Boiler repair and replacement in Alexandria.
In Alexandria, a boiler tune-up is $69 and a new one runs $9,900 to $16,500 installed, mostly in the City’s pre-1980 homes.
Price range
$9,900-$16,500
8yrs @ 7.99%
$140/mo
15yrs @ 9.99%
$106/mo
Monthly figures on the starting price, the whole price financed, on approved credit. The lender sets the final terms. How financing works
Book your boiler visit
- Hot water boilers, gas and propane
- Navien, Weil-McLain and Force
- Heating and plumbing teams
Boilers live in the City’s older rowhouses, not on the county side.
The City of Alexandria is where our boiler work happens. Its median owner home went up in 1970, and about six in ten of those homes were built before 1980. Those houses usually heat with radiators or baseboard. On the Fairfax County side, the median home is from 1986, and boilers are rare. We still service them in Kingstowne or Franconia if you have one, but most county addresses use forced air furnaces or heat pumps.
Inside the City, more than half the homes are in apartment or condo buildings. In those, the boiler is often a shared building asset, not yours. But in the detached homes and townhouses, especially in Old Town or the Parker-Gray area, the boiler is likely in a basement or a tight utility closet. Space is tight there. A wall-hung condensing boiler or combi unit fits better in those spots than a large floor-standing cast iron unit, freeing up floor space for storage or access.
Venting matters in the City. Trade a cast iron boiler for a condensing one and the vent moves from the chimney to a white plastic pipe through the wall. In Old Town, the Board of Architectural Review only reviews changes you can see from a public street or alley. A vent under a cubic foot, painted to match the wall, can usually get staff approval, and anything bigger or more visible goes to the Board. Houses in Parker-Gray follow their own residential guide. A cast iron replacement stays on the chimney, which skips that question, but the chimney has to be sound and may need a liner.
The City’s water comes from Virginia American Water, with hardness ranging from 78 to 191 ppm. That is moderate to hard. In a hot water boiler loop, the water is closed and filled once, so hardness does not scale the heat exchanger the way it does in an open system. The bigger issue is the expansion tank. If it loses its air charge, the pressure climbs, and the relief valve drips. That is a common repair in the City’s older radiator systems, and the $99 diagnostic identifies it before you replace the boiler.
Where the boilers are across Alexandria.
Census figures for the owner-occupied homes in each place, and what a boiler call there usually meets.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | What a boiler call usually meets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Alexandria | 1970 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Condo buildings: a central boiler is usually the association’s. |
| Rose Hill | 1969 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Older houses, where cast iron boilers and radiators still turn up. |
| Franconia | 1986 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly heat pumps; a boiler is the exception. |
| Fort Hunt | 1963 | single-family houses, nearly all | gas, about 8 in 10 | Older houses, where cast iron boilers and radiators still turn up. |
| Kingstowne | 1994 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | 1980s and 90s houses, mostly forced air; boilers in the older ones. |
| Woodlawn | 1976 | townhouses, about 4 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly heat pumps; a boiler is the exception. |
| Lincolnia | 1982 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | 1980s and 90s houses, mostly forced air; boilers in the older ones. |
| Mount Vernon | 1967 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Older houses, where cast iron boilers and radiators still turn up. |
Alexandria houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
The City of Alexandria
- Median home built1970 Census
- Built before 1980about 6 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes arecondo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 6 in 10 Census
- Houses this age are where the boilers are: cast iron, often venting up a chimney shared with the water heater. When one gets replaced, the chimney may need a liner, and that goes in the written price.
- In condo buildings the boiler in the basement usually belongs to the association, not you. Check your documents; if your unit’s heat is yours, book it like any house.
The Fairfax County side
- Built before 1980about 5 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 1 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 in 10 Census
- Most homes here heat with gas, so a boiler tune-up here starts with the gas pressure and the flame.
What boiler repair and replacement cost in Alexandria.
A new boiler runs $9,900 to $16,500 installed, the range of our own boiler replacements; a condensing or combi boiler lands at $12,782 to $16,500. A tune-up is $69 a system, regularly $99.
