After the Denver Metro's Hottest July on Record, Founders Village's Original Furnaces Face Their First Real Test

Sep 20, 2026

Alpha Air Heating & Cooling warns that the blower motors which ran nearly nonstop through 28 days of 90-degree heat are the same ones about to fire up furnaces built in the late 1990s, with a record El Niño forecast to peak before the holidays.

Castle Rock, Colorado Sep 19, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - The summer that just ended was historic, and Alpha Air Heating & Cooling, a technician-owned residential HVAC company serving Castle Rock and Douglas County, is warning that the strain it put on home cooling systems does not end when the air conditioning shuts off. In neighborhoods like Founders Village, where much of the housing stock dates to the late 1990s and early 2000s, the company says the furnaces about to start up for the season are original equipment that just endured its hardest summer, and that had an unusually easy winter the year before.

The numbers were not close. July 2026 was the second-hottest July in Denver history and set a new record for the most 90-degree days, with 28 out of 31, beating the prior record of 27. Statewide, it was Colorado's second-hottest July in 132 years of record-keeping, and the Denver metro area recorded its hottest July ever. Castle Rock moved to Stage 2 drought restrictions in late July as the heat and dry conditions persisted.

For a split HVAC system, the summer and the winter share a critical part. The blower motor inside the furnace cabinet is what moves air for both the air conditioner and the furnace. Through July and August, that motor ran for hours at a stretch, day after day, on equipment that in many Founders Village homes is 22 to 29 years old. The furnace side of that same cabinet has not run since spring.

"People think of their AC and their furnace as two separate machines, but the blower that ran itself ragged all summer is the one your furnace depends on in October," said Kyle Myers, owner and lead technician at Alpha Air Heating & Cooling. "In a house built in 1999 with the original furnace, that motor has now been through more 90-degree days in one summer than it was ever designed to see. The furnace start-up is where that catches up with you. And last winter was the warmest on record in Colorado, so these systems didn't get tested then either. This fall is the first real test in two years."

Winter 2025-2026 was the warmest ever recorded in Colorado, with December through February running well above the 20th-century average. That mild winter allowed aging furnaces to coast through a season that would normally expose weak igniters, worn heat exchangers, and failing blower motors.

This winter is forecast to be different, at least in timing. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center reports El Niño is strengthening, with a greater than 90 percent chance of a very strong event this fall and winter, and its September update puts a 75% chance on this being the strongest El Niño since records began in 1950, peaking in the October-to-December window. Colorado forecasters caution that the state's winter remains hard to predict even in strong El Niño years. But on the Front Range, past El Niño winters have tended to bring a few large upslope snowstorms rather than steady cold, and those storms have historically been weighted toward fall and spring. The practical implication for homeowners is that the first hard demand on a furnace may come in October or November rather than January.

Alpha Air recommends that homeowners with furnaces in the 20-year-and-older range schedule an inspection before the first sustained cold rather than waiting for the system to fail. A pre-season inspection checks the blower motor and capacitor, the igniter, the flame sensor, and the heat exchanger. Heat exchanger cracks are the most serious concern in older furnaces, since they can allow carbon monoxide into the home's air supply, and they are more likely in equipment that has cycled through decades of heating and cooling stress.

The company adds one supporting consideration for homeowners already weighing repair against replacement on the cooling side. Under the federal AIM Act, manufacturers stopped producing new residential HVAC equipment that uses R-410A refrigerant as of January 1, 2025. Existing R-410A systems can still be serviced, but refrigerant costs have been rising as supply tightens. For a household with a 25-year-old furnace paired with an aging R-410A air conditioner, the two decisions often make more sense evaluated together.

"I'm not telling anyone to replace a furnace that's working," Myers said. "I'm telling them that a furnace built before 2001 that just survived the hottest summer on record deserves a look before the first snow. If it's fine, you've spent an hour and you know. If it's not, you found out in September instead of in a cold house in November."

Alpha Air Heating & Cooling was established in 2022 by Myers after nearly a decade in the trade. He holds NATE certifications in gas heating service and installation and air conditioning service and installation, universal EPA certification, and an F-29 master mechanical license. The company provides furnace repair and installation, air conditioning repair and installation, and ductless mini-split services across Castle Rock, Castle Pines, Highlands Ranch, Parker, and Lone Tree.

Douglas County homeowners who want a pre-season furnace inspection or have questions about an aging system can contact Alpha Air Heating & Cooling at (720) 284-9566 or visit alphaairco.com.

About Alpha Air Heating & Cooling
Alpha Air Heating & Cooling is a technician-owned residential heating and cooling company serving Castle Rock and surrounding Douglas County communities. Founded in 2022, the company provides furnace and air conditioning repair and installation along with ductless mini-split services.

Contact:
Alpha Air Heating & Cooling
Castle Rock, CO
(720) 284-9566
https://alphaairco.com/