New Gas Furnace Prices & Installation Costs 2023: Top Brands

What's a Typical Cost To Install a Warm Air Furnace? Average Price: $3,840 - $5,570
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A gas furnace remains the most popular heat source in homes across the country.

Today’s furnaces are affordable and efficient, a cost-effective choice when you select a model that is right for your region’s climate and the level of indoor comfort you want.

Selecting the ideal furnace for your home can be done in a few steps that we’ll guide you through.

New Gas Furnace Installation Cost

For a fully installed furnace, plan to spend between $4,500 and $8,500, on average. Most new furnace units are currently priced between $1,600 and $5,000, but professional installation with the contractor obtaining a building permit and getting the completed job inspected is almost always in your best interest, for reasons we’ll explain below.

The current national average (80% range) is about $5,000-$7,500 for a new gas furnace fully installed.

Furnaces with 90% and higher efficiency average $6,400 to $10,000. These gas furnace costs include any necessary building permits and inspections, a new gas furnace unit and standard supplies, professional installation, and a typical 5-year to 10-year workmanship warranty from the installer.

Most HVAC contractors typically charge between $75 to $125 per hour for their work, and may include an assistant, or a team of three to complete the job faster. Their helpers often cost $50+ an hour as well when you consider the worker’s comp on top of their base pay.

Professional installation generally requires 10-man hours at a minimum, but can easily go up to 15-20 hours due to many reasons, usually related to adjusting or updating the forced air system, providing additional ductwork, removing, and disposing of the old boiler/furnace, removing old radiators, etc.

If significant updates are needed to your per-existing ductwork or if there is no ductwork currently in place, this can add anywhere from $5,500 to $15,500 to the total cost of the job.

Typically, it will cost under $10,000 for new ductwork or modifications to the existing ductwork, and often these additional charges are only steep if/when converting from say an electric furnace or oil boiler to a gas furnace, which requires new ductwork for forced air heating to work.

Other costs that may be included are removal and disposal of an older furnace (about $750-$1,500 extra), and miscellaneous materials and supplies needed to complete the installation.

*Other Extras: Gas line, vent, wiring and circuit breaker. If your project is furnace replacement vs a new furnace, some of the old equipment should be usable for the new furnace.

Gas Furnace Prices for Top Brands

If you look just at the Energy Star list, which shows the many models on the market that have their stamp of approval for being high in energy efficiency, you’ll see a good 30 brands.

At least one of our top recommendations is not on their list, even though their models obtain an impressive 98 AFUE. Go figure!

Another tricky thing you may not realize is that many popular HVAC manufacturers normally make more than one brand of gas furnaces, with each brand typically falling into either the basic, mid-range, or premium product category.

Here is Carrier’s division of furnace tiers, for example:

Carrier is considered a premium brand with a reputation for reliability, while Payne is considered “budget friendly.” Yet, the technology among the devices is nearly identical, although warranties are not. 😉

Top 8 Gas Furnace Brands

These are the best furnace brands. There are few surprises.

  1. Trane
  2. American Standard
  3. Carrier
  4. Payne
  5. Bryant
  6. Lennox
  7. Rheem
  8. Ruud
Average Cost To Install a Warm Air Furnace Typical Range: $3,840 - $5,570
See costs in your area

Yes, the list of top gas furnaces is pretty boring. Most of the names are well-known.

But loads of consumer data and information from HVAC pros that work on all brands paint a clear picture – there is a top tier of brands with higher reliability than the rest.

It’s a smaller group than the list presents. Why?

Trane and American Standard are identical brands made by Trane Technologies.

Carrier and Bryant are identical brands made by Carrier.

Payne is made by Carrier. There are fewer Payne models, but those models are identical to Carrier and Bryant models.

Rheem and Ruud are identical brands made by Paloma Industries. What sets these brands apart?

Two irrefutable facts:

  1. They use premium parts in midrange and top models.
  2. For their top tier of products, the brands require installation by pros that meet certain requirements for training, experience, and a track record of quality workmanship – and never underestimate the importance of proper installation.

Are all Trane furnaces top tier? What about Lennox or Carrier?

The answer is that it depends. As noted, most of the brands on the list make three tiers of products, which might be considered basic, better, and best.

Payne is the exception because it offers a limited range of “better” or midrange models.

Here’s the list again with their series, basic, better, and best, with the ratings for each series. Trane’s groupings aren’t as neatly defined as the others.

