How do I know if my furnace needs replacement or just repair?

If it's 15+ years old, the heat exchanger is cracked, or it's going to cost more than a third of a replacement to repair, replace. Under those, we'll usually repair and tell you to plan for replacement on a 3–5 year horizon.

What size furnace do I need?

Depends on the house, we run the load calc. Rough guidance for Northern Kentucky: a well-insulated 1,800–2,400 sqft home typically takes a 60–80 kBTU furnace. Houses we see being sold 100k BTU furnaces 'because that's what was there' are usually 30–40% oversized.

Can you do a furnace swap without replacing the AC?

Yes, and we do this often. We just need to confirm the new blower is compatible with your existing evaporator coil, most of the time it's straightforward.

Replacement

Furnace Replacement

Furnace replacement in Fort Thomas and across Northern Kentucky, 95%+ AFUE models, clean installs, honest quotes.

Request a Quote (859) 991-4293

Typical install cost: $4.5k–$7.5k
Install time: 1 day
Efficiency: 95%+ AFUE

What’s included

Every furnace replacement includes the following, no surcharges, no surprise line items.

95%+ AFUE Tempstar gas furnaces
Matching variable-speed blowers for quieter operation
Combustion analysis when gas tuning calls for it
10-year parts warranty with maintenance plan

Gas or electric, and why it matters in Northern Kentucky

Most Fort Thomas, Cold Spring, and Campbell County homes we work in have natural gas service and a gas furnace. Gas is still the cheapest way to heat a home in this climate, and when sized right with a 95%+ efficient condensing furnace, the ongoing cost is low enough that a full replacement pays back mostly in avoided repair bills and comfort improvements, not efficiency alone.

Electric furnaces only make sense in homes without gas service, and in that case you’re almost always better off with a heat pump + electric backup instead of straight resistance heat. We’ll tell you straight up which direction makes sense for your house.

What we install

Two-stage and variable-speed Tempstar gas furnaces are our bread and butter, the two-stage gives you quieter long-running comfort, the variable speed gives you the best humidity control on an AC pairing. AFUE (fuel efficiency) of 95%+ is standard on every replacement; lower-efficiency 80% units don’t meet current federal minimums in this region anyway.

Install-day quality controls

Every furnace install gets a combustion analysis before we leave. That’s non-negotiable. The analyzer reads CO, O2, and efficiency in real time, we tune gas pressure and adjust until the combustion curve is where the manufacturer spec says it should be. Most furnaces in Northern Kentucky are running outside spec because nobody bothered to tune them on install day.

Why Watson

What sets this furnace replacement job apart.

Condensing 95%+ AFUE gas furnaces as the default, no low-efficiency upsells we have to unwind later.
Combustion checks when the unit calls for them. No shortcuts on safety.
Correct venting, PVC sloped to drain, terminations at code distances from windows and property lines.
Humidifier + surge protector add-ons available and priced transparently.

Complete your install

Smart add-ons for a furnace replacement.

While we’re already in your mechanical room, a few of these cost a fraction of what they’d run on a separate visit. Pricing is ballpark, not a quote.

Frequent questions