AC Replacement Cost Calculator
Turn a contractor quote into a clear per-ton number. Enter the system size, the installed price per ton from your own estimate, and any add-ons — this tool does the arithmetic. It stores no price list and sends you to no salesperson.
Calculator
At your $2,000/ton figure, a 3.0-ton AC replacement is about $6,000.00 including your add-ons. All prices are the ones you enter from real quotes.
A central air conditioner is priced two ways: as a lump sum, or per ton of cooling. Normalizing to dollars per ton is the single most useful thing you can do with a replacement quote — it lets you compare a 3-ton job against a 3.5-ton job on the same footing, and it makes an outlier obvious. This calculator takes the tonnage, the installed price per ton you read off your estimate, and your own add-on lines, and returns the total plus that per-ton figure.
Everything here is your number. We do not publish a $/ton table, because installed prices swing with region, equipment tier (single-stage vs. variable-speed), efficiency (SEER2), crane or attic access, refrigerant type, electrical upgrades and the local labor market — a national average would be wrong for you and would need constant updating. Pull the figures from a real written quote instead; the math below is timeless.
Formula
The total is a straight sum of the size-driven equipment-and-install cost and your explicit add-ons:
equipment_and_install = tons × your_price_per_ton\ntotal = equipment_and_install + your_add_ons
where tons is the nominal cooling size (1 ton = 12,000 BTU/h), your_price_per_ton is the installed rate from your quote, and your_add_ons is any line the quote itemizes separately (thermostat, permit, pad, whip). No price is assumed — if you leave a field at zero, it simply contributes nothing.
Worked example
Suppose a contractor quotes a 3-ton replacement at $2,000 per ton installed, with no separate add-ons:
equipment_and_install = 3 × $2,000 = $6,000\ntotal = $6,000 + $0 = $6,000
The result is $6,000, or $2,000 per ton. If a second quote came in at $7,700 for a 3.5-ton system, that is $2,200 per ton — higher per ton, so you would ask why (better equipment? more labor? a bigger, possibly oversized system?). Right-sizing comes first: confirm the tonnage with a load calculation before you shop price, because paying a fair per-ton rate for an oversized unit is still a bad deal.
What a replacement price should include
Before comparing per-ton figures, make sure each quote covers the same scope. A complete central-AC changeout usually includes the outdoor condenser, the matched indoor coil, a new line set (or a documented flush of the old one), refrigerant, a new thermostat or reconnection, an electrical disconnect and whip, a condensate strategy, a permit and inspection, and haul-away of the old unit. A cheap per-ton number that omits the coil, the line set or the permit is not really cheaper.
Bigger is not better. An oversized air conditioner short-cycles: it cools the air fast, satisfies the thermostat, and shuts off before it has pulled enough humidity out of the house, leaving it cold and clammy. It also wears the compressor with frequent starts. That is why the honest first step is a professional Manual J load calculation, not a rule of thumb — and why refrigerant work belongs to an EPA Section 608 certified technician, never a DIY charge.
Reference table
Common residential AC sizes (stable capacity constants — no prices):
| Nominal size | Cooling capacity | Design airflow (400 CFM/ton) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5 tons | 18,000 BTU/h | 600 CFM |
| 2.0 tons | 24,000 BTU/h | 800 CFM |
| 2.5 tons | 30,000 BTU/h | 1,000 CFM |
| 3.0 tons | 36,000 BTU/h | 1,200 CFM |
| 3.5 tons | 42,000 BTU/h | 1,400 CFM |
| 4.0 tons | 48,000 BTU/h | 1,600 CFM |
| 4.5 tons | 54,000 BTU/h | 1,800 CFM |
| 5.0 tons | 60,000 BTU/h | 2,000 CFM |
Capacity is a fixed conversion; the dollar figure is always the one you enter.