Heat pump replacement in Great Falls.
Heat pump replacement in Great Falls runs $8,499 to $21,650 installed per system. About four in ten owner homes here heat with electricity.
- The installed range, published
- Sized to the house, not the old label
- Dedicated HVAC team
Get your heat pump priced
Four in ten Great Falls homes heat with electricity, often on two heat pumps.
Electricity heats about 39 in 100 owner homes in Great Falls, by the Census count, a little more than the 35 in 100 across Fairfax County. Out here that usually means heat pumps, and in houses this size, often more than one: an outdoor unit for the lower floors and another for the bedrooms, each with its own air handler and its own bank of electric heat strips as backup. Replacing one doesn’t commit you to the other.
A heat pump runs winter and summer, so it wears out sooner than an air conditioner that only cools, and fifteen years or so is a fair run. Half the houses in 22066 went up in the 1970s and 80s, which puts the all-electric ones on their second outdoor unit at least, and many on their third. A worn one gives itself away on the coldest mornings: the house stays warm, but the thermostat shows aux heat on more and more.
In the other half of town the furnace burns natural gas or propane, and a heat pump can still earn its place. Set where the air conditioner sits, it cools all summer, heats through the mild part of winter, and hands off to the furnace when it gets properly cold. That’s dual fuel, and in a propane house it means the furnace, and the tank, only carry the coldest stretches. Our dual fuel guide explains how the handoff works and where it gets set.
Backup heat matters more in a big all-electric house. Each air handler carries strips rated in kilowatts, and with two systems in a 4,000 square foot house, they can lean hard on the electrical panel on a cold morning. A replacement is the time to check that the breaker and the wire feeding each air handler match the strips going in.
Great Falls houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise. A heat pump counts as electric heat.
Great Falls
- Median home built1986 Census
- Built before 1980about 4 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, nearly all Census
- Heated withgas, about 5 in 10 Census
- Rentedhardly any Census
- Bigger single-family houses often have a second system upstairs, priced on its own.
What heat pump replacement costs in Great Falls.
The same price book as our heating page and the HVAC estimator, for a heat pump and air handler, 2 to 5 ton.
- A heat pump system, outdoor unit and air handler, installed$8,499 to $21,650
- A gas furnace and air conditioner together, installed$8,898 to $23,000
- Diagnostic visit, when a repair may do$99
Might it be a repair? The diagnostic visit is $99, and the tech prices the repair and the replacement side by side. Financing is available, subject to approval.
With Comfort+ membership at $199 a year, the diagnostic visit is included, and half of each repair bill is banked toward replacing that system, up to $1,500.
When a heat pump in Great Falls is worth replacing.
Ice on the outdoor unit that never clears
A heat pump frosts over on cold, damp days and melts it off in defrost now and then; that’s normal. A coil that stays caked in ice is not. Under big trees, leaves packed into the base keep the meltwater from draining. The $99 diagnostic visit finds out whether it’s a defrost part or the end of the unit.
It’s past 15 years old
It heats all winter and cools all summer, so it piles up hours an air conditioner never sees. Past 15 years, price the replacement beside any big repair.
It still runs R-22
Most heat pumps installed before 2010 hold R-22, which hasn’t been made since 2020. A leak on one is usually where recharging stops making sense.
The paperwork behind a new heat pump in Great Falls.
How to pick the best heat pump installer in Great Falls.
Questions to ask anybody who quotes you, us included.
Did they price each heat pump on its own line?
In a two-system house the heat pumps are rarely the same age. Ask for a separate line for each, with its own size, so you can replace the one that’s finished and plan for the other.
Did they size it, or copy the old label?
Copying the old nameplate repeats whatever guess was made when the house was built. The wrong size runs worse in both seasons.
Is the air handler in the price?
A heat pump system is the outdoor unit plus the air handler inside. Ask whether the quote covers both, matched, in writing.
Who sets up the backup heat?
Set wrong, the electric strips run on mild days. Ask who programs the thermostat and at what outdoor temperature the strips may come on.
What our customers say.
Oscar and Ndung were great technicians for our HVAC install! Very knowledgeable and friendly. Would recommend them to others!
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Heat pump replacement questions from Great Falls.
We have a propane furnace. Can a heat pump work with it?
Yes. The heat pump takes the air conditioner’s place outside, a matching coil sits on the furnace, and the thermostat decides which of the two heats. We price that pairing at the visit, side by side with a full heat pump system and air handler, $8,499 to $21,650 installed.
How much does heat pump replacement cost in Great Falls?
$8,499 to $21,650 installed for a heat pump system, the outdoor unit and the air handler, 2 to 5 ton. A small single-stage system lands near the bottom, a big variable-speed one near the top. The HVAC estimator narrows it to your house.
Should I get a heat pump, or a furnace and air conditioner?
A heat pump system runs $8,499 to $21,650 installed; a gas furnace and air conditioner together, $8,898 to $23,000. No gas line usually means a heat pump. With gas, you can keep the furnace and add one; our heat pump vs gas furnace guide runs the numbers.
More from SwiftPro in Great Falls.
More from SwiftPro in Great Falls
See the range first, then your number.
Call, or book online and pick a window. The price is in writing before the old unit comes out, and if a repair makes more sense, you’ll hear that first.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Great Falls and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, 4230 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151, (703) 997-9757. Book online, read our reviews, or see every town we serve.