How Much Is a New Furnace for a 2000 Square-Foot Home?

Furnaces are now more efficient and quieter, and the fuel options are better today than they were 20 years ago, which means they’re usually more expensive. But how much is a brand new furnace for a 2,000 square foot (185 square meter) house?

A new furnace for a 2000 square foot (185 square meter) home costs between $2,800 and $11,000, with most priced at $5,935. That cost comes from the price of the furnace itself ($2800 to $6750 depending on fuel option, size, brand, and efficiency) and the installation cost (about $150-$500 per hour).

Want to get a detailed breakdown of these costs? The rest of this article will explain how we came up with these figures. Read on to learn all the things you have to consider to install a new furnace for your 2000 square foot (185 square meter) home.

Fuel Types

The cost to install a furnace depends on the fuel type you use, with electric units being the cheapest compared to gas and propane options. Your local furnace installation company will assess your home and the climate before recommending the most efficient system.

Gas furnaces are particularly popular when you need to heat the home for long periods and need something more efficient. 

People with a natural gas line also prefer using the gas option because it’s cheaper to run and more environmentally friendly; otherwise, propane will do. Conversely, electric units are more suitable for warmer climates where minimal heating is required. 

As for oil furnaces, they’re relatively costly to run and maintain and work best under colder climates.

Here are the costs for each of these fuel types:

• Gas Furnace. The cost is $2000 to $5000 on average depending on size and brand. High-efficiency gas units can cost up to 50% more but save more than $200 per year on utility bills. They last from 15 to 25 years.
• Electric Furnace. These fall within the $1900 to $5100 price range depending on size, brand, and complexity of installation. These units are low maintenance, have absolute energy efficiency, and are easy to operate. However, they cost 3 to 4 times more to run than gas units and last from 20 to 30 years.
• Oil Furnace. These cost $2,500 to $6,000 depending on the brand, efficiency, and size. Oil furnaces are common in cold climates like the Northeastern United States, and they cost 2-3 times more to run than gas furnaces. An oil furnace can last from 15 to 25 years if well-maintained.
• Propane Furnace. You’ll shell out $2,200 to $5,700 for these depending on size, brand, and efficiency rating. Propane units are popular in rural areas since they’re low maintenance. The gas also powers home appliances besides heating the home, though it’s a little costlier to run than natural gas.

Read: Furnace Clicks But Doesn’t Turn On – Troubleshooting Guide

Size of Furnace

To understand the size of the furnace you need, you must consider the size of your home and your climate zone. Climate zones range from 1 to 5, where 1 refers to the hottest parts of the country and 5 refers to the coldest. Each zone has a BTU (British Thermal Units) number deemed appropriate to heat a square foot in that area.

A BTU is a measurement unit for how much energy it takes to heat one cup of water by one degree. You can get the numbers on the climate zone map from the U.S Energy Information Administration.

Now, to get the correct furnace size, calculate your home’s square footage and multiply it by the BTU number in your zone.

How do you get the square footage of your home? Simply measure each heated room’s length and width, multiply them to get square footage, and then add all the rooms to get the total sq. ft. of your home.

So, if you have a 2,000 sq. ft. (185 sq m) home in Florida, Texas, you multiply 2,000 and 30 to get a 60,000 BTU furnace. 

On the other hand, if you’re in zone 5, you will need to multiply your square footage by 50, giving you 100,000 BTU units. This is because it takes more energy to heat in colder climates. Therefore, the larger the size of your furnace is, the higher the cost.

If you’re between two home sizes, round up to the nearest but don’t go over 20%. Buying a furnace that’s too big for your home will be a problem because it’ll produce too much heat at once and then shut down often. Keep in mind that experts recommend electric units only for zones 1 and 2 because those are warmer places.

In terms of the actual cost, a furnace that can warm a 2,000 sq. ft. (185 sq m) home should cost you between $900 and $2600. Most homes of this size require an 80,000 BTU furnace, but you should also consider other factors such as the type of furnace, home layout, and age of ducts.

