Furnace Installation in Bethlehem, PA
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Northampton County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, and winter nights near 22°F
Bethlehem homes run the furnace from October through May. That's most of the year, and on winter nights averaging 22°F, a furnace built for a milder climate won't keep up. Whatever you install has to hold up to a long, cold season, not just handle the occasional cold snap.
Any new non-weatherized gas furnace has to reach at least 80.0 percent AFUE, the federal minimum since November 2015. Northampton County also sees its share of winter storms and wind events that knock out power, and a furnace that won't restart on its own when the power comes back means a cold house until someone resets it.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 22°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A high-efficiency gas furnace would save about $140 a year to run in Northampton County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Northampton County home, from EIA household energy data, Pennsylvania fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Pennsylvania requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration means the contractor's business is on file with the state and nothing more. Nobody tested their gas or furnace work to get it. Pennsylvania also does not let Northampton County or any city add its own HVAC license on top, so this registration is the only state-level record that exists for the person installing your furnace.
What stands behind the work here is the permit. In most cities and counties, a furnace installation needs a permit from the local building office, and the finished job gets an inspection before it is signed off. That inspection is what catches a bad gas connection, which is the part of this job that can hurt someone. In a state with a real license, the license is what you'd lean on. Here, it's the inspection.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- What size furnace does my house need?
- A contractor has to work this out for your house specifically, using a room by room heat loss calculation, not a guess off square footage or the old unit's label. A furnace that is too big cycles on and off too fast and never runs long enough to heat evenly. One that is too small runs constantly and still cannot keep up on a 22°F night. The only way to get the number right is to have someone calculate it for your house.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Age is the first thing to look at. Most furnaces last 15 years, so if yours is near that mark, a repair now is likely just delaying the next one. Rising repair frequency is another sign, especially if the same part keeps failing or a technician has flagged a cracked heat exchanger. Also watch for rooms that stay cold no matter what the thermostat says, or a furnace that runs longer and longer to hold the same temperature. With heat needed here from October through May, a furnace on its way out is a bigger risk than it would be somewhere milder.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how long you plan to stay in the house and what your furnace is replacing. Any non-weatherized gas furnace made since November 2015 already has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so the real choice is between that baseline and a higher-efficiency model above it. With heat needed 8 months of the year here, the fuel savings from a more efficient furnace add up over more months than in a place with a shorter heating season. A contractor can walk you through what a higher AFUE unit would cost against what your specific house would save.