HVAC Installation in Fernley, NV
A new system here will heat from October through May and cool from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Lyon County will get in touch.
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A system built for eight months of heat and two of cooling
Fernley asks a lot more of a furnace than an air conditioner. Winter nights average 23°F from December through February, and homes here need heat from October through May, eight months of the year. Cooling only carries the load in July and August, when afternoons average 87°F. A new system has to be sized for that split, not for one season or the other.
Most homes in the area heat with gas, and any new furnace installed has to meet the federal minimum efficiency rating. Power is worth planning around too. Across Nevada, 13% of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024. A furnace needs electricity to run even when it burns gas, and an outage during those eight months of heat, or the two of cooling, can shut down whichever one you need that day.
- 8 months
- October through May, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 23°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Nevada requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Nevada State Contractors Board tests contractors before it licenses them, and it keeps a record of who holds that license. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so the same license that qualifies someone to install a furnace also has to qualify them for the work they do next door.
For a heating and cooling installation, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work in Lyon County. It does not replace the permit the local building office will want for this job. Most cities and counties in Nevada require a permit to replace a furnace, air conditioner, heat pump or water heater, and an inspection once the work is finished, and that inspection is what checks the gas connections and wiring on the finished system.
Sources: Nevada Legislature · Nevada State Contractors Board
- When should I replace my HVAC system?
- Replace it when repairs start becoming frequent or when a breakdown would leave you without heat or air for too long. Winters here average 23°F, and a furnace working hard on nights that cold is under more strain than one in a milder place, so watch for short cycling, uneven temperatures room to room, or a system that runs constantly and still cannot keep up. If a contractor tells you a repair costs close to what a new system would, that is usually the point to stop patching it. A contractor can look at the age and condition of your equipment and tell you whether it still makes sense to repair it.
- Should I replace my furnace and air conditioner at the same time?
- It depends on the age and condition of each one, but there are good reasons to do both together if they are close in age. A furnace and air conditioner installed at the same time wear out around the same time, so replacing one often means the other is not far behind. They also share parts of the ductwork and sometimes the blower, so a contractor can size and match a new system more precisely when installing both at once. If one unit is much newer than the other, replacing only the older one still makes sense. A contractor can look at both and tell you whether pairing the work makes sense for your house.
- What happens during an HVAC installation?
- A contractor starts by sizing the new furnace and air conditioner for your house, since the wrong size unit will run inefficiently no matter how well it is installed. The old equipment gets removed, and the new furnace, air conditioner or heat pump is set in place and connected to the ductwork, gas line or electrical circuit it needs. The contractor checks the ducts for leaks or damage while everything is open, since ducts carry the air and a leak there wastes heating and cooling. Once the system is running, they test it, check refrigerant levels and airflow, and confirm the thermostat is talking to the new equipment correctly. In most cities and counties this work needs a permit and a final inspection before the job is considered done.