Cost to Repair a Furnace – 2024 Price Guide
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The last thing any homeowner wants to wake up to is a cold house, especially in the northern states where no furnace means a lot of unhappy family members and possibly frozen pipes.
The next thing you'll likely start thinking about is whether it can be repaired and how much it will cost.
2024 Furnace Repair Costs
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| National Average Price | $450 |
| Typical Price Range | $300 - $1,200 |
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How Much Do Furnace Repairs Cost?
The national average to fix a furnace is $50 to $300 for an electric furnace or $300 to $1,200 for a gas, oil, or propane furnace. Of course, there are numerous variables, such as the type of furnace and what part malfunctioned.
Many times, the repair part costs more than the labor to replace it. Frequently, however, especially with electric furnaces, the repair is much less than a replacement heater.
Replacing an Old Furnace
The question of whether to repair or replace your furnace will most often depend on its age and the part that’s broken. Furnaces usually last around 15-20 years.
However, some poorly built machines and furnaces that are sized incorrectly for your home and that get continuous use throughout the winter could wear out sooner. Once a furnace reaches the end of its lifespan, it tends to need more thorough maintenance and may have recurring problems that can be expensive and frustrating to fix.
The price of replacing an old furnace with a new furnace depends on the fuel it burns. In most cases, though, a new furnace costs between $2,000 to $10,000.
Costs to Repair Various Types of Furnaces
The cost of repairing your home furnace will depend mainly on its brand and model.
Electric Furnaces
The electric furnace is usually less expensive to repair than fuel-burning units because these units are typically smaller with fewer moving parts. As the coils inside the heating element get hot, air blows across them, sending warm air through the heat ducts to every room in the house.
Routinely, when something goes wrong with an electric furnace, it has something to do with the heating coils or its elements. These furnaces are the least expensive to repair at an average of $50 to $300.
Propane or Natural Gas Furnaces
Natural gas and propane gas are basically the same as far as repairs go – usually because this is the same furnace, only modified for its fuel intake. The significant difference is that propane is liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and is generally tank-fed, whereas natural gas, (or “city gas”) gets metered and piped into your home’s furnace.
With a propane furnace, the first thing you should check when you wake up to a cold house is if there’s fuel in the tank. It might seem obvious, but checking could save you a service call charge.
Other common issues for both are malfunctioning gas valves, heat exchangers, or flame sensors. Typically, repairs cost anywhere from $100 to $1,200.
Oil Furnace
Oil furnaces tend to be the most expensive to repair. This is because oil doesn’t burn clean, and the resulting soot can build up everywhere. Often, it’s this soot that can cause problems, so even when you may have a malfunctioning heat exchanger or flame sensor, you often have to pay to have everything cleaned at the same time.
This can make oil furnace repairs more costly at $400 to $1,500 on average. Like propane furnaces, they run off of stored fuel, so if the furnace isn’t running, always check the tank first before calling a technician.
Heat Pumps
Heat pumps transfer heat either from the outdoors inside or from the indoors out, depending on the outside temperature. When it’s warm outside, the unit moves the heat from inside to outdoors, and when it’s cold, the unit transfers heat in to warm the home.
Depending on the specific problem, such as a control board or thermostat, it could cost $300 to $600.
Boilers
Boilers heat water and send it throughout your home with pipes, often attached to radiators or radiant heat floors. Mineral deposits may clog pipes, pilot lights can malfunction or break, and radiators may leak or malfunction, causing them to lose heat.
These problems typically cost between $200 and $600 to fix, but the actual cost can only be determined by locating the exact problem.
Furnace Repair Parts
What part is broken will determine how much your repair will cost. The following table provides some of the furnace parts and the replacement parts cost:
| Furnace Part | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Blower motor | $250 – $900 |
| Igniters | $175 – $300 |
| Heat exchanger | $500 – $3,500 |
| Flame sensor | $80 – $250 |
| Thermostat | $100 – $450 |
| Gas valve | $675 – $1,300 |
| Control board | $300 – $650 |
Blower Motor
Whatever your heat source, a forced air system depends on the blower to move the heat from the source throughout the house. When the blower motor goes, so does your heat.
Igniters
Igniters are the same as pilot lights in some systems. It makes a spark to ignite the gas after being notified by the thermostat the temperature is at or below the setting.
Heat Exchanger
The heat exchanger is similar to an oven in the furnace where the air gets heated, the harmful gases removed, and then blown through the ducts to heat the house.
Flame Sensor
Flame sensors are safety switches in your furnace. It’s a small rod that has the function of ensuring the gas valve only opens when there is a flame present to burn the gas.
Thermostat
Often, what is wrong has nothing to do with your furnace at all, but the temperature regulator known as the thermostat. Many things can go wrong with that clever little gadget, and when one does, your temperature will not stay constant.
Gas Valve
The gas valve is what turns on or off to send gas into the burner with either propane or natural gas furnaces.
Control Board
The furnace control board is the furnace’s brain. It’s what tells the blower to turn on and off and senses the other parts. Without this piece, nothing on the furnace will work.
Need Furnace Repairs?
When you need furnace repairs, let us help you find a qualified heating professional near you.
All pricing information on this page is based on average industry costs, and is subject to variance for project-specific materials, labor rates, and requirements.