Furnace Installation in Hudson, WI
A new furnace here will run from September through May every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers St. Croix County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Nine months of heat, down to 9 degrees
Hudson needs a working furnace from September through May. That is nine months out of the year, and winter nights average 9°F, so the furnace you install has to handle real cold, not just take the edge off.
Most homes here run on gas, and any new non-weatherized gas furnace has to reach at least 80 percent AFUE, that is the federal minimum. Wisconsin also sees its share of winter storms and wind, and outages happen, so it is worth asking your contractor what your furnace needs to start back up once the power is on.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 9°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 63%
- of homes here heat with gas, so most furnaces here burn gas
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A high-efficiency gas furnace would save about $110 a year to run in St. Croix County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical St. Croix County home, from EIA household energy data, Wisconsin fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Wisconsin requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the state and nothing more. Nobody tested this contractor on furnace work to get that number, and the state doesn't check the job afterward either. Wisconsin also keeps counties and cities from layering their own HVAC license on top, so this registration is the only state record that exists anywhere on a furnace installer here.
In most cities and counties, a furnace swap needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is where a bad gas connection gets caught, not the registration. With almost two-thirds of homes in St. Croix County heating with gas, that check on the gas line is the part of this job that matters most.
Sources: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- What size furnace does my house need?
- There's no single number that works for every house. It depends on your square footage, your insulation, your windows, and how the place is laid out. A contractor sizes it with a load calculation, not a chart based on home size alone. With winter lows here averaging 9°F, a furnace that's undersized will run constantly and still struggle, so it's worth getting this calculation done rather than guessing.
- How do I know it's time to replace my furnace?
- Watch for a few signs together, not just one. If it's cycling on and off more than it used to, if some rooms stay cold no matter what the thermostat says, if your gas bills are climbing without a clear reason, or if a repair keeps coming back, that's a furnace telling you it's near the end. Age matters too. Homes here need heat from September through May, nine months of the year, so a furnace works harder here than in most places, and that shortens its useful life.
- Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it?
- For a house that heats nine months a year, yes, it usually makes sense. Any furnace installed new today has to meet at least 80 percent AFUE by law, but high-efficiency models go well beyond that, and the fuel savings add up fastest where the furnace runs the longest. Most homes here heat with gas, so that efficiency difference shows up directly on the gas bill each winter.