Replacement and installation
A contractor just quoted you a new system, and you are not sure it is right
Once a job is booked, we apply $100 off your first job.
Your furnace, boiler or air conditioner is on its way out, and the quote in your hand names a size with no worksheet behind it. Ask three questions before you sign. Call or send your details, and we will give you the questions and introduce one local contractor.
Before you sign
Ask before anyone prices the job
A size and a vent are chosen before the first cold night, so ask first.
The load worksheet
Will you do a load calculation and give me the worksheet?
New York's residential code sizes equipment from a calculated load for your house. A worksheet shows the arithmetic, so you can see why one size was chosen over another.
Chimney and water heater
What happens to my chimney and my gas water heater?
A condensing furnace vents out a side wall. A water heater left alone in a chimney built for two may draft poorly, and the fix should appear on the quote as a separate line.
Ducts and pipes
What can my existing ducts or pipes carry?
A bigger machine cannot push air or hot water through a trunk or pipe that is too small for it. Ask the contractor to check what you already have against the new load.
Basis: Residential Code of New York State, Chapter 14 Air Source Heat Pumps: Don't Oversize, NYSERDA fact sheet
The three questions above cost nothing to ask, and they work by phone before anyone visits. A contractor who has done the arithmetic answers them readily. One who has not may take longer to answer.
Write the answers beside each quote. When two bids differ by thousands of dollars, the answers often explain why, and they tell you which bid you can compare with the others.
You do not need technical language. Read the question aloud, listen, and ask the contractor to put the answer in writing. If a contractor will not, treat that as an answer too.
The worksheet
What any quote should show
Lay two or three quotes side by side. Tick what each one lists. A blank is a question to ask before you sign.
| Ask on every quote | Quote A | Quote B | Quote C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1A load worksheet for your house | Quote A answer | Quote B answer | Quote C answer |
| 2How the new unit will vent | Quote A answer | Quote B answer | Quote C answer |
| 3What happens to the water heater | Quote A answer | Quote B answer | Quote C answer |
| 4Duct or pipe changes, listed one by one | Quote A answer | Quote B answer | Quote C answer |
| 5Who pulls the permit | Quote A answer | Quote B answer | Quote C answer |
| 6What is removed and hauled away | Quote A answer | Quote B answer | Quote C answer |
| 7A start date and a payment schedule | Quote A answer | Quote B answer | Quote C answer |
We tell you what to ask before anyone prices a new system, then introduce a local contractor who does the work.
Start your worksheet
Tell us about the house and the system. You get the three questions, and a local contractor only if you say yes.
Credit: $100 off your first job
The $100 comes off once your installation is booked through us.
- We fund the $100; the contractor's quote is unchanged.
- One credit per customer at each property.
- Book the job by December 31, 2026.
- Mention the credit when you book.
In your basement
Look at the parts that decide the quote
Each labelled part is somewhere a quote either shows its work or leaves a gap.
- FurnaceAsk how its size was worked out, not what the old label said.
- Old chimneyAsk whether it stays in use, gets a liner, or is closed off.
- Gas water heaterAsk what carries its exhaust once the furnace leaves the chimney.
- Duct trunkAsk whether it can move the air the new unit delivers.
- Outdoor unitAsk why this capacity suits a July afternoon in your house.
- BoilerAsk what output the radiators need, not what the old boiler gave.
- Radiators and pipingAsk whether the existing piping can carry what the new boiler sends.
Basis: Air Source Heat Pumps: Don't Oversize, NYSERDA fact sheet Residential Code of New York State, Chapter 18
If your furnace and gas water heater share a chimney, swapping the furnace for a condensing unit leaves the water heater in a chimney built for two.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory calls this an orphaned water heater and says the draft may be too weak. Ask who has looked at your chimney, and ask that the answer be written on the quote.
If your house heats with radiators, walk to the boiler instead. The same drawing shows the boiler, the old iron piping and the radiators it feeds. Ask what each can carry before you compare prices, and ask the contractor to name any piping that will change.
Spec FAQ
Questions before you ask for quotes
| You ask | Short answer |
|---|---|
| F1 How do I check that a quote is sized correctly? | Ask for the load worksheet. New York's residential code sizes equipment from a calculated load, and a worksheet is how you see that the calculation was done. |
| F2 Why does my water heater matter when I replace a furnace? | If they share a chimney, a new condensing furnace leaves the water heater alone in a flue built for two. Ask each contractor how the quote handles it. |
| F3 Is New York banning gas furnaces in existing houses? | No. The state's all-electric rule covers new buildings and says it does not apply to existing ones, and the Assembly's explainer says existing gas appliances can be replaced with new gas appliances. |
| F4 Should I wait until my furnace fails? | A system that still works gives you time to compare quotes and ask the three questions without a deadline. |
| F5 Will a heat pump keep my house warm in January? | It depends on the size, the balance point and the backup heat. Ask the contractor for all three in writing before you compare prices. |
| F6 Is the federal credit for heat pumps still available? | Not for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025. Check the dates on any page that still advertises it. |
| F7 Who pulls the permit? | Your own town or village decides if a permit is needed, and the rules differ. Ask the contractor who files it. If you are unsure, call your code office. |
Five jobs
Pick the job you are weighing
Each system has its own pages, with the questions that matter most for that job.
| System | In a line | Ask first | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furnace Replacement and Installation | Ask about size, the chimney and your ducts first. | Chimney and water heater | See this system Furnace |
| Boiler Replacement | Start from your radiators, then ask about venting. | Ducts and pipes | See this system Boiler |
| Central Air Installation | Check your ducts and the sizing before you buy cooling. | The load worksheet | See this system Central air |
| Heat Pump Installation | Ask for the balance point and the backup plan. | The load worksheet | See this system Heat pump |
| Ductwork and Air Distribution | Find out what your ducts can carry before buying more capacity. | Ducts and pipes | See this system Ductwork |
Your situation
Find the sentence that sounds like your house
Six common setups, each pointed at the page that fits.
