Furnace Installation in Austin, TX

A heat pump, by a wide margin, on almost every winter day here. An electric furnace makes heat by running current through resistance strips, so every unit of heat costs a full unit of electricity. A heat pump moves heat from the outdoor air instead of making it, and in Austin’s 40- and 50-degree winter weather that takes a fraction of the power. The electric furnace is cheaper to buy, which is why builders used them, and it still has a role as the backup stage inside a heat pump air handler for the few nights a year near freezing. If your all-electric home in Manor, Hutto or Kyle is due for a new indoor unit, we will quote both and show the difference on a typical winter bill.

Usually not, unless you are reclaiming the closet for another reason. A closet furnace in an older Austin home is easier to service, sits in conditioned space, and keeps the AC coil and drain out of the attic where an overflow ruins a ceiling. Moving it means a new platform, a new flue through the roof, new gas piping, relocated returns and often new duct runs, and it puts the equipment in a space that hits 130 degrees all summer. The closet does need to be done right: enough combustion air, a louvered door or dedicated vents, correct clearances and a sound flue. We check all of that as part of the quote. If the closet cannot be made safe, we will tell you, and the attic becomes the right answer.

For the heating side alone, the payback is modest, because a furnace in Austin does not run enough hours to save much gas. The reason to consider one is comfort and the other nine months. A two-stage furnace runs on low most of the time, so it heats gently and quietly instead of blasting and stopping. A variable-speed blower, which usually comes with it, is the same blower that runs your air conditioner from May to October, and it moves air more efficiently, holds humidity better on long cooling days and is far quieter through the returns. If you are also replacing the AC, or if the house has hot-and-cold rooms, the upgrade tends to earn its keep. If the furnace is a straightforward swap on a tight budget, a good single-stage unit sized correctly is a sound choice.

Yes. A propane furnace is a gas furnace fitted with the manufacturer’s propane conversion parts, which change the burner orifices and gas valve settings for the higher pressure and different burn characteristics of propane. The tank, regulator and line from the tank to the house are the other half of the job, and gas piping is licensed plumbing work in Texas, which we do under our master plumbing license. If there is no gas of any kind and no wish to add a tank, a heat pump is the alternative, and on a Hill Country home in Driftwood or Spicewood it is often the better long-term choice. We can size and quote both. Financing through Service Finance Company is available on either, subject to credit approval.