Furnace installation · Spokane
Furnace installation in Spokane, sized to the house you live in now
A 1920s house, a furnace from the late 1990s, ducts from somewhere in between. The new furnace is sized for the house in its current shape, and one crew takes care of the venting and gas, with the install permitted and inspected.
- Manual J sizing
- Load calculation from your windows, insulation and ducts, not the old nameplate.
- Permitted and inspected
- Gas, venting and the new circuit each itemized on the quote.
- Cash or financed
- Both totals side by side on one itemized written quote.
Most Spokane furnace replacements begin with the wrong number already sitting on the basement floor. A unit installed around 1998 was usually sized by square footage and rounded up, and in the years since, the house has picked up vinyl windows, blown-in attic insulation and maybe a sealed-up porch. The result is a furnace that warms the hallway in a hurry, cycles off, and leaves the back bedrooms behind. Copying that size onto a new furnace repeats the mistake for another twenty winters, so we start from a Manual J load calculation of the house as it actually is.
That calculation comes from the site visit, which costs nothing and settles everything else. A technician measures the rooms, counts and checks the windows, looks into the attic, reads static pressure across the ducts, follows the flue, sizes the gas line and opens the electrical panel. You then receive one written, itemized quote that holds for 30 days, listing the furnace, venting, condensate handling, gas work, electrical work and permit on separate lines and two or three efficiency tiers next to each other. Nothing is ordered until you approve and the equipment deposit is signed in writing.
Common Spokane furnace situations and what we suggest
| Situation | What we usually recommend | Why |
|---|---|---|
| South Hill or Comstock house with an 80% furnace past 20 years | 95–97% AFUE two-stage furnace sized from a Manual J | Parts are getting scarce and roughly a fifth of each gas dollar leaves through the flue |
| Cracked heat exchanger shown on the camera | Replacement within the week, with a plan to keep rooms warm meanwhile | A furnace with a breached exchanger should stay off |
| Electric furnace or baseboard heat, gas main at the street | Gas furnace, or a heat pump that keeps the furnace for the coldest nights | Electric resistance is the costliest way to turn Avista power into warmth |
| Short cycles, warm upstairs, chilly basement, noisy return grille | A smaller furnace, ducts measured and static pressure corrected | An oversized blower pushes more air than old ducts can carry quietly |
| Central air or a heat pump planned within a year or two | Furnace and blower matched now to that future coil | Saves swapping a mismatched blower when cooling arrives |
| 1920s 60-amp service with no room for a new breaker | Panel upgrade or new circuit listed on the quote, permitted and inspected | Known before install day, so the schedule holds |
Replacing furnaces in Spokane basements, from Comstock to Shadle
Older Spokane houses were never laid out around a modern furnace. In the craftsman homes of the South Hill, Comstock and the Perry District the unit hides under the basement stairs or tucked against the wall of a stone cellar, venting into a masonry chimney first built for a coal boiler. Moving up to a 96 percent condensing furnace changes the venting completely: two PVC pipes leave through a side wall, set with proper clearance from windows and the gas meter, and the chimney is left to the water heater alone. We confirm that the water heater still drafts properly once it has the flue to itself.
Condensate is the second basement puzzle. A condensing furnace produces water all winter, and a drain run along a cold stone wall or out toward a crawl vent can ice over on the first sub-zero night. We trap it and send it to a drain that stays above 32°F, or fit a pump where gravity will not reach. Out in Shadle and Logan, where the houses are mid-century ranches, the furnace usually lives in a utility closet instead, and the trouble there is ductwork too small for a modern blower, which the static-pressure reading reveals long before anyone picks a model.
Starting from our West Columbia Avenue shop near Kendall Yards, the install crew reaches nearly any Spokane address within minutes, and so does the inspector. A typical changeout is one day: old furnace out, plenum and return adapted so the new cabinet seals, gas connected and leak-tested, burners fired, gas pressure set, combustion verified with an analyzer and temperature rise matched to the nameplate. In heating season the house has heat again before nightfall. We install Carrier, Bryant, Goodman, Rheem, Lennox and American Standard in single-stage, two-stage and modulating versions, and the quote explains where each step up pays off on a Spokane heating bill.
What a new furnace typically costs in Spokane
In Spokane an 80 percent gas furnace starts at $3,950 and a 95 percent-plus condensing furnace at $5,500, with the furnace itself and the installation both inside that figure; how far above it your job lands depends on the venting route, the condensate path and how much of the plenum needs rebuilding. Central air added on the same visit starts at $4,150. Use these starting prices to plan, not as a quote; your written quote, issued after the site visit, carries the real number. A full-system install booked through the site-visit form comes with up to $500 off and the first-year tune-up included, and we check which Avista rebates fit the equipment you choose. Cash and financed totals sit side by side, and the balance can be paid by card, cash or check once the work is finished.
| System, installed | Price |
|---|---|
| Gas furnace, 80% AFUE | from $3,950 |
| Gas furnace, 95%+ AFUE | from $5,500 |
| Central air conditioner | from $4,150 |
| Electric furnace | from $4,000 |
| Heat pump outdoor unit only | from $4,200 |
| Heat pump with air handler | from $5,750 |
Starting prices with equipment and installation included, before utility rebates and before our up to $500 off a full system. Multi-zone systems are quoted on request. The site visit and written quote cost nothing.
Questions we hear
How long does a furnace replacement take in an older Spokane basement?
A plain changeout is one day, including the new venting, the gas leak test and the combustion check. Adding an AC coil, running a condensate line across a stone basement or upgrading a 60-amp panel can stretch it to two. The quote lists the install dates, and in the cold months we plan the work so the house has heat again before night.
Is a 95 percent furnace worth it over an 80 percent unit in Spokane?
For most Spokane homes, yes. Our winters are long enough that a two-stage condensing furnace tends to earn back its higher price over a few heating seasons on the gas bill, and it runs longer, quieter cycles. The exception is a house where the side-wall venting route is awkward. The site visit shows whether yours is that house, and the quote prices both.
Who pulls the permit and meets the inspector?
We pull the mechanical and gas permits, and the electrical permit is listed on the written quote as its own line. We book the inspection, meet the inspector on site, and the permit paperwork comes to you along with the written warranty.
Should I add central air at the same time as a new furnace?
It is usually worth pricing. The furnace and blower get chosen to pair with a specific coil anyway, and doing both on one visit saves labor and a second permit. We write the quote both ways, furnace alone and furnace with cooling, so you can compare the two totals and decide without a follow-up sales appointment.
Do we pay for the site visit, and what happens during it?
You pay nothing for the visit, the load calculation or the written quote. The technician measures the rooms and windows, looks at attic and wall insulation, reads duct static pressure, checks the flue, gas line and electrical panel, and runs the load calculation. The quote that follows is itemized, holds for 30 days and costs nothing to turn down.
Call, text or book
Call or text us to set up the site visit, or book it online: a full-system install booked through the site-visit form saves up to $500, with the first-year tune-up included. Not sure the old furnace is finished? Have it checked first: the $99 diagnostic is counted inside any repair you go ahead with, and there is up to $50 off an HVAC repair booked online.
Book a visit
Tell us what is going on
We call or text back to confirm a time window, usually the same day.
- $99 diagnostic Counted inside the written repair price you approve. Say no to the repair and it is the whole bill.
- Up to $50 off An HVAC repair booked online. Appliance repairs booked online: up to $22 off. Never taken off the diagnostic.
- Up to $500 off A full-system install booked through our site-visit form, first-year tune-up included. The site visit costs nothing.
Prefer to text? Send a photo of the model tag to (509) 370-5361.