Brand – Ratings are out of 5 Basic – Rating Better – Rating Best – Rating
Trane S8B / S9B – 4 S8X / S9X / XC – 5 S8V / S9V
American Standard Silver – 4 Gold – 5 Platinum – 5
Carrier Comfort – 4 Performance – 5 Infinity – 5
Bryant Legacy – 4 Preferred – 5 Evolution – 5
Payne PG##ES – 4 PG##V – 5 N/A
Rheem Classic Series – 3 Classic Plus – 4 Prestige – 4
Ruud Achiever Series – 3 Achiever Plus – 4 Ultra – 4
Lennox Merit – 2 Elite – 4 Signature Series – 3

All brands on the list give you options for single-stage (1-stage), two-stage (2-stage) and variable capacity (modulating) furnace operation.

Trane & American Standard

These top furnace manufacturers make a full range of furnaces in the 80% AFUE and 90%-plus AFUE ranges.

The most efficient Trane and American Standard furnaces are 97% AFUE, which isn’t as high as the most efficient from Carrier and Lennox, but it’s not bad either.

What stands out? Overall quality. That is Trane’s claim to the top spot right now, along with the identical American Standard furnaces.

Carrier & Bryant

The Carrier Infinity and Bryant Evolution lines are furnaces that can truly be called “cutting edge.” They are the first to use modulating technology, and now all the top brands make variable capacity furnaces.

The most efficient furnaces, the Carrier Infinity 98 and Evolution 98, are 98.5% efficient.

What stands out? The Infinity and Performance Series 2-stage furnaces are very reliable and worth considering. They’re available in 80% units for milder climates and 96.5% furnaces for cold regions.

Secondly, these brands do not show a significant drop-off in quality even in the “entry level” units. Like the premium furnaces, the most affordable Carrier and Bryant furnaces, 10-year parts warranties are standard (free) along with lifetime heat exchanger warranties.

Payne

Payne, a division of Carrier, makes 7 furnace models. Two are Low-NOx furnaces for the California market. The others are comparable to Carrier Performance mid-tier furnaces.

Single stage and 2-stage furnaces are produced. Top efficiency is 96%.

What stands out? Carrier quality and a lower price. This is why a brand like Payne exists – to give the Carrier Corporation the opportunity to offer lower-cost furnaces to consumers who aren’t going to pay “Carrier prices.”

So, Payne quality is very good. The difference is that Payne furnaces can be installed by any licensed contractor; A “Factory-authorized” dealer isn’t necessary. As a result, Payne installation quality varies more than does Bryant or Carrier.

Lennox

Lennox has focused on maximizing efficiency and improving overall quality.

What Lennox hasn’t solved are chronic supply chain problems that go back more than a decade.

The problem is caused by Lennox using more proprietary parts than other brands – technicians can’t use quality third-party parts from Emerson or Copeland, for example. It must be a Lennox part.

And those parts can sometimes take more than a week to get while the “universal” part for a Trane or Goodman is available at the local parts wholesaler.

Plus, Lennox seems OK with its Merit Series being mediocre. It’s a business decision to be able to offer the Lennox name in cheap furnaces.

Rheem & Ruud

Ruud and Rheem furnaces are manufactured in all three performance levels. Top efficiency is 98%

What stands out? As little as 5 years ago, these brands were fading, seemingly lost in the huge sea of Rheem products.

But there has been a clear uptick recently in quality and efficiency. The most efficient furnaces are 98% AFUE. The warranty on the heat exchanger is “lifetime,” and if the heat exchanger fails, the furnace might be eligible for complete furnace replacement – not simply the replacement of the heat exchanger.

Brands and Installed Cost Basic Better Best
Trane & American Standard $4,400 – $7,500 $6,700 – $8,350 $8,050 – $11,000
Carrier & Bryant $4,200 – $7,250 $6,550 – $8,200 $7,750 – $10,850
Payne $3,950 – $6,500 $5,850 – $7,700 N/A
Lennox $3,900 – $6,750 $6,200 – $7,950 $8,100 – $11,350
Rheem & Ruud $4,150 – $7,000 $6,075 – $8,100 $7,925 – $10,750
Average Cost To Install a Warm Air Furnace Typical Range: $3,840 - $5,570
See costs in your area

Are Lennox furnaces good?

You see from the list that the highest rated Lennox furnaces are the mid-tier Elite Series.

