HVAC Installation in Pocatello, ID
A new system here will heat from September through June and cool from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Bannock County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What a system in Bannock County has to handle
Winter nights here average 18°F from December through February, and the furnace has to make up that difference every night for months. Homes in Pocatello need heat from September through June, ten months of the year. That is most of a system's life spent running, not resting. Most homes here heat with gas, so the furnace is doing the heavy lifting most of the year.
Summer only asks for two months of cooling, July and August, with afternoons averaging 81°F. That is a short season, but the air conditioner still has to be sized right to keep up on the hottest days. Bannock County has also logged 79 winter storms and 46 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and across Idaho about 11% of households lost power for a full day or more in 2024. A new system installed here needs to hold up through storms and stretches without power, not just an average night.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 2 months
- July through August, it cools
- 18°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Idaho requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from Idaho's HVAC Board and it sits with the contractor, not with any single job. That means the person the board tested and put on record is the same one standing in front of you, whether this is your first system or your fifth.
For a job like this, that license is what backs the person doing the work. In most cities and counties, installing a new furnace, air conditioner or heat pump also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. The permit and inspection are separate from the license. One tells you the state tested the contractor. The other tells you the finished installation was looked at before anyone signed off on it.
Sources: Idaho Legislature · Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses
- When should I replace my HVAC system?
- Replace it when repairs start becoming frequent, when the system is old, or when it can no longer keep up on the coldest or hottest days. Winters here average 18°F and homes need heat from September through June, so a furnace that struggles in that stretch is worth replacing before it fails outright. A unit that's still fairly new and running fine usually just needs the repair, not a replacement.
- Should I replace my furnace and air conditioner at the same time?
- If both are old, yes, it usually makes sense to do them together. A furnace and air conditioner installed at the same time are matched to work as one system, which is harder to guarantee when you pair a new unit with an old one of different age and efficiency. That said, if your air conditioner is only a few years old and the furnace fails, there's no reason to replace a unit that still has years left in it. A contractor can look at the age and condition of both and tell you what makes sense for your house.
- What happens during an HVAC installation?
- A contractor removes the old furnace and air conditioner, or heat pump, and puts in the new equipment, connecting it to the existing ductwork, gas line, electrical and drain lines. They'll check that the ducts and electrical supply match what the new system needs, since equipment sizing and airflow requirements can differ from what was there before. Once it's running, they test it and set up the thermostat before walking you through it. In most areas here, this work needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection when it's done, so ask whether that's included.