Furnace Installation in Arlington, VA
A new furnace here will run from October through April every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Arlington County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Arlington asks a lot of a furnace
Your furnace runs from October through April here, seven months of the year. Winter nights average 29°F, so it is working most of the time it is on, not just on the coldest days.
More than half the homes in the area heat with electricity. Virginia saw 22% of households lose power for at least 24 hours in 2024, and the last ten years brought 8 winter storms and 77 damaging wind events to the area. A new gas furnace installed today has to reach 80.0 percent AFUE, the federal minimum for non-weatherized models.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 29°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Board for Contractors tests and records the contractor, not the job, so the license follows the company across every project it takes on. Virginia sets one carve out. Work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor. A furnace installation runs well past that, so the contractor doing this job holds a license the state issued.
The license says the contractor is qualified. It does not cover what happens on site once the work starts. In most cities and counties, replacing a furnace needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection when the work is done. That inspection is what checks the gas connection and venting, the part of the job that matters most if it is done wrong.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not a guess based on your old furnace or your square footage alone. A contractor measures your walls, windows, insulation, and ceiling height, then figures out how much heat your house actually loses on a cold night. A furnace that's too big cycles on and off too often and never runs long enough to heat evenly. One that's too small runs constantly and still can't keep up when it's 29°F outside. Homes here need heat from October through April, so the furnace has to hold up over a long stretch, not just a few cold nights.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch for uneven heat between rooms, a furnace that cycles on and off more than it used to, or a jump in your heating bills without a clear reason. If a repair keeps coming back, or a contractor tells you a major part like the heat exchanger has failed, that's usually the point where replacing makes more sense than repairing again. Homes here need heat for 7 months of the year, so a furnace on its way out gets tested a lot before spring arrives.
- 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 non-weatherized gas furnace made since November 2015 has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, so the real choice is between that baseline and a high-efficiency model that reaches higher than that. The higher the AFUE, the less fuel it takes to produce the same heat, which matters more here, where furnaces run from October through April, than somewhere with a short winter. A contractor can walk through the options and price the job for your specific house.