Gas is the common fuel here
Utility gas heats 44.9% of homes in Elbert County, more than any other fuel. Bottled or LP gas heats another 37.7%. Electric heat accounts for 10.2%.
Furnace Installation in Elizabeth, CO
Tell us about the job
Takes about a minute. No obligation.
Step 1 of 3: Equipment
What this means for your install
If your old furnace ran on gas, a new gas furnace will fit the venting and gas line already in place. A switch to electric heat means different wiring and ductwork needs, worth asking about before you decide.
- 9 months
- September through May, your furnace is on duty
- 15°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 80% AFUE
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Furnaces in Elbert County run from September through May, with overnight lows averaging 15°F in December, January and February.
A furnace sized too small for this county will run constantly and still fall behind on the coldest nights.
Elbert County sees its share of hail, wind and winter storms, but none of that changes what furnace you need
A standard furnace fits most homes here without needing to size up or step up in efficiency. Natural gas ran $10.09 per million Btu in Colorado in 2024, and that cost applies whether the furnace is rated for standard efficiency or high efficiency, so a pricier model only pays for itself through the fuel it saves. For a lot of homes, the standard option does the job at a lower upfront cost. The right size depends on the house itself, its square footage, insulation and layout, not on anything particular to Elbert County.
Meet the standard here
A new system here has to meet this region's minimum efficiency, which limits what can go in.
Find a contractor
Nine months of work, one month to get ready
Furnaces in Elbert County run September through May, about nine months a year. August is the month before that starts. A furnace installed in August gets tested while the weather is still easy on it, not during the first cold snap when a bad hookup means waiting on a contractor with a full schedule. Wait until you need the heat and you're installing under pressure, on whatever day a crew can get there.
Ask what the load calculation found
A contractor should size a furnace to the house, not just swap in a unit that matches the one coming out. Ask what method they used and what the old furnace's output was compared to the new quote. If nobody ran a load calculation, you're being quoted a guess.
Ask how the ductwork was checked
A furnace can be sized right and still heat poorly if the ducts feeding it are too small, leaky, or were sized for a different unit. Ask whether the contractor inspected the existing ductwork or just connected the new furnace to whatever is already there.
A high-efficiency gas furnace would save about $90 a year to run in Elbert County compared with a gas furnace.
Estimates for a typical Elbert County home, from EIA household energy data, Colorado fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Install day starts with the old furnace coming out, and that alone can take a couple hours if it's wedged into a closet or crawlspace. Once it's out, the crew runs new venting or adjusts the old vent pipe to fit the new unit, connects the gas line, and ties into the ductwork through the supply and return plenums. A high efficiency furnace also needs a condensate line and a dedicated electrical connection. Then it gets fired up. The crew checks gas pressure, checks the temperature rise across the heat exchanger, and feels for airflow at the registers. A furnace that fires right away but trips off after a few minutes usually needs the airflow or gas pressure adjusted before the crew leaves, not something to live with and call back about later. Most installs finish in a day, but a furnace that's moving locations, or ductwork that needs rework, can push it longer.
