Furnace Installation in Leesburg, VA
A new furnace here will run from October through April every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Loudoun County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Seven months of heat, and nights that drop to 26
Leesburg needs a working furnace from October through April. That's seven months out of the year, not just a few cold weeks. On the nights in between, the average low is 26°F, and a furnace has to hold steady through all of them.
58.8 percent of homes here heat with gas, which means the furnace has to keep lighting and running on its own, night after night, all winter. The area has logged 24 winter storms and 279 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in 2024, 22 percent of Virginia households lost power for at least 24 hours. A new furnace also has to meet the federal minimum of 80 percent AFUE, so whatever gets installed is held to that standard from the start.
- 7 months
- October through April, your furnace is on duty
- 26°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 59%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A high-efficiency gas furnace would save about $120 a year to run in Loudoun County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Loudoun County home, from EIA household energy data, Virginia fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Virginia's license comes from the Board for Contractors, and it covers the contractor's business rather than any single job. Work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor, but a furnace installation runs well past that figure, so whoever does this job needs to hold that license.
The license says who is allowed to do the work, not that this particular installation was done right. In most cities and counties, a furnace installation needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is done, and that inspection is where the gas connections and venting get checked, the part of the job where a mistake is dangerous rather than just faulty. In Loudoun County, close to six in ten homes heat with gas, so that inspection is doing real work here.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- What size furnace does my house need?
- It depends on your square footage, your insulation, your windows, and your ceiling height, so there's no single number that fits every house. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on home size alone. Given how cold it gets here, with winter nights averaging 26°F, sizing it right matters. Too small and it runs constantly all winter. Too big and it short cycles and wears out faster.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch for uneven heat between rooms, a furnace that runs longer than it used to, or repairs that keep coming back. Age matters too, and an older furnace needing more attention each winter is a sign to plan ahead rather than wait for it to quit on a night near 26°F. Homes here need heat from October through April, so a furnace that fails mid-season leaves you without heat for a real stretch of cold. If your gas bills have crept up without a clear reason, that's worth mentioning to a contractor as well.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- Every new gas furnace sold today has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, so the real question is whether it's worth going higher than that. Homes here need heat from October through April, seven months of the year, which is a long stretch for a furnace to be working. The more of that season your furnace runs, the more a higher AFUE rating adds up over the years. A contractor can walk you through the options for your house without guessing at what you'll actually save.