Calculators / Heating and cooling
What does a new heat pump, AC or furnace cost installed?
Pick the equipment, its size and efficiency. You get NREL's low, typical and high installed price, and whether yours is old enough to replace.
Updated · How we check our numbers
Installed cost
$6,250 to $7,550
A 3-ton, 15 SEER2 heat pump, replacing an old one: about $6,850 in the middle of NREL's range.
- Low
- $6,250
- Typical
- $6,850
- High
- $7,550
- Average life
- 15.6 yearsNREL
Estimate for planning only, not professional advice. Check the manufacturer’s instructions, your local code and a licensed professional before you buy, build or install. Use at your own risk. Terms.
What it saves to runSEER2 savings in your state
old rating = 15 SEER2 ÷ 0.95 = 15.8 SEER
equipment = 817.051429 × 3 + 402.025714 × 15.8 − 4722 (mid)
installed = equipment + 2749 retrofit labor = $6,850
NREL's equipment price for this size and efficiency plus its average retrofit installation cost of $2,750. It doesn't include new ductwork, an electrical upgrade, permits or rebates, and local labor rates vary a lot.
NREL's figures are in 2023 dollars. Get three quotes; this tells you whether they're in a sensible range.
ENERGY STAR suggests replacing a heat pump older than 10 years, especially if it needs repairs often or bills are climbing. NREL puts average life at 15.6 years.
How we work it out
installed = NREL equipment price for that size and efficiency + NREL's average retrofit installation cost
NREL's National Residential Efficiency Measures Database fits equipment prices to size and efficiency at the low, middle and high end of the market, then adds an average installation cost for replacing an existing system ($2,749 for a heat pump, $2,310 for central AC, $2,218 for a gas furnace), in 2023 dollars. Its data uses the old SEER rating, so we divide SEER2 by 0.95 first.
ENERGY STAR suggests replacing a heat pump or air conditioner more than 10 years old, or a furnace more than 15. NREL puts average lifetimes at 15.6 years for heat pumps, 22.3 for central AC and 21.4 for gas furnaces.
Where the numbers come from
Heating and cooling
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