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Getting the load calculation right matters more when the burner runs as long as it does here. Homes in Franklin County, VT run heat about nine months a year, from September through May. A furnace that is undersized for this county starts and stops more often to keep up, and that cycling is what wears the heat exchanger and ignition system down. A contractor quoting a new furnace in Franklin County has to work out the actual thermal load the house places on the equipment before settling on capacity, because a unit that clears the minimum on paper may still be working harder than it should through a run this demanding.
Existing ductwork is what a furnace installation turns on here. Half the homes in Franklin County, Vermont were built in 1979 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year). Duct runs laid out for an earlier generation of equipment carry a geometry and a capacity that may or may not suit what a contractor is putting in, and the only way to know is to measure what is there, not assume it transfers. Where the routing works, the job moves. Where it does not, the contractor has to say so before the new unit goes in, because the ductwork is harder to change after.
What to Expect From a New Furnace Installation
The furnace itself sits in a mechanical room, basement, or utility closet and is the central unit a contractor brings in and sets into place. Attached to it is the flue pipe, which runs up and out of the house to carry combustion gases away. These two pieces are what a homeowner is buying at the core of the job.
The air handler components built into or adjacent to the furnace include the blower, the heat exchanger, and the burner assembly. A new thermostat mounts on a wall inside the living space and gives the homeowner direct control over the system. The contractor also connects the furnace to the existing supply and return air openings where the ductwork meets the unit.
The drawing shows a typical furnace layout, and a licensed contractor determines exactly what the installation involves in your specific home.
Find a contractor in Franklin CountyFranklin County, Vermont, by the numbers
128 severe weather events were recorded in Franklin County, Vermont between 2015 and 2024.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, bulk CSV export, events 2015-01-01 through 2024-12-31.Half the homes in Franklin County, Vermont were built in 1979 or earlier (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesFranklin County, Vermont holds 23,019 housing units (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesOwners occupy 77.4% of the occupied homes in Franklin County, Vermont (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).
U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesFurnace Installation Rules for Franklin County, Vermont6 sourced standards and codes
What the Installation Actually Looks Like
Non-weatherized gas furnaces manufactured on or after November 19, 2015 must reach 80.0 percent AFUE.
Non-weatherized oil-fired furnaces manufactured on or after November 19, 2015 must reach 83.0 percent AFUE.
Mobile home gas furnaces manufactured on or after November 19, 2015 must reach 80.0 percent AFUE.
Non-weatherized gas furnaces manufactured on or after December 18, 2028 must reach 95.0 percent AFUE, up from the 80.0 percent minimum that applies to units manufactured before that date.
What Franklin County, Vermont Requires for This Work
Vermont splits the trade across two specialty licences and a contractor may hold one without the other: field A1 covers automatic gas or oil heating including geo-thermal and ground source heat pumps, and field C3 covers refrigeration or air conditioning including air-to-air heat pumps.
Vermont reaches HVAC work through its electricians’ licence rather than an HVAC licence, and the requirement stops at the front door of a house: anyone performing electrical work in Vermont must be licensed as an electrician unless the work is in a residential building containing two or fewer dwelling units.
Severe Weather Events in Franklin County
Heating equipment in Franklin County works against whatever the local climate demands of it, and that demand is shaped in part by how often severe weather moves through. A furnace sized and installed for local conditions handles those pressures differently than one spec'd for somewhere milder.
128 severe weather events, 2015–2024. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database.