record with the state. It does not stand in for a permit. Most cities and counties in West Virginia require a permit for a furnace replacement, with an inspection once the work is finished, and that inspection is what checks the gas connection and venting on the finished job.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- 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 ceiling height, then factors in how cold it gets here, down to 27°F on a winter night, to figure out how much heat your house loses and how much the furnace needs to replace. A furnace that is too big will short cycle and wear out faster. One that is too small will run constantly all winter and still not keep up on the coldest nights.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Look at how it is running now, not just its age. If it is cycling on and off more than it used to, struggling to keep rooms warm, or needing a repair call every season, those are signs the furnace is wearing out. Rising gas bills with no other explanation point the same way. Homes here need heat from October through April, so a furnace that is already unreliable in fall is a real risk once the cold settles in and nights drop toward 27°F.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- Every non-weatherized gas furnace sold new today has to reach at least 80.0 percent AFUE, so the real question is whether to go higher than that. A higher AFUE rating means more of the fuel you burn turns into heat in your house instead of going out the flue. With 7 months of heating a year here, that difference adds up over a heating season more than it would somewhere with a shorter winter. A contractor can walk through the options and price them for your house.