Furnace Installation in Augusta, ME
A new furnace here will run from September through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Kennebec County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat, and winters that test the equipment
A furnace in Augusta works from September through May. That's nine months of the year it needs to run without trouble, on nights that average 13°F through the coldest stretch of winter.
Most homes here still heat with fuel oil, and whatever fuel yours uses, a new furnace has to be sized and installed to keep up on the coldest nights, not just the average ones. If it runs on gas, federal rules now set the floor at 80 percent AFUE, so any new install meets that mark at minimum. Power outages are common here too. More than half of Maine households lost power for at least a day in 2024, and the county has seen 40 winter storms and 55 damaging wind events over the past ten years. Worth asking how your new furnace and its thermostat come back on once the power does.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 13°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
- What size furnace does my house need?
- A contractor answers this with a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage alone. That calculation looks at your insulation, your windows, your ceiling height, and how much cold air gets in around doors and framing. With winter nights here averaging 13°F, a furnace that's undersized will run constantly and still fall behind, and one that's oversized will cycle on and off too fast to heat evenly. Get the calculation done rather than guessing from the house next door.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- If it's breaking down more than once a season, or a repair costs a big share of what a new one would, replacement usually makes more sense than another patch. An older furnace can also lose efficiency well before it fails outright, so it may be costing you more to run each winter even while it still works. Homes here need heat from September through May, nine months a year, so a furnace you can't trust through that stretch is a real risk, not just an inconvenience.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- For a house that needs heat nine months a year here, a high-efficiency furnace will burn less fuel doing the same job as an older, lower-efficiency one. Every non-weatherized gas furnace made since November 2015 already has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so the real choice is how much higher than that you want to go. Most homes here still heat with fuel oil, and switching to a high-efficiency gas furnace where gas is available can mean a real drop in fuel use over a winter this long. A contractor can walk through the options and what fits your setup.