If you have a furnace in the house you have to know that it won’t last forever. Sooner or later you will be looking into furnace replacement costs. The very first question that will come to mind is, “How much is this furnace replacement going to be?”

The exact answer to that question is impossible to tell you without a licensed heating contractor coming out to look at your particular heating problem and giving you an estimate but we can give you price ranges of what to expect.

You first have to realize that furnace replacement costs are highly variable depending on the type and size of the furnace required for square footage you need to heat, the number of floors and age of the home you are trying to heat, the firing and blowing efficiency of the furnace that you desire, and finally, whether you are changing from one type of furnace to another. With all of that in mind, here are some current price ranges for furnace replacement:

• Electric Furnaces—Think of a large electrical coil heater connected to a blower unit pushing heated air through ductwork and you understand the central electric furnace. These are the least expensive furnaces on the market, usually costing no more than $1,000 to $3,000 for the average furnace replacement. Note that they are also among the most expensive to operate.

• Gas Furnaces—These furnaces use the ignition of natural gas or liquid propane to create heat air which is then blown through the ductwork. Furnace replacement costs for this type of unit are between $2,000 to $8,000 or more, depending on the efficiency and the size required. Though more expensive initially than electric furnaces, these are cheaper to operate when compared to electric and oil fired furnaces.

• Gas Boilers—These are gas fired furnaces which heat water rather than air and use a radiant heat system to distribute the heat. These units are more complicated than direct air heating systems and the prices for furnace replacement reflect this. Expect to pay between $3,000 to $10,000 depending upon the size of the boiler required and the efficiency you decide you want.

• Oil Boilers—This type of furnace has really fallen out of favor based upon its lack of efficiency, its expensive fuel, and its fuel storage requirements. Expect to pay between $2,500 and $10,000 to replace one of these units if you must stay with fuel oil.