Homeowners' pick for heating and cooling across Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic
Furnace Installation — Book a Visit Today
We install and replace gas furnaces in homes across the region, and the first step is a visit where we measure your house instead of matching the label on the old unit. Most furnaces come out for the same reasons: a cracked heat exchanger, a control board or inducer failure on a system already past its useful years, or short cycling that never got better after repairs. On site we check duct sizing, return air, flue and combustion venting, gas line capacity and the condition of ductwork in crawlspaces, then give you options in writing. If you smell gas, leave the building, call 911 or your gas utility, then call us. Otherwise, book a heating assessment and we will walk the house with you.
Call (888) 365-6280- A real person answers
- Open 7 days
- Written quote before work starts
Taking calls until 5:00 PM ET
The furnace installation symptoms we hear most
- The furnace runs constantly and the back bedrooms stay cold Undersized or leaking duct runs, poor return air, or a system that no longer matches the house
- It kicks on and shuts off again a few minutes later Short cycling from oversizing, a failing limit switch, or restricted airflow
- A repair tech told me the heat exchanger is cracked Combustion safety failure that ends in replacement, not repair
- My furnace is close to twenty years old and something breaks every winter Cumulative wear on inducer, board and igniter where replacement costs less than the next round of parts
- The blower is loud and the whole house smells dusty when heat comes on Aging blower assembly plus duct leakage pulling crawlspace air into the supply
People call this furnace installation, furnace replacement or heater installation. Same visit, same written quote, same technician.
Safe things to check first
Worth a look before you call — sometimes it saves you the visit.
- 1Check the thermostat: fresh batteries, set to heat, and the setpoint actually above room temperature.
- 2Look at the breaker panel for a tripped breaker on the furnace or air handler circuit and the switch by the unit being on.
- 3Pull the filter and change it if it is grey and packed. Restricted airflow causes a lot of no-heat calls.
- 4Walk the house and confirm supply and return vents are open and not blocked by furniture or rugs.
Guides & troubleshooting
How we compare to other HVAC companies
| James River Heating & Air | Big-box repair chains | Handyman listings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written quote before any work | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Live answer seven days a week | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Every major brand, gas or electric | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Independent company, nobody's quota | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Local techs who know the housing stock | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ |
What you get on every job
The quote comes first, in writing
Covering 171 cities across Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland and 5 more.A real person answers
Open 7 days, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM ET.Every major brand, gas and electric
Carrier, Trane, Lennox, Goodman and more. We are not an authorized dealer for any of them.Furnace Installation — quick answers
How do you decide what size furnace my house needs?
We measure. Square footage, insulation, window area, duct condition and return air all go into a load calculation. Older homes are often running an oversized furnace, which is why it short cycles and leaves far rooms cold.
Can I replace just the furnace and keep my AC?
Often yes, if the coil and refrigerant type still match and the cabinet fits. We check coil condition and airflow first. If the AC is also near end of life, replacing both together usually means less labor overall.
How long does a furnace installation take?
Most straightforward gas furnace replacements are a single day. Add time if we are correcting flue venting, moving the unit, reworking plenums, or repairing duct in a crawlspace. We tell you the expected timeline before we start.
Is a high-efficiency upgrade worth it in my home?
It depends on your ductwork and venting. High-efficiency units vent through PVC and produce condensate that needs a drain path. If the duct system leaks badly into a crawlspace, we fix that first or the upgrade underperforms.
What happens to my old furnace and gas connections?
We disconnect and haul off the old unit, cap or reconnect gas piping to the new appliance connection as the installation requires, and verify combustion venting. Gas and flue work is ours to handle, never a homeowner task.
Do you work on ducts in crawlspaces during installation?
Yes, and we look there before quoting. Damp vented crawlspaces are hard on flex duct and insulation. Sealing joints, resupporting sagging runs and correcting undersized returns often matters more than the furnace model itself.
How it works
- Step 1
Tell us the symptom
Call or fill in the form and describe what changed. Warm air, short cycling, a smell, water near the indoor unit. Details like that help us load the right parts before we leave.
- Step 2
We diagnose the whole system
We check the thermostat, the indoor unit, the outdoor unit and the ductwork, including runs in crawlspaces where damp air and loose joints quietly cause weak airflow and long run times.
- Step 3
You approve the fix
We explain what failed, what it takes to repair it, and what we would watch next season. Nothing gets replaced without your yes, and we clean up before we leave.
- A real person answers
- Open 7 days
- Written quote before work starts
Why homeowners call us
- Humidity is our home groundMuggy summers and damp shoulder seasons drive most of the calls we take. We look at moisture and airflow together, not the cooling number alone, because a clammy house often means a sizing or duct problem.
- Crawlspace ducts get checkedOlder homes across the region run supply ducts through vented crawlspaces. Crushed flex, disconnected boots and soaked insulation show up constantly, and we get under the house to look instead of guessing from the register.
- Heating and cooling bothSame crew for air conditioning repair in July and heating repair in January. We know how your furnace, heat pump and air handler share ducts and a blower, so one visit covers the whole system.
- Plain talk on repair or replaceWhen a repair makes sense, we repair it. When a system is failing in ways that will keep costing you, we say so and explain why, then leave the decision with you and your timeline.
- All major brands, gas & electricCarrier, Trane, Lennox, Goodman, Rheem, York and more, as an independent company.
- Straight answersIf a system is not worth repairing, we say so, often right on the phone.
Furnace Installation
Small faults become big ones on a schedule of their own
Describe the symptoms and we'll book the visit — takes about a minute.
- A real person answers
- Open 7 days
- Written quotes
- All major brands
- Gas & electric
Rather not call? Get a free quote →