Heat pump replacement in Hamilton.
Heat pump replacement in Hamilton runs $8,499 to $21,650 installed. Half the owner homes in 20158 run on electric heat, and that mostly means heat pumps.
- The installed range, published
- Sized to the house, not the old label
- Dedicated HVAC team
Get your heat pump priced
A Hamilton heat pump defrosts its way through six months of freezing nights.
The Census counts 665 of the ZIP’s 1,298 owner homes heating with electricity, and in a house built here from the 1970s on, that most often means a heat pump outside with resistance strips in the air handler. In many of the 373 propane homes a heat pump stands in front of the furnace, calling on it only when the cold gets serious. Either way, the outdoor unit works all twelve months.
The Purcellville weather station, 2.6 miles west-northwest of town, puts the median first freeze on October 25 and the last on April 16, with close to 115 nights at or below 32 degrees between. On those nights frost builds on the outdoor coil and the heat pump reverses for a few minutes to melt it. One that stops defrosting and ices solid usually has a failing sensor, board or refrigerant charge, and past fifteen winters that repair often tips it to replacement.
Then the deep cold: about five nights a year at 10 degrees or below at that station, and a subzero night every other year. It logged 5 below on its February 24, 2015 reading, its lowest since 2000, and on January 23, 2025, a station in Hamilton read the same, unofficially. A current variable-speed heat pump keeps heating well into the teens; below that, the strips or the propane furnace carry part of the load.
Big snows decide where the outdoor unit sits. A spotter measured 18 inches in Hamilton in the December 2009 storm, and in February 2010 the Purcellville station had 39 inches on the ground and Loudoun County had outages throughout. A raised stand keeps the coil above drifts. In an all-electric house an outage takes the heat pump and the strips together, so size any generator before choosing the system.
Hamilton 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.
Hamilton
ZIP 20158 as a whole: every Hamilton address, the Town and the countryside around it. The Census place for the Town alone has too few homes for steady figures.
- Median home built1988 Census
- Built before 1980about 4 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 4 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 9 in 10 Census
- Heated withelectricity, about 5 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 2 in 10 Census
- Electric heat this common mostly means heat pumps, so the usual job here is a heat pump and air handler for the old pair.
- Propane is common here; a heat pump beside a propane furnace carries the mild days and saves the tank for the cold ones.
What heat pump replacement costs in Hamilton.
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 Hamilton is worth replacing.
The strips run more each winter
If the auxiliary heat light stays on for hours and the vents blow warm only while it’s lit, the strips are doing the heat pump’s work. That’s often low refrigerant or a weak compressor, and a $99 diagnostic visit tells you which.
Aux heat is on all day
When the heat pump can’t keep up, the electric strips take over, and they cost far more to run. Aux heat on for hours is the sign.
It’s the one the builder put in
A heat pump from a 2000s house that’s still original has run every summer and winter since. Once repairs start, price the replacement before the next one.
How to pick the best heat pump installer in Hamilton.
Questions to ask anybody who quotes you, us included.
Did they tell you the balance point?
That’s the outdoor temperature where the heat pump alone stops keeping up and the backup joins in. It should come from a load calculation on your house, and the quote should name it and what covers the house below it.
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.
Ndung and Oscar were great. Everything went smoothly, and after the install they made sure to show me everything I needed to know about the new unit.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Heat pump replacement questions from Hamilton.
Will a heat pump keep a Hamilton house warm on its own?
Most of the winter, yes. The Purcellville station’s January low averages 24.5 degrees, and a properly sized current heat pump heats well at that. On the few nights near or below 10 the backup helps, and where the house already has propane, that furnace is a common backup.
What should I do with the heat pump after a big snow?
Brush the snow off the top and away from the sides, never a shovel blade against the fins. If it’s iced solid or grinding, switch the thermostat to emergency heat and call us to look at it before it runs again.
How much does heat pump replacement cost in Hamilton?
$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 Hamilton.
More from SwiftPro in Hamilton
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 Hamilton 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.