Heating & Cooling costs

Furnace, heat pump and air conditioning costs, from a tune-up to a full system replacement.

• Blower motor replacement cost$400 to $1,800per eachA blower motor costs $400 to $1,100 for a standard PSC and $600 to $1,800 for a variable-speed ECM. A blower that will not start is the motor about a third of the time and a capacitor or board the rest.
• HVAC cost by house size$6,500 to $20,000per projectA full changeout runs about $9,600 in a 1,100 square foot house and about $12,400 in a 2,800 square foot one. The house more than doubles; the bill goes up by less than a third, because most of what you pay for is the crew and the day.
• HVAC replacement cost by state$6,500 to $22,000per projectThe same system costs $9,350 in Arkansas and $12,850 in Illinois. Equipment ships nationally and costs much the same everywhere; the two technicians who spend a day fitting it do not.
• Furnace repair cost$150 to $3,500per projectMost furnace repairs cost $150 to $700. The failures that stop a furnace are usually cheap and predictable. The one that ends the conversation is a cracked heat exchanger, and that is a replacement.
• Heat pump repair cost$180 to $4,000per projectMost heat pump repairs cost $180 to $900. A heat pump fails in every way an air conditioner does, plus two of its own: the reversing valve and the defrost control. Both often show up as a bill rather than a breakdown.
• AC refrigerant recharge cost$250 to $2,000per projectA recharge costs $250 to $750 on R-410A and $600 to $2,000 on older R-22. But an air conditioner does not consume refrigerant. If yours is low, it is leaking, and refilling it is buying the same gas twice.
• Emergency HVAC repair cost$250 to $1,500per projectAn after-hours call costs $250 to $1,500 against $150 to $700 for the same work on a Tuesday morning. The parts cost the same. The useful question is whether tonight is actually an emergency.
• AC compressor replacement cost$1,500 to $4,000per eachA compressor costs $1,500 to $3,500 out of warranty and $600 to $1,400 if the part is still covered. It is the most expensive component in the system, and past twelve years the money usually belongs in a replacement.
• Evaporator coil replacement cost$900 to $2,800per eachAn evaporator coil costs $900 to $2,800, or $600 to $1,300 if the part is under warranty. Coils built between about 2005 and 2015 fail from formicary corrosion more often than they should, and many fail inside the warranty.
• Thermostat installation cost$150 to $600per eachA thermostat costs $150 to $500 installed, or $250 to $600 for a smart one. Two things turn a simple swap into an expensive job: a missing common wire and a heat pump.