Is my HVAC quote too high?
It is the first thing everyone searches, and it is slightly the wrong question. Nobody — not us, not a national-average article — can tell you whether $12,400 is too much for your house, because the number depends on your ductwork, your electrical service, your access, your equipment tier and your local labour rate. What you can do is find out whether your quotes are describing the same job, and whether anyone did the work of sizing the system.
Why two quotes for "the same" system differ by thousands
Almost always for one of these reasons, and almost never because one contractor is simply greedier:
- Different capacity. A 3-ton and a 4-ton system are not the same product. If your quotes disagree on size, they are not comparable until you know which is right.
- Different efficiency tier. A 13.4 SEER2 single-stage and an 18 SEER2 variable-speed unit are separated by thousands of dollars of equipment before anyone picks up a tool.
- Different scope. One quote includes a new line set, a pad, a disconnect, duct modifications and the permit. Another quotes "equipment and install" and the rest arrives as change orders.
- Different warranty. Ten years parts and labour is a materially different product from five years parts only.
- Different company. A firm with dispatchers, trucks and a 24-hour line costs more to run than two people in a van. Both can do good work.
Settle the size before you compare the price
It is tempting to divide each quote by its capacity and compare dollars per ton. Resist it when the capacities differ. A larger system almost always looks cheaper per ton — that is arithmetic, not value — so the metric quietly argues for buying the bigger one, which is the exact mistake DOE says oversizing already causes.
Worked example. Quote A is $9,800 for 3 tons; Quote B is $14,700 for 4 tons. Per ton that is $3,267 against $3,675, which makes B look only 12% dearer rather than 50%. But you are not choosing between two prices for the same thing — you are choosing between two different systems, and nobody has told you which one your house needs. That is the question to answer first. Our report withholds the per-ton figure entirely when capacities differ, for this reason.
The four things worth checking
- Did anyone calculate the load? The Department of Energy is direct about this: the common estimate of one ton per 400 to 500 square feet "fails to take into account local climate and the efficiency of a house", and your contractor "should use the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Manual J to calculate the proper size of HVAC equipment." An oversized system costs more up front, short-cycles, and dehumidifies badly.
- Does the efficiency meet the federal minimum for that equipment? The floor depends on the product class, the capacity, and — for air conditioners since 2023 — the region. A split heat pump and a packaged heat pump have different floors. A figure below the applicable one is usually a typo on the quote, but occasionally it is equipment that cannot lawfully be installed new (10 CFR 430.32).
- Are the model numbers on the quote? Without them you cannot verify the efficiency rating, the warranty, or that what gets installed is what you agreed to buy.
- Is the permit in the price? Replacement usually requires one. An unpermitted install can surface years later at resale or on an insurance claim.
What we do, and what we deliberately don't
Enter your quotes and we do the arithmetic above, check each row's efficiency against the federal floor for the class you select, fire the red-flag rules, and hand you a one-page sheet of questions built from what your own quotes were missing. $49.
We do not tell you what size system you need. That requires a Manual J, which requires someone in your house measuring windows, insulation and duct runs. Any website that gives you a tonnage from a square footage is doing the exact thing DOE warns produces oversized systems. Our report prints your square-feet-per-ton alongside DOE's two published figures and says, in terms, that a ratio inside them is not reassurance and a ratio outside them is not a problem. Only a load calculation answers it.
Informational only. Not a load calculation, not an engineering report, and not a substitute for a Manual J.