How Much Does HVAC Repair Cost?
HVAC repairs and maintenance are incredibly important to ensure your system is running perfectly. The cost can be as low as $89. Here’s what you need to know.
HVAC REPAIR COST GUIDE
The average residential HVAC system is going to last you between 15 and 25 years. You shouldn’t have to worry about doing HVAC replacement any sooner than that.
You will, however, need to be ready to take on HVAC repairs from time to time. These repairs will keep your HVAC system up and running and reduce your chances of having to replace it ahead of schedule.
So, how much will HVAC repair cost you? Well, your repair costs will depend on a variety of different factors, including everything from your specific HVAC problem to the HVAC company you hire to fix it.
But you should be able to get a general idea of what furnace and AC repairs will cost you. Continue reading to see what you can expect to spend on repairs for your HVAC system.
How Much Does It Cost to Repair an HVAC Unit?
As we just alluded to, it can be tricky trying to nail down an exact cost for HVAC repair. The price that you’ll be asked to pay for HVAC repairs will be based on:
- The particular problem that you’re having with your home’s heating and cooling system
- The parts needed to make HVAC repairs to your system
- The HVAC company you contact for HVAC repair services
- The amount of time it takes an HVAC company to repair your system
- The additional issues that an HVAC technician might discover with your system
The average cost for furnace repairs will usually come in at around $270, while the average cost for air conditioning repairs will sit at right around $320. But you could be looking at spending a little less or a lot more than that, depending on the situation with your HVAC system.
How Much Do the Most Common HVAC Repairs Cost?
There are dozens of different parts that make up the average HVAC system. But there are certain ones that will break down on you more often than others and need to be either repaired or replaced.
To give you a better sense of what HVAC repair services will cost you, we’ve compiled a list of the most common HVAC repairs and the repair costs that will often come along with each of them.
You should familiarize yourself with these HVAC repairs and consider what they will likely cost you so that you know what to expect from an HVAC company. You should also look into getting quotes for HVAC repairs as soon as you can.
Furnace Blower Motor Repair
The blower motor that is situated inside your furnace plays a very important role in the distribution of warm air throughout your home when you have your HVAC system running. It forces warm air into your home’s ductwork so that it can be circulated to all the different parts of your house.
If your furnace’s blower motor isn’t working properly, your furnace isn’t going to be able to produce enough warm air to heat your home up. You will likely need to spend anywhere from $150 to $700 to have it either repaired or replaced.
Furnace Flame Sensor Repair
Regardless of whether your home’s HVAC system is running or not, there is always a small flame on the inside of your furnace that is used to ignite it. There is also a flame sensor in your furnace that monitors this flame and keeps it going.
If you have a bad flame sensor on your hands, it can prevent your furnace from turning on when you need it to. You will need to either have it repaired for a little less than $100 or have it replaced for upwards of $250.
Furnace Circuit Board Repair
Just like the circuit board in almost anything else, the circuit board in a furnace is responsible for controlling everything in it. It regulates how much power is being sent to the various components in your furnace at any given time.
It’ll be impossible to turn your furnace on and keep it on if your circuit board has gone bad. You will need to have it repaired for about $50 on the lower end of the spectrum or replace it for somewhere between $300 and $600 in most cases.
Furnace Damper Motor Repair
The damper in your home’s furnace helps to control how much air passes through your HVAC system before being sent out into your home. It has a motor that can go bad and make it difficult for your furnace to produce the right amount of warm air for your house.
When a damper motor goes bad, it will more often than not need to be replaced. You will be looking at spending anywhere from just under $100 to a little over $300 to have a new damper motor installed in your furnace.
Furnace Heat Exchanger Repair
Lots of different parts within your HVAC system work together to deliver warm air throughout your house. But it’s the heat exchanger that’s in charge of using metal coils to actually warm up the air that passes through your HVAC system.
Replacing a furnace’s heat exchanger is one of the most expensive HVAC repairs. You may have to spend anywhere from $1,000 all the way up to $3,000 to put a new heat exchanger in place in your furnace.
AC Compressor Repair
While a heat exchanger is arguably the most important component in a furnace, a compressor is widely considered to be the “heart” of an air conditioning system. It helps to remove heat and humidity from your home while also compressing the refrigerant that is used to produce cool air for your house.
Because of the importance of an AC compressor, it’s one of the more expensive HVAC repairs. It can cost between $1,300 and $2,500 to remove an old compressor and install a new one in its place.
AC Fan Motor Repair
An AC fan motor has two important jobs within your home’s air conditioning system. It’s responsible for blowing cold air throughout your home when your AC is running. It’s also responsible for pushing warm air from your home outside.