- High-efficiency condensing boiler or combi boiler, installed$12,782 to $16,50060mo @ 0% $213/mo
- Cast iron boiler on the chimney, replaced like for like, installed$9,900 to $13,69060mo @ 0% $165/mo
- Boiler tune-up, one system$69, regularly $99
- Boiler repair diagnostic visit$99
A repair starts with the $99 diagnostic. If the fix is a circulator pump, a valve or an expansion tank, you get that price in writing before we start, and you decide.
Want a closer number before anyone comes out? The boiler estimator asks a few questions about yours and shows the range for that job.
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
What your boiler is telling you in Alexandria.
The pressure gauge climbs while the boiler runs
That usually means the expansion tank has lost its air charge, so pressure builds with every heat cycle. In a City rowhouse, that is a repair, not a replacement. Fixing it in the fall prevents the valve from sticking or failing in January.
What the county says about boilers in Alexandria.
City of Alexandria
The City of Alexandria follows the state rule: replacing a gas or oil appliance takes a permit, and a like-for-like electric water heater, air conditioner or heat pump in a house does not. Source.
Fairfax County
Fairfax County requires a permit to replace any gas appliance, even like for like: a gas water heater, furnace or boiler. Replacing a fuel-burning appliance also needs a chimney vent certification. Source.
Fairfax County lists replacing a heating or cooling system as mechanical permit work. Source.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue names a faulty gas furnace or water heater as a carbon monoxide source, says to have gas appliances inspected every fall, and to put a CO alarm on every floor. Source.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue says to have the heating system cleaned and checked by a professional every year, and to keep anything that burns at least three feet from the furnace and the water heater. Source.
How to pick who works on your boiler in Alexandria.
Questions to ask anybody who quotes you, us included.
How do you test the pressure in a tight City closet?
Ask if they test the air charge in the expansion tank before quoting a new boiler. In the City’s older systems, a tired tank causes most of the pressure issues, and replacing it is a fraction of the cost of a new unit.
Can they handle both halves of it?
A hot water boiler is half heating system (the burner, gas valve, flue and controls) and half plumbing (the water loop, circulator pumps, expansion tank, relief valve and zone valves). We hold a Virginia Class A license and run separate heating and plumbing teams, so each half gets a tech who does that trade every day.
Does the quote say how it vents?
A new boiler can stay on the chimney or vent out the wall in plastic pipe. A good quote says which, and whether the chimney needs a liner, because that’s where two quotes for the same boiler usually split.
What our customers say.
Hard to find service like this in Alexandria.
…we had swift and professional responses for multiple plumbing and HVAC needs in our Rosemont Alexandria condo
…excellent service when my boiler needed to be replaced during the polar vortex. Alex Hittle came quickly, … and replaced my boiler quickly. Alex even managed to change their schedule, with the kind permission of their other customer so that I could have heat again in the freezing weather.
4.95 stars across 1,131 reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Boiler questions from Alexandria.
How fast can you get to a boiler in Alexandria?
Typically the same day or the next day, and we’ll tell you honestly when we can get there. That goes for the City and the Fairfax County side. Our shop isn’t in Alexandria, but we have someone working here nearly every weekday, so if another company told you next week, call and ask. No heat in freezing weather counts as an emergency, and we have 24/7 emergency service.
Is my Alexandria boiler too old to repair?
Age alone does not decide it. If the heat exchanger is leaking, it is a replacement. If it is the pump, valve, or expansion tank, it is a repair. The $99 diagnostic tells you which, and the price is written before we open the panel.
Do you work on steam or oil boilers?
No. We work on hot water boilers, the kind that heat radiators or baseboard, on natural gas or propane. If yours is steam or burns oil, we’ll tell you on the phone, and a switch to a heat pump or a gas or propane boiler is ours to price.
Boiler service in the towns next door.
- Boiler repair and replacement in Arlington
- Boiler repair and replacement in Springfield
- Boiler repair and replacement in Falls Church
- Boiler repair and replacement in Annandale
- Boiler repair and replacement in Fort Belvoir
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Get the boiler looked at before the cold week.
Call any time: we run 24/7 emergency service. Or book online and pick a window. A tune-up is $69, a repair starts with the $99 diagnostic, and a new boiler gets a written price before any work.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Alexandria and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 4.95 stars across 1,131 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook. 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.