Furnace Installation in Minneapolis, MN
A new furnace here will run from October through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Hennepin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Eight months of heat, and winter nights near 10 degrees
Furnaces in Hennepin County run from October through May. That is eight months out of the year the burner is doing real work, not just taking the edge off. Winter nights average 10°F, and a furnace has to hold that line night after night without a break.
Minnesota also loses power in storms. The state has logged 33 winter storms and 142 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and 13% of households went at least a day without power in 2024. A new furnace here needs to be installed by someone who accounts for that, not just the cold. Any non-weatherized gas furnace made since November 2015 has to meet 80 percent AFUE at minimum, so that much is set by federal rule no matter who installs it.
- 8 months
- October through May, your furnace is on duty
- 10°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 75%
- 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 $100 a year to run in Hennepin County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Hennepin County home, from EIA household energy data, Minnesota fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Minnesota has no state license for HVAC contractors.
There is no license or registration to check here, no test the contractor had to pass, and no state record of who they are. Whatever confidence you have going into this job comes from somewhere other than a license number.
For a furnace install, that somewhere is the local building office. In most cities and counties, replacing a furnace needs a permit before the work starts and an inspection after it is done, and that inspection is what looks at the gas connection and confirms the job was done right. In Hennepin County, 75% of homes heat with gas, and that inspection is the check that stands in for the license this state does not issue.
Source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- What size furnace does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not the square footage of your house alone. A contractor measures your walls, windows, insulation, and layout, then works out how much heat you lose on a cold night to figure the output you need. This matters here, since winter lows average 10°F and the furnace has to keep up with that from October through May. A furnace that is too big cycles on and off too often, and one that is too small will run constantly without ever getting the house warm enough.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch for a furnace that is struggling to keep the house warm, cycling on and off more than it used to, or needing repairs more than once a season. Rising gas bills with no other explanation are another sign the unit is losing efficiency. Age matters too. If your furnace is old enough that parts are getting harder to source, replacing it before it fails outright means you are not without heat during the October through May stretch when you need it working. A contractor can look at the specific unit and tell you whether repair still makes sense or whether you are past that point.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- A high-efficiency furnace burns less gas to produce the same heat, which matters in a place that needs the furnace running eight months of the year. Every non-weatherized gas furnace made since November 2015 has to hit at least 80 percent AFUE, so a high-efficiency model is one built to do better than that baseline. Most homes in this area heat with gas, so the difference in fuel use over a long heating season adds up. Whether the higher upfront cost makes sense for your house is something a contractor can walk through based on your current setup and how long you plan to stay in the home.