Even Lennox’s website tells the tale – people don’t like some of Lennox’s top-tier, most expensive furnaces. They are not mechanically reliable.

Check them out for yourself.

And there is a lesson to be learned – the more complex a furnace is, the more likely it is to have issues, and the harder and more expensive they are to repair.

Second Tier Furnace Brands

Money-saving Tip: If you want a good furnace at a lower cost, there’s a group of furnaces in a second tier to consider.

ICP, International Comfort Products, is a Carrier company. It makes a bunch of brands that are identical to one another, though slightly inferior to Carrier and Bryant furnaces.

ICP brands are Day & Night, Tempstar, Arcoaire, Comfortmaker, Keeprite and Heil.

The better lines from these brands – they have tiers like the top brands – are quite good. They are at least as good as the “Better” lines made by the brands above and they are superior to Lennox Merit furnaces.

Consider the QuietComfort Series (Better) or Ion Series (Best) furnaces from Heil, Day & Night, Arcoaire, etc. if you prefer to save money on a furnace that should give you 15-20 years of reliable service.

What about Goodman?

Goodman sells a lot of furnaces. The quality is decent, a 3 out of 5 for most models and a few 4 out of 5’s for its best furnaces – Quality has improved since Daikin bought the brand a decade ago.

The problem with Goodman is that the company allows any licensed technician to install its furnaces. And installers vary widely from poor to excellent – and the best installers are installing brands like Trane, Carrier, and Rheem.

What Furnace Brands to Avoid?

Brands with poor reliability and customer satisfaction ratings are:

Johnson Controls Brands: York, Luxaire, Coleman and Champion

Nortek Global Brands: Maytag, Broan, NuTone, Gibson, Frigidaire

Simplify the Process by Finding the Right Installer

While it’s tempting to save on labor costs, the idea of making the installation of a new furnace a DIY project is strongly recommended against.

Did you know? Contractors routinely report receiving calls for repairs on ‘defective’ parts in the first 5 years of a newly installed furnace. And over 50% of the time the actual problem was improper installation or lack of maintenance.

Repairs can be expensive from hundreds to even thousands of dollars unless the product is under warranty. And a manufacturer’s warranty may be void if the installation is not done by a licensed professional.

The expected service lifespan of modern furnaces is between 15 and 25 years. Any problems with operation before the first 10 years normally should not be met with a full replacement, unless there is truly a defective part that is expensive and critical to the system.

Therefore, part of what you are paying for in the above furnace price figures is the product warranty. Manufacturers will vary their warranties, usually based on the quality of the product. Premium furnaces will garner the highest warranties which are ‘lifetime’ or usually up to 20-30 years.

Typically, midrange furnace warranties range from 5 to 10 years. Contractors may offer an additional warranty that covers any item outside the unit itself, such as on an enhanced air filter or UV germicidal light. These warranties are usually 1 to 5 years. We recommend getting a minimum of 5-year workmanship warranty from a contractor.

Warranties and proper installation are worth the extra costs but aren’t the only reasons to select a particular contractor. Following this section, we provide information on how to select the right furnace and the installer for your home.

There are many factors to consider regarding your home, many manufacturers to choose from, and then each of those has models with different features to decide upon.

You can spend 100% of your time reviewing that information and doing all the necessary homework yourself, or you can spend 70% of your time finding a suitable contractor who will take over that process and include you in on the key decisions in the selection process.

Though, DO spend 30% of your time familiarizing yourself with the market, the features and how to find the best contractor for the job. Once the furnace is installed, maintenance becomes the key to ensuring longevity of the unit. Lack of maintenance may also void a manufacturer’s warranty.

Did you know? A well-maintained furnace has an expected service lifespan of 15 to 25 years. So, if your old gas furnace is well over a decade old and requires an expensive repair, then it’s probably wise to get a brand new furnace rather than spending money on repairs for something that will soon need to be replaced regardless.

Being able to accurately troubleshoot any problems that arise is the difference between an informed decision and being taken for a ride by a seemingly “cheap” contractor out to make a quick buck because you don’t know any better.

Installation Tips

The quality of the installation is a significant factor in the furnace’s performance and longevity. The adage is true and often repeated: The two most important days in a furnace’s life are the day it is made and the day it is installed.

In short, when a furnace is built right with quality parts and installed properly, it will be far more durable than cheap furnaces haphazardly installed.

