HVAC Service in Alburtis, PA

What the work here actually looks like

Alburtis has two towns inside it. One is the railroad borough along Main and Franklin Streets: 22 percent of the housing predates 1940, brick and frame houses put up when the Lock Ridge iron furnace and the East Penn line were the reason the place existed. The other is the townhouse and single-family development of the 1990s and 2000s, which is why more than half the borough’s housing units are attached — 51 percent, a share you would expect in a city, not a borough of 2,600 people.

• 1990s and 2000s townhomes on electric heat. Builder-grade heat pumps and electric furnaces from the build-out are now 20 to 30 years old. A cold-climate heat pump on the existing ducts is the normal replacement, and the outdoor unit has to fit a rear yard measured in feet.
• Pre-1940 houses in the old core. Oil boilers and oil furnaces on masonry chimneys, plaster walls and no duct chase. Cooling goes in as ductless heads, and the boiler stays as long as it is sound.
• About 230 households on oil or propane. That is the delivered-fuel group, and it is where the savings are largest. Where a family stays on oil, oil furnaces and boilers get cleaned and serviced as usual.
• Repairs and cleanings on whatever is already installed. Not every call is a replacement, and we say so when it is not.

Why gas is not the default answer in Alburtis

The borough sits inside UGI’s service territory on a map, but a main on your street is a different thing. With under 10 percent of households on utility gas, most blocks do not have one. UGI extends a service line at no cost within 150 feet of an existing main; past that the run is a homeowner expense, and in Alburtis it is often long enough to decide the question by itself.

So the realistic choices at replacement are a heat pump, propane, or staying on oil. Propane installs like gas equipment and uses a tank you already understand, but it costs more per BTU than either natural gas or a heat pump’s electricity. Electric resistance — baseboard or an electric furnace — turns one unit of electricity into exactly one unit of heat. A heat pump moves two to three units for the same electricity at the temperatures this valley sees. That arithmetic is why heat pumps do so well here, and it is checked against your bills, not asserted.

Townhouses have their own rules

Half of Alburtis shares a wall with a neighbor. On a townhouse the equipment choice is the easy part. The hard parts are where the outdoor unit can sit without blowing into the neighbor’s patio, how the line set gets from a rear pad to a second-floor mechanical closet, and whether the original ductwork — drawn for the smallest furnace the builder could buy — will move the airflow a modern heat pump wants. Static pressure is measured on the running system before anything is quoted. Where the return is starved, duct changes belong in the price, not in a surprise.

Equipment is sized against a winter design temperature near 8 °F and about 5,800 heating degree days, from a load calculation on the actual unit, including the shared walls. A townhouse loses heat on fewer surfaces than a detached house of the same size, which usually means smaller equipment than the last contractor installed.

Common questions about HVAC work in Alburtis

I heat with propane. Is switching to a heat pump worth it?

Usually, and by more than most people expect, because propane is the most expensive common heating fuel per BTU. The estimator works from your delivery gallons. A dual-fuel setup that keeps the propane furnace for the coldest hours and lets the heat pump carry the rest of the season is often the best answer on a large-lot house.

My townhouse has electric baseboard. Can I get central air and heat at once?

Yes. A ducted heat pump does both if there is a path for ducts, and ductless heads do both room by room if there is not. Either way the electrical panel gets checked first; a heat pump draws less than the baseboard it replaces, so the panel is rarely the problem.

Is there a gas main on my street?

In Alburtis, probably not. Fewer than one household in ten is on utility gas. Confirm with UGI before anyone plans a conversion around it.

Do I need a permit?

Yes. Permits go through the Borough of Alburtis at 260 Franklin Street, (610) 966-4777. Pennsylvania moved to the 2021 IRC and 2021 IECC on 1 January 2026, so the work is judged against that code.

Book HVAC service in Alburtis

Call Unity Heating & Air Conditioning at (267) 644-9516 to get on the schedule, or send details through the contact page. Repairs, cleanings, installations and replacements run out of Macungie. Emergency calls are taken at any hour.