Some readers are planning ahead because the system is old but running. Some have just been told it is finished and are collecting quotes. Some are adding cooling, switching fuel or fixing a room that never felt right.
Each needs a different first question, and the rows below point to the page that fits. If none matches, call and describe the house. We will tell you which questions apply and which page to read first.
| If this is your house | In a line | System |
|---|---|---|
| Original furnace and a gas water heater on one chimney | The chimney line on the quote matters most here. | Furnace |
| Cast iron boiler with radiators on every floor | Start with what the radiators need, then the boiler. | Boiler |
| Forced air heat and no cooling yet | Central air rides on the ducts you already own. | Central air |
| A heat pump that has to carry a January night | Ask for the backup heat plan in writing. | Heat pump |
| Cold bedrooms, loud vents, a hot upstairs in July | The ducts may be the problem, not the furnace. | Ductwork |
| A new furnace was quoted but the house runs on hot water | Check what your house really has before comparing bids. | Boiler |
Three steps
From first call to a quote you can read
You stay in charge at each step.
Tell us what you have. Ask the contractor the questions we give you. Meet one local contractor if the answers hold up.
Pricing and the work itself stay with the contractor. You decide whether anyone visits, and you can stop at any step. Nothing on this page asks you to buy before you have seen a quote and a worksheet.
Planning a new system?
If you have already collected bids, send them along with your details. The questions work just as well after the quotes arrive, and a quote that cannot answer them is worth knowing about before you sign.
- 01
Tell us about the house and the system.
Send the house age, the fuel, and what sits there now. A phone call works too.
- 02
Ask the three questions we give you.
Use them with any contractor, including one you found yourself.
- 03
Meet one local contractor and decide.
You see the quote and the worksheet. You choose whether to book.
Where you live
Your town changes the questions
Each town below has a page on its houses, its fuel and the office that issues your permit.
The city of Syracuse, each village and each town runs its own building office. The permit answer at a Cicero address is not the answer at a Syracuse address. A village inside a town may also keep its own code office, so the village can answer for you and not the town around it.
Pick your town below and read what applies to your houses, your fuel and your permit office. Then ask your contractor who files the permit and when you will see it.
Median home built before 1940
Median home built 1940 to 1969
Median home built 1970 or later
The houses
Why this county needs its own questions
The age of your house tells you which question to push hardest.
In the city of Syracuse the median house went up in 1948, and 85.5 percent of its homes pre-date 1980. Solvay and East Syracuse run older still, with medians in 1947 and 1939 or earlier.
Medians in Salina, DeWitt and Camillus run from about 1960 to 1966. Clay, Cicero and Manlius run from 1972 to 1980. Cicero's median house dates to 1980. In any of them, ask for a worksheet on the house as it stands now, because the equipment may have been sized for a house that has changed since.
Planning a new system?
Winter here is long. Most heating demand falls between October and April, so a system that is sized wrong shows itself for months. Ask what your house needs before you ask what the unit costs, and tell the contractor how old your house is and what you have changed in it.
Not sure which question comes first for your house? Call or send your details with the age of the house and what is in the basement now, and we will point you to it.
Basis: Residential Code of New York State, Chapter 14 Condensing Furnace Venting, Part 1 report, Oak Ridge National
Not sure what to ask? Start the worksheet.
What moves the price
What makes two honest quotes differ
These are the lines to compare when two quotes are far apart.
The Heating and Cooling Syracuse pledge
- Asking us is free, and so is the introduction.
- You get the three questions before anyone quotes.
- You decide whether a contractor visits.
- Your $100 comes off the way our Terms set out.
The contractor you choose answers for the installation itself.
Heating and Cooling Syracuse, (315) 640-3590 Full start-up terms
Credit: $100 off your first job
The $100 comes off once your installation is booked through us.
- We fund the $100; the contractor's quote is unchanged.
- One credit per customer at each property.
- Book the job by December 31, 2026.
- Mention the credit when you book.
Ask any contractor
Three things to ask any contractor
- Who pulls the permit, and may I see it when it is issued? Your own town or village decides if one is needed, and who files it should be settled before work starts.
- Do you hold the local license, if my municipality has one, and may I see your insurance certificate? The state has no HVAC license of its own, so any license is local, and the city of Syracuse runs its own board.
- What exactly is in the price, and what would change it? A written list of what is included lets you compare quotes line by line.
Basis: Division of Building Standards and Codes FAQ, NYS Department of 19 NYCRR 1203.3, Legal Information Institute
Ask first, then compare quotes.