Furnace replacement in Alexandria.
Replacing just the furnace in Alexandria is $4,285 to $14,040 installed, and the AC stays. Hayfield, Fort Hunt and Rose Hill heat mostly with gas.
- Installed price in writing
- Sized to the house, not the old nameplate
- Dedicated HVAC team
Get your furnace priced in writing
Alexandria’s gas furnace corners, from Fort Hunt basements to Old Town rowhouses.
Gas heat isn’t spread evenly across an Alexandria address. Out in the county, Hayfield has close to nine in ten owner homes on gas and Fort Hunt about eight in ten, with Rose Hill, Groveton and Hybla Valley each near three in four. Inside the City it’s a bit under six in ten, and in Franconia and Woodlawn, where most owners heat with electricity, a furnace is the exception.
Keeping the air conditioner makes the most sense in the older corners. A Fort Hunt house from the early 1960s or a Belle Haven one from the 1950s usually keeps its furnace in the basement, while the condenser outside is often the part somebody already swapped in a hurry one July. Read the date on both labels. An air conditioner younger than ten or so, on R-410A or a newer refrigerant, is usually worth keeping; one still on R-22 is the case for pricing both at $8,898 to $23,000.
A high-efficiency furnace changes the outside of the house in one small way: its plastic vent pipes usually leave through a wall instead of the chimney. In Old Town the Board of Architectural Review looks only at what people can see from a street or public place, and its staff can approve a vent under a cubic foot if its color matches the wall. Out a side or back wall nobody sees from the street, the Board isn’t involved at all.
Kingstowne went up mostly in the 1980s and 1990s, and close to half its homes are townhouses, so plenty of furnaces there sit in a closet or an attic built around the first one. Hybla Valley has the most propane on the Alexandria address, roughly one owner home in twenty-two. A propane furnace swaps out the same way; only the gas valve gets set for propane.
The furnaces across Alexandria, place by place.
Census figures for the owner-occupied homes in each place, and what that usually means for the furnace that’s there now.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | The furnace there now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Alexandria | 1970 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Condo and apartment buildings: compact furnaces in closets. |
| Rose Hill | 1969 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Gas furnaces on their second or third round, often on a chimney shared with the water heater. |
| Franconia | 1986 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly electric heat; gas furnaces are the minority. |
| Fort Hunt | 1963 | single-family houses, nearly all | gas, about 8 in 10 | Gas furnaces on their second or third round, often on a chimney shared with the water heater. |
| Kingstowne | 1994 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Townhouse furnaces in closets and attics. |
| Woodlawn | 1976 | townhouses, about 4 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | Mostly electric heat; gas furnaces are the minority. |
| Lincolnia | 1982 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | 1980s and 90s houses, many on their second furnace. |
| Mount Vernon | 1967 | single-family houses, about 7 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Gas furnaces on their second or third round, often on a chimney shared with the water heater. |
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
- In condo buildings the association often has a say over the flue and the gas line, so check its rules before a new furnace goes in.
- Houses this age are often on their second or third furnace, still blowing through the original ducts, and the new one has to suit them.
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 heat here is gas, so the usual job is gas furnace for gas furnace, and the real choice is how efficient the new one should be.
What a new furnace costs in Alexandria.
The same price book our estimator runs on, for a gas furnace on its own, 2 to 5 tons, keeping the air conditioner you have. A single-stage furnace in a small house sits near the bottom; a modulating one in a big house, near the top.
- A gas furnace alone, keeping your air conditioner, installed$4,285 to $14,040
- A furnace and air conditioner together, installed$8,898 to $23,000
- Repair diagnostic visit, if it may be worth fixing$99
The HVAC replacement cost estimator narrows it to your house. Then a tech measures, and you get the installed price in writing, at no charge, before anything is ordered.
Natural gas or propane, in a house, a townhouse or a condo, we replace them all. Oil furnaces we don’t.
When a new furnace makes sense in Alexandria.
The AC is newer than the furnace
Common in Alexandria’s 1950s and 1960s houses. A furnace past twenty beside an air conditioner of five or six is the clearest case for replacing the furnace alone.
It shares a chimney with the water heater
A high-efficiency furnace vents out the side in plastic pipe, which can leave the water heater alone in a chimney sized for two. Ask about that before you pick a furnace, not on install day.
The heat exchanger is cracked
It’s the wall that keeps the burner’s exhaust out of the air the furnace blows through the house. Nobody patches one; a crack ends the repair conversation.
Who signs off on a new furnace 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.
How to pick the best furnace replacement company in Alexandria.
Questions to ask anybody who quotes you, us included.
Where will the new furnace’s pipes leave the house?
In an Old Town rowhouse with neighbors a few feet away, or a Kingstowne townhouse with a deck out back, where the intake and exhaust pipes leave the house belongs in the quote, not in a conversation on install day.
Did they size it to your house?
Ask how they picked the size. Copying the old nameplate repeats whatever was guessed when the house was built.
Did they check the air conditioner you’re keeping?
A new furnace has to work with the coil and the outdoor unit already there. Ask whether they looked at both before quoting a furnace on its own.
Will they tell you if it’s worth fixing?
A good company puts the repair price next to the replacement range and lets you choose. Already holding somebody’s big number? Take the free second opinion first.
What our customers say.
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Furnace replacement questions from Alexandria.
Does a new furnace in an Old Town house need the Board of Architectural Review?
Only for what shows. The furnace sits inside, so the question is the vent: pipes through a wall people can see from a street go to BAR staff, and staff can approve a small vent colored to match. Out of public view, there’s nothing to review.
Is an R-22 air conditioner worth keeping with a new furnace?
It can stay, if it runs and the new furnace’s blower suits its coil. The catch is the next leak: R-22 hasn’t been made in the US since 2020, so a recharge gets expensive.
How much does a new furnace cost in Alexandria?
$4,285 to $14,040 installed for a gas furnace on its own, keeping the air conditioner you have; size and efficiency set where yours lands. A furnace and air conditioner together run $8,898 to $23,000. The HVAC replacement cost estimator gives your house its own number.
Should I repair it or replace it?
Fix the small parts on almost any furnace. Past fifteen years, with a repair over a third of the price of a new one, replacing usually wins. Not sure which you’re looking at? The diagnostic visit is $99, and the tech prices the repair before starting it.
More from SwiftPro in Alexandria.
More from SwiftPro in Alexandria
The range first, then your number.
Call, or book online and pick a window. A tech measures the house and puts the installed price in writing before anything is ordered, and if the old furnace is worth fixing, 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 Alexandria 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.
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