Replacing the heating or cooling in your East Syracuse house

East Syracuse is a village of 1,464 housing units sitting inside the Town of DeWitt, and the houses tell you most of what matters. The median home dates from 1939 or earlier, and 54.0 percent of its housing units were built in that oldest band. Almost nothing here is recent: none of the village's housing was built in 2000 or later. When a system in a house this age reaches the end of its life, the replacement is rarely a simple swap.

Start with the size. Many bids copy the label on the old furnace or boiler, and NYSERDA warns that many existing systems were oversized themselves. After decades of new windows and insulation, your house may need less than the old unit delivers. Ask the contractor for the load worksheet, and compare every bid against the same page.

Then look at the flue. In some houses the furnace and the gas water heater share a chimney. With a condensing furnace the exhaust leaves by a side wall, and the water heater has the chimney to itself, though it was built for two. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a name for this, an orphaned water heater, and it says each remedy adds cost. If a quote does not mention your chimney, ask what it assumes.

Utility gas heats 67.0 percent of the village's occupied homes and electricity heats 27.2 percent, while 4.3 percent burn fuel oil, kerosene or bottled gas. Gas households mostly face the furnace and chimney questions. Electric households face a different choice, because a heat pump can stand in for baseboard heat and bring cooling along. If oil or bottled gas heats your house, ask the contractor what they suggest in its place, and why.

Owner occupiers hold 52.7 percent of the village's occupied homes, and 41.5 percent of its housing units stand alone as single-family houses. If you own, the replacement is your decision. If you rent a unit in a small building, the owner makes the call, but you may still give us the address and put the three questions on your own behalf.

Permits here run through the village's own code department, with the village clerk taking the applications. The Town of DeWitt around it keeps a separate office, so do not assume a town rule applies to your street. The village page does not say whether a like-for-like swap needs a permit. Ask the village office, then ask your contractor who files and what the bid includes.

Next, send us the house and what you are replacing. We tell you what to ask, and we introduce a local contractor. Pricing and the work stay with the contractor.