Furnace Installation in Hamilton, MT
A new furnace here will run from August through June every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Ravalli County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Hamilton asks a furnace to work almost year round
Winter nights here average 16°F from December through February, and homes need heat from August through June. That is 11 months a year of a furnace turning on and off to keep up.
Federal rules require any new non-weatherized gas furnace to reach at least 80 percent AFUE. With this many months of runtime, the unit going into your house needs to hold up to that pace, not just get through the coldest week.
- 11 months
- August through June, your furnace is on duty
- 16°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 $90 a year to run in Ravalli County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Ravalli County home, from EIA household energy data, Montana fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Montana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is tied to the contractor, not to this one job. It follows them from project to project rather than being issued fresh each time. Montana does carve out an exception for small jobs. Work under $2,500 does not need a licensed contractor. A furnace installation runs well past that threshold, so whoever does this job needs to hold that state license.
Beyond the license, Ravalli County's building office is the other check on this job. A furnace replacement needs a permit, and the completed work gets an inspection when it is done. That inspection is what catches a bad gas connection or a venting mistake, the kind of error that matters most on a furnace. In Ravalli County, 40.9% of homes heat with gas, so that permit and inspection step is doing real work on jobs like this one.
Source: Montana Legislature
- What size furnace does my house need?
- There's no fixed answer without a load calculation, because the right size depends on your square footage, how the house is insulated, how many windows it has, and how the ductwork is laid out. A furnace that's too big will short cycle, turning on and off before it heats evenly. One that's too small will run constantly and still struggle on the coldest nights, and nights here average 16°F in the dead of winter. A licensed contractor will run a load calculation on your specific house before recommending a size.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Age is one sign, and a furnace that's old enough to be asked about is worth having evaluated even if it still runs. Rising repair costs are another, especially if you're calling for service more than once a season. Uneven heat from room to room, a furnace that runs longer than it used to, or a yellow flame instead of blue also point to a system that's wearing out. Homes here need heat from August through June, so a furnace that's struggling has little time off to recover between seasons.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how many months a year your furnace runs, and here that's 11. Every non-weatherized gas furnace made since November 2015 has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, so even a standard replacement today is more efficient than an older unit. A furnace rated above that minimum wastes less heat out the vent, which matters more the longer your heating season runs. A contractor can go over the options and what fits your house.