Furnace Installation in Ravenswood, WV
A new furnace here will run from October through April every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Jackson County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Ravenswood asks a furnace to run seven months straight
October through April, your furnace is the thing standing between your house and 26 degree nights. That is seven months of work, not a few cold snaps here and there.
More than half the homes in Jackson County heat with electricity, and the power here does not always stay on. West Virginia saw 35 percent of households lose power for a full day or more in 2024, and this area has logged 13 winter storms and 45 damaging wind events over the past ten years. A new gas furnace is worth asking about if you want a backup that does not depend on the grid. If you install a non-weatherized gas furnace, federal rules set the floor at 80 percent AFUE, so at least that much of every dollar of fuel turns into heat in your house.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 26°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 issues the license to the contractor, not to each job, so it covers their work in general rather than certifying this specific furnace installation. The Commissioner of Labor is the office that licenses them.
For this job, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. Alongside it, most cities and counties require a permit from the local building office before the old furnace comes out, and an inspection once the new one is in place.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, your insulation, your ceiling height, and how many windows you have, so it takes a load calculation to get a real answer. A contractor measures the house room by room and comes back with a number in BTUs, not a guess based on square footage alone. Guessing high seems safe but it isn't. A furnace that's too big cycles on and off fast, which wears out parts sooner and leaves the house feeling uneven. With winter lows here averaging 26°F, a furnace sized right for your house is what keeps rooms warm through the coldest nights, not just close to it.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Age is one sign, especially once a furnace has been running for years past when it was installed. Watch for rooms that won't heat evenly, a furnace that cycles on and off more than it used to, or a jump in your gas or electric bill with no other explanation. Repairs that keep coming back are another sign, especially on a furnace that's already old. Homes here need heat from October through April, seven months of the year, so a furnace that struggles in that stretch is one worth replacing before the coldest nights arrive.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how much you run your furnace and how long you plan to stay in the house. Every new non-weatherized gas furnace sold since November 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so even a standard model isn't wasteful. High-efficiency furnaces go higher than that, meaning less of the fuel you pay for goes out the flue instead of into the house. With heat needed here seven months a year and winter lows averaging 26°F, a furnace runs a lot in this area, which is exactly the situation where higher efficiency has more time to make a difference. A contractor can walk through the options and what each one means for your specific house.