Furnace Replacement in Broomfield

The newest stock, with an older core

Broomfield reads as a new city, and mostly it is. Census ACS 2024 five-year data puts 28.8% of its 33,202 housing units in the 2010s and 23.1% in the 2000s — more than half the city built since 2000. The median home dates to 2002.

But the older core is real and it matters. 13% of Broomfield's housing is from the 1970s, with another 4% from the 1950s, concentrated largely in the original Broomfield Heights area that existed long before the modern growth.

Two housing stocks, roughly fifty years apart, inside the same city. The furnace job in each is genuinely different.

The newer majority: first replacements

In a 2000s or 2010s Broomfield home you're almost certainly replacing the original builder-installed furnace, and that's usually a clean job — ductwork designed as one system with the equipment, purpose-built mechanical space, modern gas and electrical. One day, few surprises.

One local advantage worth knowing: many newer Broomfield homes were built with high-efficiency furnaces already, meaning PVC venting is in place. If that's your situation, the $899 to $1,965 conversion cost that older homes face simply doesn't apply — high efficiency becomes a straightforward like-for-like upgrade rather than a venting project.

Check what's actually installed before assuming either way. Metal flue means conversion cost; white PVC pipe running to an exterior wall means you're already there.

Broomfield Heights is a different job

The 1970s housing tells the opposite story. Those homes are on a second or third furnace, and the ductwork is generally original — sized for a furnace hauled out decades ago.

That's the thing to check. Return ducts adequate for a 1975 unit can be undersized for the airflow a modern high-efficiency furnace expects, and when that happens the equipment can't reach its rated performance regardless of quality. Duct modification is $1,600 to $5,550 and up, which is exactly the sort of number you want raised during the estimate rather than mid-job.

These homes also typically vent up a metal flue, so a high-efficiency conversion does carry the PVC venting cost.

The city-and-county detail

Broomfield is a consolidated city and county — one of only a handful in Colorado. For permits that's genuinely simpler than the rest of the metro: the mechanical permit goes through the City and County of Broomfield, full stop, with no question about which county office handles your address.

Your contractor pulls it, it should be a line on the quote at $80 to $150, and it triggers the inspection that independently verifies the gas connection and venting. Anyone offering to skip the permit is offering to remove your only outside check on the work.

Colorado does not license HVAC contractors at the state level — the state licenses electricians, plumbers, and radon professionals. Ask about local mechanical credentials and insurance specifically.

Sizing and altitude

Broomfield sits near 5,390 feet, and gas furnaces lose roughly 4% of rated capacity per 1,000 feet of elevation. A unit sized off sea-level tables arrives undersized. Ask how the contractor accounted for it — a local answer comes without hesitation.

Size to the house as it is today, not to the old nameplate. A finished basement adds conditioned square footage the original furnace never covered; new windows and added insulation reduce the load. Repeating the original capacity is the common path to an oversized unit, and an oversized furnace short-cycles: fast heat, quick shutoff, refire minutes later, uneven rooms, early wear on the ignitor and blower.

Broomfield's newer homes skew larger, putting many in the 80,000 to 100,000 BTU range at roughly $6,850 to $10,350 installed.

What the job looks like

A straightforward swap is one full day: old unit out, new one set and connected to ductwork, gas, and electrical, venting handled, then a Broomfield inspection within a few days.

Two days is more likely in the older Broomfield Heights housing, where venting may need converting or ductwork needs rework before the new unit can perform properly.

The cost breakdown has the size and efficiency tables and what belongs in a quote. If replacement isn't settled, repair or replace works the decision. Xcel's rebates covers the $225 for a 95% AFUE unit.

Get an estimate for your house

Call (303) 226-1486 or send the form. One insured local heating professional will measure, check the ductwork and venting, and put a written estimate in your hands. If your furnace has more life in it, that's what you'll hear.

We also serve Thornton, Arvada, Littleton, and the rest of the Denver metro.