Maintenance Tips

Your role at that point is to keep the furnace maintained every 2-4 years depending on how heavily it is used.

Make an appointment with a highly rated local HVAC company to check, clean and tune your furnace or full HVAC system to keep it running at peak performance.

Expect minor repairs as the furnace ages like replacing a flame roll-out sensor ($90 – $150), igniter ($80 – $120), draft inducer motor or blower motor ($275 – $700) or control board ($200 – $500).

If the heat exchanger needs replacement ($1,250 – $2,000), your best plan is to consider a new furnace.

Questions to Ask Your Installer

After you’ve networked with friends and family about HVAC contractors they’ve worked with and have narrowed your list down to say five to ten potential workers, you’ll seek to get multiple quotes.

Three quotes are the suggested minimum. More than seven is overkill. Besides getting the bottom-line price for completing the project, there are important questions you’ll want to have an answer for, to ensure you’re on top of the ongoing maintenance game. These may include:

  • Are you loyal to one brand for the installation?

Ideally, you’ll want an HVAC technician that will install any model that appeals to you. Often however, HVAC contractors are certified sellers of the respective brands they recommend.

If you have a brand in mind, you know you want, this may lead to the ideal contractor. If you are open to more options, then this can work against you as the other brands will likely be downplayed in favor of their allegedly superior product.

  • What is your experience with this type of gas furnace installation?

Several ways to ask this, and up to you how much you wish to follow up on this. Perhaps, you’ll do some homework to see if there are any complaints on them, or what their BBB rating is. You mainly want to understand how well they will do a proper installation.

  • Please explain the warranty information to me.

Contractors will provide documents that spell this out in fine legal details, but best if they can explain it to you up front. Having them explain it like you are a young adult is beneficial down the road so you can hopefully remember what is and isn’t covered in terms of repairs and replacement.

  • Will you perform a manual J Load Test to properly size the furnace for my home?

We recommend that your HVAC contractor agrees to perform a proper J Load testing to properly size the gas furnace for your home. If the contractor is not willing to do it, consider looking for a different contractor.

  • Are you licensed and insured in my city and/or state?

This will also be the time to discuss local permits and inspections that are needed. The need for that is on you, not the contractor, but since they do this for a living, they’ll be able to clue you into that information.

  • Is the model you are suggesting new or older?

Newer models are less tested than older models. While older models may be less efficient. Perhaps follow up and ask if there are any known reliability issues if it is an older model.

  • Are there any tax credits or rebates available for any of the models you are suggesting?

This alone can’t be the deciding factor for which furnace you select. But it certainly is nice to know you may get some money back based on going with a particular model.

Those are the main questions you’ll want to ask. After reviewing the Selection information below, perhaps others that make sense to you will come up. Don’t hesitate to ask them in your quest to find the ideal contractor for installing your new furnace.

Selecting the Best Furnace for Your Home

There are essentially five main components that go into selecting a furnace for a home. These include the fuel type, efficiency, performance, cost, and size. To arrive at some of these decisions, a number of items about your home and existing layout is necessary to make an informed decision. The pros call this a Manual J (Load) Calculation. — Often contractors will include this information in some fashion with their quotes.

Manual J (Load) Calculation considers data regarding your home’s foundation type, roof type, the geographical climate, insulation, house size, and other important variables. The main items are the size of your home in terms of floor space to be heated, desired efficiency level, furnace size and ideal temperature you’ll seek to maintain.

Furnace Selection Among Fuel Types

Coal and wood were once the normal fuels for heating homes. Now they are obsolete. Oil furnaces are nearing extinction, and are so rare, none of them are included in our list at the end.

Natural gas is the most common type of furnace in America as it is the most efficient fuel for heating homes that are subject to very cold winters.

Electric furnaces are the next most popular option. They are usually less expensive than their gas counterparts and easier to install. Yet, they fall short on efficiency for heating in cold weather. Costs go way up under such conditions. Yet, for mild winters where temperatures may dip into the 40’s, they are worth considering.

Eco-friendly alternatives exist currently but are higher upfront cost. Solar can easily cost $15,000 or more (before the federal tax credits) to get a typical 5kW system that would produce sufficient energy for lights and basic appliances.

For the demands of a furnace, it is likely too costly given how low the cost for natural gas is comparatively. That said, gas prices could go up over the next decade, which would make the buyer of the alternative energy system as a heat source look very wise for making such a decision as early as this year.

