Furnace Installation & Replacement in Lexington, SC

Replacing a furnace in the Midlands is a different decision from replacing one up north. Heating loads here are modest, but the furnace blower also pushes your air conditioning through the house for five or six months a year. A good furnace installation in Lexington, SC has to get both jobs right: enough heat for a night in the 20s, and the right airflow for a humid July.

We install natural gas, propane and electric furnaces, and dual-fuel systems that pair a furnace with a heat pump. When the furnace you have can still be fixed, we will say so; our furnace repair page covers that side. A replacement project includes:

• A load calculation and a written estimate with more than one option
• Removal and haul-away of the old furnace
• Setting the new unit, with gas, vent, condensate and duct transitions
• Thermostat wiring, including dual-fuel changeover when a heat pump is added
• Permit, startup testing and a CO check before we leave

Furnace options worth comparing

Standard efficiency or condensing

An 80 percent furnace sends some heat up a metal flue and can often reuse the existing vent. A condensing furnace pulls extra heat out of the exhaust, vents through PVC pipe and produces water that needs a drain. Because a Lexington furnace runs relatively few hours, the payback on a high-efficiency furnace is slower here than in a colder state. It can still make sense for a large house, a gas-heated home that runs the heat often, or anyone who wants to get the metal flue out of the attic.

Single-stage, two-stage or modulating

A single-stage burner is either fully on or off. Two-stage and modulating furnaces run on a low fire most of the time, which means fewer temperature swings and quieter operation, and they cost more up front.

Blower type

A variable-speed blower can slow down during cooling so the coil pulls more moisture out of the air. In a hot-humid climate that matters as much as anything the burner does.

Electric furnace replacement

All-electric homes without a heat pump usually have an electric furnace or an air handler with heat strips. Replacing one like for like is simple. Many owners use the occasion to add a heat pump instead, since resistance heat is the most expensive way to run electric heat.

Dual fuel

A heat pump handles cool days efficiently, and the gas furnace takes over when it gets cold enough that gas is the better buy. It needs a compatible thermostat or control board set up for the changeover.

Is it time to replace your furnace?

Age alone doesn't settle it, but it starts the conversation: ENERGY STAR suggests considering replacement once a furnace passes 15 years. The stronger signals are the ones we can show you. A cracked or rusted-through heat exchanger ends the repair discussion, because combustion gas can reach the house air. Repeated calls for the same family of parts, such as inducers, boards and ignitors, on a furnace over 20 years old point the same way.

Local patterns add a few more. When the AC on top of the furnace is being replaced, the old furnace blower may not match the new coil, so doing both at once avoids a mismatch. Furnaces under a dripping coil rust from the burner shelf up. And many houses here have since been insulated, sealed or re-windowed, so the original furnace now short-cycles, oversized for a house that needs less heat than it used to.

How we size and design a replacement

The old furnace's size is a clue, not the answer. Many furnaces installed decades ago were oversized for houses that have since gained insulation, new windows or a sealed crawlspace. We run a load calculation using the house's square footage, insulation, windows, orientation and duct location, and you can ask any bidder to show theirs in writing.

Then we check the parts of the system that stay behind:

• Air conditioning match. The blower has to move the right amount of air for your AC tonnage. A furnace chosen for heat alone can leave the cooling side short.
• Ductwork and returns. Undersized returns make any furnace noisy and hot-running. If the ducts are leaking or crushed, our ductwork service can fix that during the same project.
• Venting. Moving to a condensing furnace can leave a gas water heater alone in a vent sized for two appliances, and it may not draft properly. We check that and plan a liner or a resized vent when needed.
• Gas supply. The line has to be sized for the new input, with a sediment trap and a shutoff at the furnace.

From estimate to first heat: the process

1. Walkthrough and estimate. We look at the furnace, vent, ducts, gas line and thermostat, and give you options with honest pros and cons.
2. Equipment and permit. Replacement equipment is often available within a few days. Furnace replacements normally need a mechanical permit, which the town or the county issues depending on where you live.
3. Removal. We protect floors along the route, disconnect gas and power, and haul the old unit away.

4. Install. We set the furnace, connect the vent, gas and condensate drain, transition the ductwork and wire the thermostat.
5. Startup and testing. We leak-test gas connections, measure gas pressure and temperature rise, check for carbon monoxide and confirm the vent is drafting. You get a walk-through of the filter, thermostat and any error lights.

A same-place, same-venting swap is usually done in a day. Venting changes and dual-fuel additions take longer.

What moves the price of a new furnace?

Two furnaces with the same output can land far apart on a quote. The estimate is free and itemized, and these lines move it most:

• Efficiency level and burner staging
• Blower type (standard or variable-speed)
• Vent changes, chimney liners or new wall penetrations
• Gas line resizing or relocation
• Ductwork, return air or plenum changes
• Location: closet, garage, attic or crawlspace
• Matching or replacing the AC coil and adding a heat pump for dual fuel
• Permit and inspection fees

Financing is available for replacements; see our financing options. Veterans, first responders, health care workers, public school employees plus households with a special-needs family member living at home, each have a standing discount. One note on incentives: Congress ended the federal 25C credit at the close of 2025, so a furnace installed this year doesn't qualify. Ask your utility and the equipment maker whether any rebate is running, and let a tax preparer confirm the rest.

Permits, gas code and licensing for a new furnace

A furnace swap is regulated work in South Carolina. The contractor needs a license from SC LLR, the state's licensing agency, which lists every license holder online; we are fully licensed and insured. Your town or Lexington County issues the mechanical permit, and its inspector looks at the gas connection, sediment trap, vent material and clearances against the fuel gas and mechanical codes the state adopts. When a heat pump is added for dual fuel, the refrigerant side falls under EPA Section 608. Keep the permit card with the furnace paperwork; buyers and home inspectors ask for it.

Warranty, upkeep and why owners choose us

Manufacturer warranty and yearly care

New furnaces come with manufacturer parts warranties, and many require registration within a set period after installation, so read the paperwork and keep the receipt. After that, a yearly fall tune-up keeps the burners clean and the safety controls tested. Homes in Seven Oaks, Irmo, Red Bank and across Lexington County can book one ahead of the first cold snap.

Why Puzzled Comfort Solutions for a new furnace

We are a Bryant-authorized dealer, so the furnace, the coil and the thermostat can come from one line and be registered together. Reviewers keep mentioning how fast replacement equipment showed up, often within days when other companies quoted a week or more, and that the options came with pros and cons rather than a pitch. Owner Chong Kim walks the house for the estimate himself, and the company is NATE certified. Expect a clean work area when the old furnace leaves.