HVAC Replacement Cost Calculator (2026)
Heating & Cooling typically costs between $9,525 and $15,082 for a central AC + gas furnace replacement - the most common HVAC swap, sized to your home. Answer a few questions below for a number specific to your home and ZIP code.
Last updated 2026-08-02
These are estimates, not quotes.How we calculate this
How we calculate this
This is a cart, not a single product choice - select whichever equipment you're replacing (central AC, furnace, water heater, mini-split, boiler work, and more) and your estimate sums the real, independently-priced cost of each one. A combined central AC + furnace swap is priced as its own sourced category, not a sum of separate AC and furnace line items.
For AC/furnace equipment, tonnage scales with your home's square footage. Your ZIP code then applies a real regional cost factor to material and labor rates, not a generic "low, average, or high cost area" bucket.
Our pricing is built from a licensed national costbook (unit costs for materials and labor, priced line by line) plus real regional cost indices - not a market survey, and not a substitute for a contractor’s own quote.
These are estimates, not quotes.How we calculate this
What drives the cost
Equipment selected
$1,958–$15,082
The single biggest driver: a water heater and a full AC + furnace swap are entirely different jobs, not points on one quality scale. See the cards above for every real equipment type this covers.
System size (home square footage)
$9,525–$15,082
Within the same central AC + furnace swap, tonnage scales with home size - a 2-ton system (smaller home) vs. a 5-ton system (larger home) is a real, computed spread, not a guess.
Ductwork condition
Whether your existing ductwork needs repair or full replacement is a real cost driver, but a home's duct layout doesn't reduce to a formula the way roof area does - we don't have duct-run-count data to derive a dollar figure from. Ask your contractor to inspect your ductwork and quote any repair or replacement separately.
Equipment efficiency (SEER/AFUE)
Higher-efficiency equipment (higher SEER for AC, higher AFUE for furnaces) generally costs more upfront in exchange for lower running costs - we don't have sourced pricing broken out by efficiency tier, so the figures above reflect one representative unit per equipment type, not a menu of efficiency levels. Ask your contractor what efficiency rating they're quoting.
Single system vs. full replacement
$14,261–$15,082
Replacing just the air conditioner costs less than a combined AC + furnace swap - see the equipment cards above for every real component this covers on its own.
Local labor & permit costs
Enter your ZIP code above for real region-specific labor and material rates, not a generic "low, average, or high cost area" bucket. Permit fees are not included in this estimate - they're set by your local building department and vary too much to price generically, so ask your contractor who pulls the permit and whether its cost is in their quote.
Repair vs. replacement
Everything on this page prices a full system replacement. Repair costs depend too much on the specific problem to price generically - a small patched leak and a large storm-damaged section can both be called “a repair,” and they cost nothing alike. If your system just needs a repair, say so in the questions ahead and your matched contractor will give you a real quote after taking a look, at no cost to you.
Questions to ask a contractor
Worth asking before you hire anyone for heating & cooling work.
Heating & Cooling FAQs
Sources & methodology
Pricing data: Craftsman Book Co., 2026 National Home Improvement Estimator (computed from unit costs, not a market survey) · Updated 2026-08-02.
See our full methodology for how we build and localize these numbers.