No heat in Duluth? Start with the gas and pipe steps

The furnace is not heating the house in Duluth. Start with the gas and pipe steps.

AFUE, annual fuel utilization efficiency, is the rating utilities use for furnace rebates. Duluth publishes a 2026 furnace permit fee and a $200 utility rebate for a 90% AFUE furnace. The repair price itself is not on a city fee schedule.

Written by

Cold House Fix editorial staff

Facts checked

October 25, 2026

Reading time

1 minute

Ask for a call

If you smell gas, leave the building and call ComfortSystems at 218-730-4100 from outside. Do not use a phone, a switch, a match, or a car while you are still inside. The same number is the one to call if a natural gas furnace is out after hours. If a carbon monoxide alarm is sounding, leave and call 911 from outside. What to do when the furnace is not working is the rest of that order. If the air is clear, what keeps pipes from freezing is the weather service version of the pipe steps. The January normal minimum here is 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Duluth's 2026 furnace permit fee is $151, or $201 with added ductwork or piping, and work without a permit draws a double fee. Furnace rebates in 2026 puts the ComfortSystems $200 next to the other utilities, and next to the federal 25C credit, which does not cover a furnace placed in service after December 31, 2025.

The local record for Duluth

What it costs

Duluth does not publish a furnace repair price. The city fee schedule is a permit fee, not a bid. Starting in 2026, replacing a boiler or forced-air furnace in an existing one- or two-family home is a flat $151 per furnace or boiler. A replacement that includes additional ductwork or piping is $201. ComfortSystems lists a $200 rebate for a furnace rated 90% AFUE or better, after installation, for its gas customers. HomeAdvisor, updated June 20, 2026, says furnace repair costs average $318, with a normal range of $133 to $505, and a wider range of $64 to $1,475. Those figures are national, not a bid.

Permits and registration

The Duluth fee page says work without a permit draws a double permit fee. The city's HVAC page says heating appliances such as a furnace or boiler need an HVAC permit, and that a one- or two-family application can be filed by the homeowner or by a mechanical contractor with a bond registered at the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Commercial HVAC permits on that page are a different track. The $151 and $201 figures above are the 2026 flat fees for one- and two-family furnace or boiler work, not a repair quote.

Climate

NOAA's 1991-2020 annual normals for station USW00014913 list 9,115.4 heating degree days and 254.9 cooling degree days. The station file names that ID as DULUTH, Minnesota. The January normal daily minimum at the same station is 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Those are climate normals, not a forecast for this winter. If the heat is out in that cold, the pipe steps are the ones on the National Weather Service sheet.

About Duluth

The Census Bureau's July 1, 2024 population estimate for Duluth city, Minnesota, in the Vintage 2024 city totals file, is 87,986. ComfortSystems says it does not install replacement furnaces. It inspects a new furnace and can credit a rebate to the service account ending in -S. The rebate page lists 218-730-4050 for appliance repair. That number is the office and after-hours appointment line. It is not the gas emergency number. The ComfortSystems FAQ says that if a natural gas furnace is out, or you smell gas after hours, call 218-730-4100. Leave the building first. Do not use a phone, a switch, a match, or a car while still inside. The city's natural gas page lists 218-730-4100 as the 24-hour natural gas emergency number.

Sources