There is no sticker price on an HVAC system, and any company that gives you one over the phone is guessing. What we can do is show you the national ranges other homeowners are paying, explain exactly which decisions move your number up or down, and let you walk into a quote knowing what every line means.
Everything below is a general national range reported by home-services cost surveys — not Israel Sheet Metal’s pricing. Prices vary by home and region, and no published range replaces an in-home look at your house.
What a new system costs nationally
Cost tracks two things above all: how much capacity your home needs, and what kind of system you put in.
By home size and system capacity
Capacity is measured in tons. The table below pairs typical home sizes with the tonnage they often require, alongside national equipment-only price ranges — the unit itself, before labor, ductwork, or electrical work.
| Home size (approximate) | Typical capacity | National equipment-only range |
|---|---|---|
| Up to ~900 sq ft | 1.5 tons (18,000 BTU) | $1,300 – $4,000 |
| ~900 – 1,200 sq ft | 2 tons (24,000 BTU) | $1,500 – $5,000 |
| ~1,200 – 1,800 sq ft | 3 tons (36,000 BTU) | $2,000 – $5,500 |
| ~1,800 – 2,400 sq ft | 4 tons (48,000 BTU) | $2,600 – $6,200 |
| ~2,400 – 3,000 sq ft | 5 tons (60,000 BTU) | $2,800 – $6,800 |
General national equipment-only ranges from home-services cost surveys — not Israel Sheet Metal’s prices. Square footage is a rough guide only: actual sizing comes from a load calculation, not a tape measure.
By system type
Installed cost — equipment plus labor — depends on the configuration you choose:
| System type | National installed cost range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Central AC + gas furnace | $7,400 – $22,000 | The most common configuration in El Paso homes |
| Heat pump + air handler | $7,300 – $21,700 | Heats and cools with one system; growing in popularity |
| Dual-fuel (heat pump + furnace) | $9,600 – $28,700 | Efficiency-focused; higher up-front cost |
| Geothermal | $15,000 – $35,000 | Premium efficiency, rare in local retrofits |
General national installed-cost ranges reported by home-services cost surveys, not Israel Sheet Metal’s prices. Your actual cost depends on your home — call (915) 877-2284 for a free written estimate.
For context, a full swamp cooler to refrigerated air conversion in El Paso generally lands between $8,500 and $18,000, because it bundles a new system with the ductwork and electrical work a cooler never needed.
What moves your number up or down
Sizing and the load calculation
Tonnage is matched to your house, not your neighbor’s. A proper calculation accounts for square footage, insulation, ceiling height, window area and which direction those windows face, shade, and air leakage. Get it wrong in either direction and you pay for it every summer: an undersized system runs non-stop and still sits three degrees above the thermostat on a 105-degree afternoon, while an oversized one short-cycles, wears out sooner, and leaves the house clammy.
Ductwork
This is the single biggest swing in most El Paso projects. New ductwork nationally runs about $1,000 to $5,000, averaging near $2,000; repairs to existing duct typically run $200 to $1,000. In older El Paso housing stock the sheet metal is often rusted, undersized, or was built for a swamp cooler — which moves huge volumes of low-pressure air and is a fundamentally different job than refrigerated air.
Most companies subcontract duct work. We fabricate our own ductwork in-house, which means the duct is built to the correct specification for your system on our schedule and to our standard. ENERGY STAR is blunt about why this matters: even a top-rated system underperforms when it is installed with leaky or badly sized ducts. Sealed, correctly sized duct is what actually gets cold air to the back bedroom.
Electrical capacity
Refrigerated air draws far more power than a cooler. Plenty of older homes here still run a 100-amp panel that has to be upgraded to 200 amps before a new system can be installed safely. Electricians nationally charge roughly $100 to $150 per hour for that work, and a full panel upgrade can add meaningfully to a project. If your panel already has capacity, you skip that cost entirely — one more reason two houses on the same block get different numbers.
Efficiency rating
Higher-efficiency equipment costs more to buy and less to run. In El Paso that trade leans further toward efficiency than it does in a mild climate, because your system runs so many hours a year. Whether it pays off for you depends on your run time, your rate, and how long you plan to stay. It is a conversation, not a default.
Labor, access, and the small stuff
Installation labor nationally runs about $300 to $1,600 depending on complexity, and it climbs when duct or vent work is involved. A tight attic, a rooftop unit, a long lineset run, a new pad, a condensate drain that has to be rerouted — none of these are dramatic on their own, and together they explain a few hundred dollars of difference between quotes. Which of them apply to your house is exactly what a free written estimate settles: (915) 877-2284.
Why El Paso quotes look different
Three local realities show up in nearly every estimate we write. Heat load: systems here are sized for sustained 105-degree afternoons, not a handful of hot days. Dust: blowing dust loads up coils and filters, which is why maintenance access and filter sizing get real attention in a good install. Older housing stock: a large share of homes in Canutillo, the Upper Valley, and central El Paso were built around evaporative cooling, so the project is frequently a conversion — new equipment, new duct, and often new electrical — rather than a simple swap.
What a fair quote should show you
ENERGY STAR’s guidance on quality installation is a useful checklist. A quote worth trusting states the tonnage and how it was determined, the efficiency rating of the equipment, exactly what happens to your ductwork, whether electrical work is included, and what the warranty covers. If a quote is one line and one number, you have no way to compare it to anything.
Financing
You do not have to pay for a system all at once. We offer $0-down and 0% interest financing options on refrigerated air conversions, so the cost spreads over time instead of landing in one payment. The monthly figure depends on your total project and the terms you qualify for, so those specifics come with your estimate rather than over the phone.
Getting your real number
Since price is built from your tonnage, your duct, and your panel, the only honest number comes from someone standing in your house. That is what an AC replacement or refrigerated air conversion assessment is for.
Israel Sheet Metal has been family-owned since 1992, licensed, and serving El Paso, Canutillo, and Las Cruces ever since. We give a free written estimate with no pressure, walk you through every line of it, and lay out the financing options so you can decide on your own terms. When you’re ready for your real number, call (915) 877-2284 and we’ll come take a look.