Compare repair and replacement

Use the quick comparison when both systems could last your chosen timeframe. If a repair would only buy a few years, open the replacement-later scenario below it. Enter complete quotes and annual heating, cooling, and maintenance costs for comparable comfort.

YOUR HOME · YOUR NUMBERS

Compare keeping your current system with a heat-pump replacement. Start with your quotes; add running costs if you have them. Your answers stay in this page and are not saved or sent with a request.

Market selection helps you find the right guide. It does not establish utility service or rebate eligibility.
1. Compare the work
Include equipment, labor, required electrical or duct work, and taxes.
Enter 0 if no repair is needed. Use the price after any warranty coverage.
Choose 1–30 years, within how long you expect to keep the home and both systems could last.
2. Account for rebates
Use only rebates that can be combined for the same project. Loans and utility-bill savings are separate.
Read our rebate guide (opens a new tab) ↗
3. Add running costs, if known

Use annual heating, cooling, and maintenance costs for the same comfort level. Include backup heat and any retained system. Leave both blank to see the savings you would need.

Use the HVAC share of your bills plus annual maintenance, excluding the repair entered above.
Ask for an estimate using your local fuel and electricity rates, climate, and proposed equipment.
Would a repair buy you a few more years?

Compare repair now and replacement later with replacement today. These are separate scenarios from the quick comparison above. All answers stay on this page.

Both replacement systems must last their portion of this period.
Use an assessed estimate or an explicit scenario, not an equipment-age rule.
Include only the repair needed now.
Before rebates, including required installation work and taxes.
Use 0 if unknown. This is subtracted from the full price.
Exclude the immediate repair entered above.
Include backup heat and any retained equipment.
Enter a future-price scenario before rebates; today's price is not automatically carried forward.
Defaults to 0 because today's program may not exist then.
A separate assumption for the system installed later.

Start with the repair assessment

Ask what failed, what the repair covers, how the warranty changes your out-of-pocket cost, and how long the system might reasonably keep working. Equipment age is one reason to seek an evaluation, alongside frequent repairs and comfort problems. It does not establish a precise remaining life or force a replacement decision.

ENERGY STAR replacement guidance · Source checked 2026-09-06

A quick comparison with known running costs

For a hypothetical $15,000 replacement, $3,000 rebate, and $2,000 immediate repair, the extra upfront replacement cost is $10,000. Over ten years, replacement must save $1,000 per year to break even. If annual running costs are $2,400 for the existing system and $1,800 for the new one, repair totals $26,000 and replacement totals $30,000, assuming the repaired system lasts the full ten years.

What changes if the repair buys only three years?

Using those same costs, suppose replacement after three years costs $16,000 with no future rebate, and the later system also costs $1,800 per year to run. Repair now plus replacement later totals $37,800 over ten years, versus $30,000 for replacement today. The $7,800 difference depends on the future-price and service-life assumptions. The delayed purchase is counted at the end of year three.

Cash spent and remaining equipment value

The timing scenario compares cash spent over the same period. Replacing later leaves newer equipment at the end, and this remaining value is not included. Neither comparison includes borrowing charges, the time value of money, changing energy prices, or unexpected failures. Future rebates default to zero; today’s program may not exist when replacement becomes necessary.

Gather the costs before entering a scenario

Use the same comfort target and comparison period for every option. Start with these records:

  • Written diagnosis and repair price after any confirmed warranty coverage.
  • Complete replacement price, including required installation and site work.
  • Confirmed incentive amount and whether the quote already deducts it.
  • Supported annual running costs, or a decision to leave savings unknown.
  • Your best-supported repair-life assumption and a separate scenario where it lasts less time.

Read the repair-or-replace decision guide for the questions to ask during the assessment. The calculator cannot establish the diagnosis or remaining service life.

Use replacement later when a repair only buys time

A repair can be worthwhile without lasting the entire comparison period. Enter the later replacement cost and timing explicitly instead of treating the repaired equipment as if it lasts indefinitely.

Test more than one timing assumption. Future equipment prices, future incentives, and future running costs are unknown, so label them as scenarios. Use zero for an unconfirmed future rebate. Compare cash needed now separately from total spending across the period.

Common question

What if I do not know the annual running costs?

Use the savings-needed result rather than inventing future bills. Ask what annual difference would make replacement break even, then seek evidence for whether that target is plausible. A result with unknown savings is a decision threshold, not proof that replacement will repay its cost.

Check the result before acting on it

Ask whether each scenario uses comparable comfort, complete prices, and a feasible equipment lifetime. A financially attractive repair is not an option if a qualified assessment finds it cannot restore appropriate operation. A low replacement figure is not comparable if it omits necessary work.

Keep warranties, cash availability, financing, disruption, and remaining equipment value alongside the model. Review a replacement quote before using its total to make a decision.

Editorial review: 2026-09-06