If your AC fan motor ever stops working, it can cost between $200 and $700 to replace it.
AC Condenser Coil Repair
The condenser coil for an AC system is located on the outside of a home. It’s the part of an AC system that helps to take heat and humidity from a house and move it outside to make room for cooler air.
When an AC condenser stops performing in the way it’s supposed to, it will typically need to be removed and replaced. This can cost anywhere from just under $1,000 to around $2,300 in some cases.
AC Evaporator Coil Repair
In order to get the heat and humidity from your home out to your AC condenser coil, you’ll need to rely on an AC evaporator coil on the inside of your house. When it’s working properly, it will absorb heat and humidity and transmit it to the outside portion of your AC system.
Replacing an evaporator coil will cost almost the same amount that replacing an AC condenser coil does. But you might also be able to repair an evaporator coil for as little as $200 or as much as $1,500.
AC Freon Recharge Repair
Freon is the refrigerant that’s used in a home’s AC system to both produce cool air for it and remove heat from it. It will need to be recharged every so often to ensure there is enough of it in an HVAC system.
An AC freon recharge will often cost you between $100 and $600, depending on how much freon your system needs.
Thermostat Repair
You will control your home’s entire HVAC system with one thermostat. If something ever goes wrong with this thermostat, it could prevent you from using your HVAC system to heat or cool your home.
Replacing a thermostat can cost anywhere from $25 to several hundred dollars. It’ll depend on if you go with a very basic model or a more advanced smart thermostat.
How Much Does HVAC Maintenance Cost?
If you have had the same HVAC system in your home for a long enough time, you will eventually need to have at least a few HVAC repairs done. But you should be able to limit how often you’ll need to repair your HVAC system by scheduling HVAC maintenance on a regular basis.
Maintaining a furnace or an air conditioning system will cost you between $75 and $200, depending on what an HVAC company needs to do during your tune-up.
How Often Should I Have My HVAC Unit Maintained?
Generally speaking, most HVAC experts will tell you that you should have your HVAC system maintained at least once each year. It’ll allow an HVAC company to sneak a peek at your HVAC system to see if there are any issues you should be concerned about.
But in a perfect world, you should attempt to do HVAC maintenance twice each year. It would be great if you could have your furnace looked at right before the winter begins and your air conditioning looked at right before the summer begins.
When you stick to this schedule when maintaining your HVAC system, it’ll ensure that it’s all ready to go throughout the year. You shouldn’t have to be too worried about your furnace or AC breaking down on you at the worst possible time when you maintain it as best you can.
What Is Included in HVAC Maintenance?
When you call on an HVAC company to perform HVAC maintenance for you, they will come out to your home and take a number of steps. These steps will allow them to evaluate every aspect of your HVAC system and make sure everything is operating according to plan.
Here are the steps HVAC companies will take when they’re servicing your HVAC system:
- Vacuuming dirt, dust, and other debris out of the inside of an HVAC system
- Cleaning coils, drains, and other components found in an HVAC system
- Inspecting the functionality of a thermostat, the motors in an HVAC system, and all of the various connections in an HVAC system
- Lubricating all of the moving parts in an HVAC system
- Testing out the safety controls found in an HVAC system
After HVAC maintenance has been performed, an HVAC technician will be able to suggest any repairs you might want to consider making. They will also provide you with additional information about the overall health of your home’s HVAC system.
How to Diagnose Common HVAC Problems
If you ever suspect something might be wrong with your home’s HVAC system, you should try to diagnose the issue. You can run through these steps to see if any of them seem to solve the problem you’re having:
- Check the breakers in your home’s electrical panel to make sure your HVAC system has power
- Tinker with your thermostat to see if it’s not connecting to your HVAC system like it should
- Replace the filter in your HVAC system to find out if that could be causing complications
- Contact an HVAC company to come and figure out what is wrong with your HVAC system
Whatever you do, don’t continue to use an HVAC system when it’s in need of HVAC repair. This could further complicate things and leave you with even bigger HVAC problems that will need to be dealt with accordingly.
Schedule an HVAC Repair
If your home’s furnace and/or air conditioning aren’t working right now, you should look for an HVAC company that can fix the problem you’re having. Your total HVAC repair cost will be based largely on what this company is able to find after inspecting your HVAC system and offering up a diagnosis.
You can then get to work on making the necessary HVAC repairs to your system. You can also begin to make HVAC maintenance a bigger priority so that you’re able to avoid encountering additional HVAC repairs in the future.
Check out the rest of our site to learn more about HVAC repair and HVAC replacement.