Furnace Selection Among Efficiency Rating

Time to familiarize yourself with the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency rating, or AFUE for short.

You’ll see the AFUE number on all gas furnaces you consider going forward. It’s usually a double-digit number that translates into how much fuel in the furnaces is actually used for heating the home. 100% is not possible as some energy is released to preserve usable energy.

High efficiency furnaces operate at 96%, or higher. If a premium model is what you seek, that’s what you can expect to see. In northern climates, you will want to go with a high efficiency furnace to help reduce your heating costs.

80% AFUE (and higher) is the minimum required efficiency for modern furnaces or those produced since 2013. Older models, particularly the ones produced before 2000, will be lower than 80%.

An upgrade to a higher efficiency translates into lower energy bills. In warmer climates, such as Florida, Southern California, and Texas, 80% efficiency would be adequate and will also help you save money upfront.

Furnace Selection Among Performance / Features

A basic furnace is known to operate in a single-stage setting with single speed blowers. Basically, it runs either on (its only ‘stage’) or off. Due to temperature fluctuations, with the single speed blowers, it may be noisier at start up and shutting off. This makes it less operationally proficient and increases wear and tear.

Mid-grade furnaces include two-stage performance. This means it can run at low capacity (first stage) much of the time, and when extra heat is called for, it enters a second stage setting to meet the demand. With the feature known as multi-speed or variable speed blowers, this produces quieter output and overall better temperature flow.

Premium furnaces have the two-stage performance and multi-speed blowers that the mid-grade options possess, plus additional options. Modulating heat raises and lowers temps in tiny increments, thus making them the quietest furnaces on the market.

Air Filtration utilizes an electrostatic filter to trap particles and dust, making for even cleaner air distribution. Though outside of those with asthma or lung problems, this is not really all that necessary.

Also, there is the Zone Heating feature that relies on an extravagant system of numerous thermostats and a series of dampers to manage airflow throughout the living space. For a larger home, this may make great sense. — For open-concept or smaller homes, it is unlikely to be all that effective.

Speaking of thermostats, that’s an item that will likely come up for replacement at time of new installation. If the previous thermostat used to be geared toward managing temps in a single-stage performance unit, and the new one relies on dual-stage performance, that would be a reason alone to upgrade the thermostat.

There are also programmable thermostats ($50 to $300) that allow you to schedule how warm the home ought to be, and when (both time of day and day of week).

Furthermore, there are now Wi-fi programmable thermostats ($250 to $500) that allow you to monitor and adjust furnace settings remotely, or when you are away from home.

Furnace Selection Among Size / BTU

Size of the furnace is often a first consideration as that, along with AFUE rating are the driving factors for cost. It’s really the most basic feature to understand the BTU output and thus choose the size that is truly most appropriate for your home.

General rule is to plan for 30 to 60 BTUs per square foot of whatever living space you wish to control the climate. And the more precise number is based on the region you live in (within the U.S.).

Warmer climates, such as Florida, Texas and much of California can typically work with 30 to 35 BTUs, while extremely cold climates (like northernmost states in the U.S. need the 50 to 60 BTU’ to operate effectively.

So, say you calculate 2,000 sq. ft., and you’re in the northern climate, thus 60 BTUs per hour is needed. This totals to 120,000 BTU capacity, yet you wouldn’t actually seek a machine that comes in right at 120,000, since the AFUE rating will detract from the total.

If you purchase a furnace with 90 AFUE, that means the BTU output is closer to 108,000. This would not be sufficient for your home, while a 140,000 system would be.

Often, contractors are going to go with a device that is over the minimum needed than under. It is partially based on the AFUE calculation above, but as there are umpteen other factors to consider during the Manual J Calculation, those too weigh into the final determination.

Also, if upgrading the size because the older model you had was known to be under heating the home, then this could impact how ducts are adjusted.

The more heat energy being blown through your forced air system, the larger your duct pipes ought to be. If slightly more, the same ducts are likely suitable. If significantly more, a new network may need to be installed. The DIY’er may skimp on this type of decision thinking it trivial. The pro would never view it as an insignificant detail. 😉

Furnace Selection Among Costs

With all the above options in mind, you can rightfully assume there are models that are more affordable than others. Some of the lower cost options deal with the fact it is strictly a basic (single stage) furnace that is at the minimum 80 AFUE.

But there are certainly standard or mid-grade models that are identical in features to some premium models and the only viable difference is the brand name.

