Furnace Installation in Caliente, NV
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Lincoln County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Caliente asks a furnace to run eight months a year
Winter nights here average 27°F from December through February, and homes need heat from October through May. That is eight months of the year a furnace has to work.
58.4% of homes in the area heat with electricity, and in 2024, 13% of Nevada households lost power for at least 24 hours. The region has seen 7 winter storms and 30 damaging wind events over the past ten years, the kind of weather that can cut power at the same time a furnace is needed most. A new gas furnace installed today, if it is not weatherized, has to reach 80.0 percent AFUE, the federal minimum for units built since November 2015.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 27°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Nevada requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is issued to the contractor, not to this particular job. That means the testing and the record the state keeps sit with the business you hire, and any furnace installation they do in Nevada falls under that same license.
On top of that, most cities and counties require a permit from the local building office for a furnace installation, with an inspection once the work is done. That permit and inspection are a separate check from the state license, and they apply to the job itself.
Sources: Nevada Legislature · Nevada State Contractors Board
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size depends on your house, not a rule of thumb like square footage alone. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, which looks at how much heat your home loses through its walls, windows, ceilings and air leaks. A furnace that is too big cycles on and off too often and never runs long enough to heat evenly. One that is too small runs constantly and still cannot keep up on the coldest nights, and with winter lows averaging 27°F here, undersized heat shows up fast. Ask the contractor to walk you through the load calculation rather than just quoting a size.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- The clearest sign is a furnace that cannot keep the house warm anymore, or one that needs a repair call more than once a season. Rising gas or electric bills for the same amount of heat point to a furnace losing efficiency inside. Cracks in the heat exchanger, a burner that will not stay lit, or a furnace older than the industry's typical lifespan are all reasons a contractor will usually recommend replacement over another repair. Since homes here need heat from October through May, eight months of the year, a furnace on its way out has a lot of work still ahead of it before spring.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- It depends on how much heat your house needs and how long you plan to stay in it. Any new non-weatherized gas furnace has to meet a minimum efficiency of 80 percent AFUE by federal rule, and high-efficiency models go higher than that, meaning less fuel burned for the same heat. With eight months of heating a year here, a furnace that runs more efficiently is doing more work overall than one in a milder climate. A contractor can lay out the efficiency options for your specific furnace and house rather than a general answer.