Takes about a minute. No obligation.
Westmoreland County recorded 546 severe weather events between 2015 and 2024, and 441 of those were damaging wind. Hail hit 59 times. A furnace install is a good time to think about what a storm does to a system, not just what a cold morning does. Most furnaces here run on gas, but the blower that pushes the air still needs electricity, and ice or wind can take the power out for longer than you'd like. In 2024, 15% of Pennsylvania households lost power for a day or more. A furnace installed without that in mind is a furnace that leaves you cold at the exact moment you need it most.
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Gas heats 65.3% of homes in Westmoreland County, more than any other fuel.
Replacing a gas furnace with another gas furnace keeps the install straightforward, since the gas line and venting are already there.
Westmoreland County falls under zone 5A in the energy code, a cool zone where the furnace carries most of the load. That shapes what a contractor can legally install. Any furnace built from November 19, 2015 on has to turn at least 80 percent of its gas into heat over the winter. That's the floor, not a sales pitch, so it's already built into most of what's on the market. A bigger change is coming: furnaces built from December 18, 2028 on will have to hit 95 percent. If you're installing now, you're still choosing from the current generation of equipment, but it's worth asking your contractor where a unit falls on that scale.
If the power goes out this winter, a gas furnace still needs electricity to run the blower. Talk to your contractor about a battery backup or a generator hookup for the furnace while it's being installed, and ask where the outdoor equipment will sit so wind and hail don't have a clear shot at it. Easier to plan for now than to wrestle with mid-storm.
Find a contractor
If your house is one of the ones built in 1964 or earlier, the ductwork was sized for a furnace from that era. A new furnace doesn't just drop into that layout. The contractor sizing your install should be measuring your house, not matching the box that's coming out, since the right output depends on the walls and windows you actually have, not on what the house was built with.
A contractor works out furnace size with a heat loss calculation, checking how much heat escapes through the walls, windows, attic and doors. That number tells them the output your house actually needs. A unit sized this way runs longer, steadier cycles instead of short bursts.
A furnace too big for the house heats the air fast, shuts off, and kicks back on again and again, which wears out parts faster and leaves some rooms warmer than others. One too small runs long stretches without catching up on the coldest days. Getting the number right avoids both.
Estimates for a typical Westmoreland County home, from EIA household energy data, Pennsylvania fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Install day starts with the old furnace coming out, along with the venting and ductwork connections tied to it. The contractor checks the gas line, the electrical connection for the blower, and the vent or flue before the new unit ever goes in place. Setting the furnace is the fast part. Most of the day goes to connecting the ducts, running the gas line to the new unit, wiring the thermostat, and sealing the vent so exhaust leaves the house the way it's supposed to. Once it's hooked up, the contractor fires it, checks the gas pressure, and watches the heat exchanger and burners through a full cycle before calling it done. A furnace that's installed right gets tested while someone's still standing there to fix what's wrong, not left running and hoped over.