For a gas furnace, you can plan to spend between $1,100 and $5,000, with the average being closer to the $1,500-$3,100 range. For an electric furnace, the range is $500 to $1,200, with average around $800.

While installation costs do add a good $2,000-$4,500 or more to the overall price, you are clearly getting something in return as we’ve noted. But, if you look at all the thousands of models of furnaces on the market, you’ll see the premium brands are aiming to charge you say $500 more for what is otherwise identical equipment.

The return on investment is really you paying for the perceived additional reliability and better reputation. But any machine not properly installed will run into problems sooner than later.

And virtually all modern furnaces when properly installed ought to get 15-25 years of service life at a minimum, assuming they are well maintained.

Tax Credits and Rebates

Here are a couple potential ways to lower your cost of a replacement furnace or a new furnace in new construction.

Tax Credits

Congress extended federal tax credits for energy efficient HVAC equipment including furnaces. And the claim amount was raised $100.

As a result, you can claim a credit of 30% / maximum $600 for the installation of an Energy Star certified gas furnace with an AFUE of at least 97%.

Is it worth it? Paying more for a two stage or variable capacity furnace with 97% or higher efficiency does make sense in very cold regions of the US – but not in moderate or warm climates.

Rebates

Most energy providers / utility companies in northern climates offer incentives in the form of rebates for the installation of energy efficient equipment.

The efficiency requirement varies by location but is always at least 90% – often higher than 95%. The amount of the rebates varies too.

Here are a few examples:

  • Boston Area: $200
  • Atlanta Area: $500 if you switch from an electric furnace to a natural gas furnace.
  • Minneapolis Area: $400
  • Chicago Area: $150-$225
  • Lincoln, NE Area: $300-$600
  • Billings, MT area: $300
  • Seattle Area: $700

The ROI Factor

A return on your investment is challenging to gauge when it comes to a furnace purchase. Every home buyer today expects a home will have some sort of heating source in a climate that has even mild winters.

And bells and whistles on a device don’t translate into greater value, such as an air filtration system.

At best, you can probably expect to recoup 50% of the overall spending for your furnace upgrade. Less if you go with a more basic unit that didn’t really address the forced air system.

The Wi-Fi programmable set up, with a premium model that is still within its first 10 years of service is where you could reasonably expect to obtain a 50% return on the investment at the time of sale of your home.

But the warranty is the way you can improve return on the investment. The greater the length of the time on the warranty, the better the initial investment. Add in higher efficiency which translates into lower utility bills each month, and there’s your true return on investment.

How to get the best ROI on a Furnace Replacement

  • Choose an efficiency level suitable to your climate. You won’t get a good return on investment if you live in a warm region and buy a 95% furnace. Stick with an 80% furnace for best ROI. In a cold climate, don’t consider an 80% furnace – stay with a high-efficiency furnace.
  • Choose a single stage or two stage furnace – skip the variable capacity options. The rule is that the more you spend on a furnace (that is right for your climate), the lower the ROI. Variable capacity furnaces are simply not a good investment when the cost to value is considered.
  • Limit accessories – The cost of accessories like an electrostatic air filter, germicidal UV light, whole-house ventilator and similar add-ons usually isn’t recoverable at the sale of your home.
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Pros and Cons

Here is a comprehensive list of the pros and cons of gas furnaces:

Pros:

  1. Energy Efficient: Gas furnaces can be highly energy efficient, with some models boasting up to 98% efficiency ratings. This can help reduce energy costs and save money over time.
  2. Effective Heating: Gas furnaces can heat a home quickly and effectively, providing a comfortable living environment even in very cold temperatures.
  3. Reliability: Gas furnaces are known for their reliability, with many models lasting for 15-20 years or more with proper maintenance.
  4. Low Maintenance: Gas furnaces require relatively little maintenance, with most homeowners only needing to schedule an annual tune-up to keep their furnace running smoothly.
  5. Affordable Fuel: Natural gas is often less expensive than other fuel sources like oil or propane, making gas furnaces a more affordable heating option.

Cons:

  1. Carbon Monoxide Risks: Gas furnaces can produce carbon monoxide, which can be dangerous or even deadly if not properly vented. It’s important to have a carbon monoxide detector in the home and to schedule regular maintenance to ensure the furnace is operating safely.
  2. Installation Costs: Gas furnaces can be expensive to install, especially if the home does not already have a gas line installed.
  3. Combustion Risks: Gas furnaces rely on combustion to produce heat, which can be a fire hazard if not properly installed or maintained.
  4. Indoor Air Quality: Gas furnaces can produce indoor air pollution if they are not properly maintained or if the air filters are not changed regularly.
  5. Noise: Gas furnaces can be noisy, especially if they are not properly installed or maintained.

