Open the closet, look at the outside wall, read the label. Each of these looks different and prices differently, and each price is the span of what we’ve sold that system for, installed. If yours is an ordinary heat pump or furnace and AC, with the outdoor unit on a pad, it’s priced like a house: heat pump replacement.
MagicPak
One cabinet in a closet on an outside wall, with a metal louver on the outside of the building right behind it. There’s no outdoor unit anywhere: the heat (gas or electric), the AC and the blower all live in that one box.
- Replaced with us$8,500 to $13,400or $142/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
Where we see them: garden condos and mid-rises. Most of the MagicPaks we replace are in Alexandria and Falls Church.
How old is yours? The rating plate on the front panel dates it: the second pair of digits in the serial number is the year, so serial 8409C12345 was built in 2009. Source: MagicPak FAQs.
First Co through-the-wall system
Two pieces. A condenser set in a sleeve through the outside wall (you see its grille on the balcony or under a window), or sometimes up on the roof, and an air handler recessed into a hallway wall or a closet behind a panel or a louvered door. Look for First Co on the air handler’s label.
- Replaced with us$7,900 to $12,500or $132/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
Where we see them: garden condos and mid-rises in Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax and Reston. It’s the condo system we replace most.
Size: most are 1.5 to 3 tons, and 2 tons is the one we see most.
Hydro-air: heat from the water heater
An air handler with a hot water coil inside and two pipes running to it from your gas water heater. The water heater does both jobs, hot showers and the heat, and an outdoor AC does the cooling. First Co sells these as Aquatherm.
- Replaced with us$11,000 to $14,000or $183/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
Where we see them: townhouse-style and garden condos with a gas water heater in the HVAC closet. Ours have been in Woodbridge, Fairfax, Falls Church and Sterling.
Worth knowing: First Co says a water heater that also heats the home generally needs more gallons and a bigger burner than one that only feeds the taps. Source: First Co, Aquatherm.
Water source heat pump
A cabinet in a closet or above a ceiling panel with water pipes or braided hoses going into it, and no outdoor unit at all. It heats and cools by trading heat with a water loop the whole building shares.
- Replaced with us$9,100 to $10,300or $152/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
Where we see them: high-rises and mid-rises. More of ours in Arlington than anywhere.
Swapping one means the building closes the water to your unit for the day, so the date gets set with the management office.
PTAC: one room, one box
A single box under a window or low on an outside wall, with its controls on top and a grille outside. It heats and cools that one room and nothing else.
- Replaced with us, per unit$2,600 to $4,400or $43/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
Measure the sleeve: Replacement PTACs are made to fit the standard 42 by 16 inch wall sleeve, and an old outside grille can stay only if its airflow pattern suits the new unit. Source: GE Appliances, Zoneline buying tips.
Priced per unit. Two rooms means two units.
Fan coil or air handler only
The cabinet in the closet or ceiling is the half that’s failing (a rusted drain pan, a tired blower, a leaking coil), and the outdoor unit or the building’s water is fine. Then only that half gets replaced.
- Replaced with us$4,500 to $5,100or $75/mo at 0% APR for 60 months
When it works: a hydronic fan coil on the building’s hot water is a clean swap on its own. Behind a refrigerant condenser, it only makes sense when the condenser is young enough and built for the same refrigerant as the new air handler.
Monthly figures: 60mo @ 0% APR on each starting price, the whole price financed, on approved credit. Longer plans lower the payment and cost more in total. The lender sets the final terms. How financing works
