Central Air Installation & Replacement Cost Calculator accurately estimates the total cost to install central air in your home based on the information you provide.

Estimate the size in BTUs and cost of installing / replacing a Central AC or Central Heat Pump (with optional heating furnace) in Ohio, base on the square footage of your home, heat load and SEER efficiency of your new HVAC system.

HVAC prices used in this calculator have been updated for 2024, and reflect recent price increases in materials and labor.

Calculate Central Air Prices in OH

How To Use AC Installation Cost Calculator

To get accurate cost, you will need to enter/select:

A) Total area of the conditioned space in your home
B) The type of HVAC system you would like to have installed (Central AC or Central Heat Pump, with or without a Furnace)
C) SEER efficiency rating
C1) Furnace AFUE efficiency (if selected)
D) Project type – retrofit or new construction
E) Home insulation level
F) Duct options

Final setting is a climate region / zone, which in most cases will be detected based on your geographic location. You can refer to Climate Region Map at the bottom of this page to verify the correct zone is selected. However, in most cases this is not needed.

Select your climate region (zone) based on map below. Your Central AC size is calculated based on heat loss/gain in the state where you live, and can vary by as much as 25% from zone 1 to zone 5. Therefore it is important to select proper climate zone for accurate calculation.

Results

You will receive a range of job costs – Low End, Mid Range and High End, as well as Air Conditioner tonnage (size in BTUs), and type of system that best fits your project, based on our proprietary HVAC sizing algorithm.

Why 18+ SEER air conditioners are better (than 14 SEER)?

Average Central AC for a 2000 sq. ft. home, costs around $6,960 for a 18 SEER model, and $5,250 for a 14 SEER model. Main difference between lower and higher SEER ratings, is how much you will be paying for electricity.

The higher the SEER, the less you spend on electricity. In 2023, this is as important as aver, since average electric cost in US has gone up 20-30% during last 12 months, due to inflation and increasing energy costs.

FIY: In the state of Ohio, where electricity costs $0.157 / kWh, it would cost $1,119 to run your 14 SEER central AC for a whole year. A more efficient 18 SEER central AC would cost $906 per year.

The saving from upgrading to a higher efficiency system would be $212 per year, and it will take just 7.2 years to recoup the extra upfron cost.

Heat Pump or Central AC – which is better for you?

Realistically, there is no benefit of going with a central heat pump UNLESS all 3 conditions below are met:

1) You live in a very warm state, where it rarely gets to freezing or below – Climate Zone 4 or 5
2) Your electricity is very cheap – below $0.15 per kWh
3) You plan to use your heat pump for heating.

In all other instances, installing a heat pump is a waste of money, as you can see in our https://www.hvaccalc.org/choosing-heat-pump-ductless-vs-central/, which explains why Central Heat Pumps are not made for heating your home.