What Size Furnace Do I Need for My Minneapolis‑St. Paul Home?

In the market for a new furnace?

If so, you may have seen that furnaces come in different sizes (i.e., different BTU outputs), and you might be wondering which size you need.

Unfortunately, without having a licensed professional look at your home, it’s impossible to say what size is right for your home.

Why?

The size of your furnace depends on several factors, including:

• The layout and design of your home
• Your home’s insulation levels
• Type of roofing on your house
• Materials of your home
• And much more

This is called a load calculation, and is the only way to ensure you’ll get the right size furnace for your home.

Below, we’ll go into more detail about:

• How a load calculation helps you find the right size furnace
• Why you need a correctly-sized furnace in the first place

Want a size recommendation for your new furnace?

Schedule an appointment today

Like we mentioned in the beginning, a load calculation is the best way to ensure you end up with a correctly-sized furnace.

A heating load calculation involves looking at several factors specific to your home to determine how much heat your home needs.

Some professionals don’t take the time to do a load calculation and only provide size recommendations based on the square footage of your home. However, square footage is only one of the many factors to consider when sizing a furnace.

In addition to square footage, a professional should also consider:

The condition of your home’s ductwork

• The layout and design of your home
• Your home’s insulation levels
• Type of roofing on your house
• Materials of your home
• How many people live in your home
• The orientation of your home (i.e., north-facing, east-facing, etc.)
• The height of your home’s ceilings

Our advice? Make sure the HVAC contractor you hire to install your new furnace performs a load calculation to take into account all of those factors—not just the square footage of your home. If you hire a contractor that doesn’t consider those factors, you could end up with an over- or undersized furnace, which will just cost you more money in the long run.

You might think a bigger furnace is automatically better—but that’s actually not the case.

When it comes to furnace shopping, a furnace that’s too big or too small for your home can cause some serious issues.

For example, a furnace that’s too big causes problems such as:

• Higher energy bills: A furnace that’s too big will heat your home quickly and then shut off, and repeat that cycle continuously. The constant shutting on and off is not energy-efficient and will lead to higher energy bills.
• Uneven temperatures: Since an oversized furnace heats your home really fast, it doesn’t give the blower enough time to push the air to every corner of a room. This creates warm and cold spots in your home.
• Reduced furnace lifespan: The frequent starting and stopping wears out furnace parts, which leads to a shorter lifespan for the unit.

A furnace that’s too small creates the same problems, but for different reasons:

• Discomfort: A furnace that’s too small will constantly struggle to heat your home to the desired temperature. This means you’ll likely feel greater discomfort.
• Increased energy bills:& The furnace will run longer to heat your home, which leads to higher energy bills.
• Wear and tear on your furnace: Longer run times puts extra stress on furnace parts, which could lead to breakdowns and frequent repairs.

Schedule an appointment today

We’re happy to help! Our team of comfort specialists will perform a heat load calculation to ensure you get the right size furnace for your home.

For more information about what to expect when you hire us, visit our furnace installation page.