Read: Is It Ok To Have A Furnace In The Crawl Space?

Labor Cost

The success and lifespan of your furnace will depend on who installed it. If you had the bright idea of installing a furnace yourself to save some cash, you’re better off having a professional doing it instead. Depending on the location, a licensed HVAC installer will charge you between $150 and $500 to install the furnace.

On average, licensed furnace installers charge $75-$100 per hour, and the entire job can take four to 18 hours. You’ll also need to pay additional helpers somewhere between $20 to $50 per hour because the installer can’t do it alone.

These, however, are only the bare minimum costs, and they assume your ductwork, vents, and other components are in order. In most cases, however, the installers will have to repair or re-do the ducts, clean or create a vent line, remove the old furnace and create a drain line. These are extra jobs that’ll make installing the furnace more expensive and time-consuming.

Once you find a good furnace installation company, be sure to ask whether they give a free quote after inspecting your home. Most of them do, but you have to be sure. Some companies will also remove and dispose of your old furnace at no cost, while some charge $50 to $200 for the trouble. All this should be clearly stated in the written quotation.

Read: How To Choose Furnace Filter?

Furnace Cost by Brand

Countless brands manufacture furnaces but not all of them are equal. Also, some brands only make specific furnace types and specialize in certain attributes like affordability, energy efficiency, and sustainability.

Because the company that sells you the furnace and your installer may be different entities, ask the contractor if they’re loyal to a certain brand and why. It’s vital to do due diligence beforehand and find out the best brands in terms of quality, types, and cost so you’ll get the best bang for your buck.

Below are some of the best brands I recommend and the average prices for each.

• Goodman: $800 – $1,900
• Amana: $800 – $2,500
• Bryant: $800 – $2,500
• Carrier: $1,000 – $2,500
• American Standard: $1,200 – $3,600
• Trane: $1,300 – $3,600
• Lennox: $1,300 – $4,100

For gas furnaces, Goodman and Amana have the same manufacturer, so they’re both dependable lines of budget furnaces. Everything about the two brands is almost identical, though Amana has a few more choices for high-end furnace units.

Interestingly, Bryant and Carrier are also owned by the same company, made with the same parts, and marketed the same way. However, Bryant is considered the budget brand, while Carrier offers more high-end options.

Following the same pattern, American Standard owns Lennox, but it’s considered the budget line while Lennox is the premium line. 

All these brands offer natural gas, propane, and oil units, but none of them stocks electric furnaces.

If you’re looking for an electric furnace, go for York, Heil, Coleman, or Rheem. Their furnaces average between $820 and $ 2400.

Read: Why Furnace Not Responding To Thermostat?

Extra Costs

I’ve discussed several unexpected costs like replacing or repairing ducts if they were there in the first place and taking care of the vents. In addition, if you’re changing from an electric furnace to gas or oil, there are extra costs to incur. For instance, an oil furnace requires an oil tank, while a gas furnace requires a pipeline.

However, what most people don’t know about installing a furnace is that you need permits from the proper authorities. Furnace inspections and permits cost around $250-$1500, depending on size, location, and fuel source. Your installer should take care of getting the permits, but you’ll have to pay for them out-of-pocket.

Here are the permit costs for each type of furnace:

• Electrical permits cost $50 to $350 if you need to upgrade the wiring in older homes.
• Gas line permits cost $50 to $200 to connect your home to the existing gas line or install new gas lines.
• New propane tank and line permits will cost you $25 to $200.

Other miscellaneous costs you may not have foreseen include installing a new programmable thermostat, getting a HEPA air cleaner or humidifier, and moving the furnace to another location in the house, which also means extending the ducts and lines.

Read: Why Furnace Stops Working At Night?

Final Thoughts

While the cost of installing a new furnace in a 2000 square foot (185 square meter) home is in the $5,000 to $10,000 range, you can get quotes from different contractors to see which is more affordable. However, keep in mind that affordable isn’t always better, especially when you need something as complicated as a furnace installed. What you need is quality work from a licensed and reputable contractor and also use quality brands.