Inside the Town of Herndon a bit under 4 in 10 owners heat with gas. The rest mostly heat with electricity, and in a house here that usually means a heat pump with no furnace in it. Past the town limits gas gains ground: roughly 6 in 10 owners in Floris burn it, 7 in 10 in McNair, and Franklin Farm splits close to evenly. A handful of homes on both sides burn propane instead, and those furnaces are ours to replace too.
Most of those gas houses date from the 1980s and 90s. The typical owner’s home went up in 1985 in Franklin Farm and in 1990 in Floris, so whatever furnace sits there now is likely the house’s second, or its third. Outdoor units tend to quit sooner, standing in the weather all year, which can leave a house like these with an AC years newer than its furnace. That’s the furnace-only job: the younger air conditioner keeps its place, and the new furnace’s blower is matched to the coil riding on top of it.
McNair is the young end of the address. Its typical owner’s home dates from 2003; about 6 in 10 sit in condo buildings, and townhouses make up most of the rest. Furnaces there are compact closet and utility room units, many possibly still the builder’s and past twenty winters. A replacement has to clear the same doorway and fill the same footprint, and if its vent exits an outside wall, expect the association to weigh in.
Inside the town, the Town of Herndon’s Building Inspections office issues the permit. It puts mechanical and gas permit review at about 14 business days, and takes an emergency application for heat ahead of its usual tax and business license checks. Outside, Fairfax County requires a permit for every gas furnace swap, same size in the same spot included, along with a chimney vent certification. Our HVAC replacement cost estimator narrows $4,285 to $14,040 to your house.