Furnace Installation in Keyser, WV
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Mineral County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat a year, and winters that test the grid
Keyser needs heat from October through May. That is eight months of the year your furnace has to run, not just the coldest stretch of winter. Nights average 24°F from December through February, and a furnace sized right for this area has to hold the house through that cold night after night.
Just over half of homes here heat with electricity, and the power does not always stay on through it. West Virginia saw 35 percent of households lose power for 24 hours or more in 2024, and this region has logged 56 winter storms and 66 damaging wind events over the last ten years. A gas furnace with a standing pilot keeps working through an outage like that. If you are installing new, any non-weatherized gas furnace built after November 2015 has to meet 80 percent AFUE by law, so that efficiency comes standard.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 24°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.
The license is issued to the contractor, not to the job, so it covers this contractor's work in general rather than this furnace install specifically. West Virginia's Commissioner of Labor issues it, which means the contractor is on record with the state.
That license does not replace the local check on this specific job. In most cities and counties, installing a furnace needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is done, and that inspection is where the gas connection and venting get checked before the job is called finished.
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 much of that heat actually stays inside. A furnace that's too big will short cycle and wear out faster. One that's too small will run constantly and still leave your house cold on nights near 24°F. A contractor can run this calculation and tell you the right size for your house.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch for a furnace that struggles to keep up on the coldest nights, cycles on and off more than it used to, or needs a repair call every winter. An older furnace working harder each year is a sign the heat exchanger or blower is wearing out. With heat needed here from October through May, a furnace that can't hold up through that stretch is worth replacing before it fails outright. If yours is old enough that parts are hard to find, that's another sign it's time. A contractor can look at the unit and tell you whether it's worth repairing again or replacing.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how many months your furnace runs and what fuel it uses. Since homes here need heat for 8 months of the year, a furnace spends most of its life working rather than sitting idle, which is exactly the situation where higher efficiency matters most. Every non-weatherized gas furnace made after November 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so even a standard model today isn't wasteful. A high-efficiency furnace pushes that number higher, meaning less fuel burned for the same heat. A contractor can walk you through the options and what fits your house.