Even with higher fuel prices, it is still cheaper to run a natural gas furnace versus an electric furnace, according to Brandon Anderson, part owner of Jamestown Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning.

If a furnace runs on propane, homeowners might need to make a decision to switch to a furnace that runs on natural gas or electricity. He said propane prices fluctuate a lot more than natural gas.

Anderson said if a furnace is more than 10 to 12 years old and needs repairs, homeowners might be faced with getting a new one.

“The biggest factor there is if it’s broke, just in terms of efficiency wise as far as gas consumption and stuff like that, you are going to be better off with a newer furnace,” he said.

He said homeowners can get a regular single-stage furnace or a two-stage furnace that will be more efficient.

“The gas consumption would go down the higher the efficiency, so if we just put in a regular single-stage furnace that is 95% efficient, if you go to a two stage you can get up to that 96% to 97% efficiency,” he said.

It is more difficult to get parts to repair older furnaces, Anderson said. He said homeowners are installing furnaces that are 95% efficient or better.

If someone does want to get an electric furnace, one factor a homeowner needs to consider is if the house has the right electrical service to handle an electric furnace, which will require a licensed electrician to come in and wire the actual electric air handler, he said.

Having an electric furnace would also eliminate a bill from Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. as long as the homeowner doesn’t have any other appliances that run on natural gas.

Anderson said gas furnaces will require a chimney and have an inducer motor and gas valve. He said an electric furnace has a heat strip that is a coil and has fewer moving parts than a natural gas furnace.

A basic standard furnace that runs on natural gas can cost anywhere between $4,000 to $5,500, he said. He said the price varies on how much work is needed to hook up the furnace.

“Like the sheet metal end of it. How much of that do we need to replace or fix when putting the new furnace in because it is barely ever where we can take the old furnace out and slide the new one in and it hooks right up,” he said. “The other thing that depends too is if you have an 80% furnace and you go to a high efficiency, we have to run, it’s essentially a PVC pipe outside for the venting. We can’t use that metal chimney that is there.”

Anderson said homeowners should make sure they do regular maintenance to their furnaces, including changing the filters. If homeowners have a high-efficiency furnace and the venting goes out the side of the house, make sure there is no ice blocking it, he said.

“Same thing with the air conditioners in the summer. Make sure the filter is cleaned and the outdoor unit, the condensing unit is cleaned,” he said. “They just need to make sure they are clean and there are no obstructions around them.”