Overall, gas furnaces can be an efficient and reliable heating option for homes. However, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons carefully and to schedule regular maintenance to ensure the furnace is operating safely and efficiently.

Average Cost To Install a Warm Air Furnace Typical Range: $3,840 - $5,570
See costs in your area

FAQs

Q: How do gas furnaces compare to other heating options? A: Gas furnaces are generally more energy efficient and cost-effective than electric or oil-based heating systems. According to the US Department of Energy, gas furnaces are the most popular type of home heating system in the United States, accounting for 47% of all homes that use central heating.

Q: What is the efficiency rating of gas furnaces? A: Gas furnaces have Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) ratings, which measure the furnace’s energy efficiency. The higher the AFUE rating, the more efficient the furnace. Many modern gas furnaces have AFUE ratings of 90% or higher, meaning that 90% of the fuel used by the furnace is converted into heat for the home.

Q: How often should I replace my gas furnace? A: Gas furnaces typically last between 15 and 20 years, although this can vary depending on factors like the frequency of use and how well the furnace is maintained. If your furnace is approaching the end of its lifespan, it may be time to start planning for a replacement.

Q: How much does a gas furnace cost? A: The cost of a gas furnace can vary depending on factors like the size of the furnace, the efficiency rating, and the installation costs. The current national average (80% range) is about $5,000-$7,500 for a new gas furnace fully installed.

Q: How can I maintain my gas furnace? A: Regular maintenance is important to keep your gas furnace running efficiently and safely. This maintenance should include tasks like cleaning the furnace’s components, replacing the air filter, and testing the safety controls. It’s recommended to schedule maintenance at least once a year.

Q: What are the safety risks associated with gas furnaces? A: Gas furnaces can pose safety risks if not properly maintained or installed. Carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, can be produced by gas furnaces and can be deadly if not properly vented. It’s important to install a carbon monoxide detector in the home and to schedule regular maintenance to ensure the furnace is operating safely.

Q: How can I make my gas furnace more energy efficient? A: There are several ways to make your gas furnace more energy efficient, including upgrading to a high-efficiency furnace, sealing air leaks in your home’s ductwork, and upgrading to a programmable thermostat. These upgrades can help reduce energy costs and save money over time.

Q: Can I install a gas furnace myself? A: It’s not recommended to install a gas furnace yourself, as it can be dangerous and may result in improper installation. It’s best to hire a professional HVAC technician to ensure the furnace is installed safely and properly.

Q: How do I choose the right size gas furnace for my home? A: The size of the gas furnace you need will depend on factors like the size of your home, the climate in your area, and the layout of your ductwork. A professional HVAC technician can perform a load calculation to determine the appropriate size furnace for your home.

Q: What are the benefits of a gas furnace over other types of heating systems? A: Gas furnaces are generally more energy efficient and cost-effective than other types of heating systems like electric or oil-based systems. They can also provide effective heating even in very cold temperatures, making them a popular choice for homes in cold climates.

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6 thoughts on “New Gas Furnace Prices & Installation Costs 2023: Top Brands”

  1. Wow, I did learn a lot! I had problems with the heat shutting on and off and the furnace person ended up replacing the parts that probably were not needed. This would have been very helpful.

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  2. Regardless, furnaces are expensive and their ROI is not terribly worth the money! There is a right to repair movement in the U. S. It seems that if the heat exchanger is deficient then it could be replaced leaving the entire structure of the furnace in place.

    I’ve seen an article where a German manufacturer replaces them in an industrial setting. (knowing the reputation of Germans for frugality) Can’t there be something done for $1000.00 U.S. Dollars that give a more value oriented return!

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  3. This article was incredibly thorough, yet well presented and pleasant to read. I greatly appreciate the time and expertise that you provided in sharing this. Thank you Joshua!

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  4. Thanks Joshua. My current Bard unit is 33 years old and I’m afraid it won’t make another year. My brother-in-law is a licensed installer and volunteered to install a new unit for me. I have been tasked with choosing several units I am comfortable with and went into doing this research blind. Your article has been a great help!

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