Replacing a worn-out furnace or installing one in a home that never had forced air? Confluence Heating & Air sizes, installs and commissions gas furnaces for Dayton and Miami Valley homes. Estimates are free and start with a look at the house, not the old nameplate.
Tell us what the Dayton property is doing and we'll take a look.
The most common installation mistake in this region is copying the BTU rating off the old furnace. Furnaces installed in the 1980s and 1990s were routinely oversized by a wide margin, and a lot of Dayton houses have since gained attic insulation, replacement windows and sealed rim joists. Installing a 100,000 BTU furnace where a 60,000 BTU furnace would do means short cycles, big temperature swings, a loud blower and a heat exchanger that never reaches steady state.
Every replacement estimate here starts with a Manual J load calculation: square footage, wall and ceiling insulation, window area and type, air leakage, orientation, and a winter design temperature for Dayton that sits far below freezing. Ohio's residential energy code places Montgomery, Greene and Miami counties in Climate Zone 5A, and the load numbers reflect that. The output is a BTU figure for the house as it is today, and the furnace is picked from that.
Ductwork gets measured too. A high-efficiency furnace with a variable-speed blower is only as good as the ducts it pushes air through, and in a house built in 1951 with a return the size of a shoebox, the duct correction is part of the job.
Dayton's roughly 5,645 heating degree days make furnace efficiency worth paying attention to. An 80 percent AFUE furnace vents through a metal flue and sends about a fifth of the gas it burns up the chimney. A condensing furnace in the 95 to 98 percent range vents through PVC, drains condensate, and keeps most of that heat. In a gas-heated house running a long Ohio heating season, the fuel difference is real over the furnace's life, and the estimate lays both options out.
Staging matters as much as efficiency for comfort. A single-stage furnace is either off or at full fire. A two-stage or modulating furnace runs at reduced output most of the time, which means longer, quieter cycles, steadier temperatures and better airflow through the ducts. In an older house with uneven rooms, the longer run times of a staged furnace do more for the cold back bedroom than any thermostat trick.
Where a house already has central air or will get it, the furnace and the outdoor unit are sized together, since the furnace blower moves the air for both. And where the homeowner wants to move away from gas or hedge against gas prices, a dual-fuel setup pairing a heat pump with a gas furnace is on the table; the heat pump covers the milder months and the furnace takes over below a set outdoor temperature.
The old furnace is disconnected from gas, power and venting and removed. The plenum and return drop are adapted or rebuilt to fit the new cabinet, and any duct corrections identified in the estimate are made. The new furnace is set, leveled and sealed to the ductwork. Gas piping is connected with a drip leg and shutoff, and the connection is leak-tested.
Venting is where condensing furnaces differ. A 95-plus furnace needs PVC intake and exhaust run to the outside with correct slope and termination clearances, plus a condensate drain, often with a neutralizer and a pump if the floor drain is far away. If the water heater shared the old metal flue, that flue is now oversized for the water heater alone and has to be evaluated and often relined so it drafts properly. That is not an upsell; it is a code and safety item and it is in the estimate up front.
At startup the furnace is commissioned: gas pressure set at the manifold, temperature rise measured and brought into the manufacturer's range by setting blower speed, static pressure recorded, combustion analyzed, and the thermostat programmed and explained. You get those numbers in writing.
Permits are pulled where the local building department requires them, which in many Miami Valley jurisdictions includes furnace replacement. The permit is part of the quote.
Age past about twenty years. A cracked heat exchanger. A large repair on a unit that has already had one. Gas bills climbing year over year with no change in habits. A furnace that has never heated the house evenly no matter how many times it has been serviced, which usually means it was the wrong size from the start.
If the furnace is under fifteen years old and the failure is a common part, repair is almost always the right call, and that is what you will be told.
Questions
With about 5,645 heating degree days a year and most homes on utility gas, the fuel savings from a condensing furnace add up over its life. The estimate shows the 80 percent and 95-plus options with the installation differences, mainly venting and condensate, so you can compare.
Yes, but it is a ductwork project as much as a furnace project. Older Dayton homes heated by radiators or a gravity system need supply and return ducts designed and run. Depending on the house, ductless heat pumps are sometimes the more practical route, and both options are discussed at the estimate.
Not necessarily. If the AC is healthy and its indoor coil fits the new furnace, it stays. If the AC is near the end of its life, replacing both together avoids paying for the labor twice and lets the coil, blower and outdoor unit be matched. You get the numbers either way.
A straightforward swap is usually a one-day job. Adding venting for a condensing furnace, relining a water heater flue, or making duct corrections can extend that, and the estimate tells you what to expect for your house.
Call the local line or send the form, and we will get back to you to set up a visit.
Request a free estimate Call (937) 719-5148