What does it cost to replace an AC in New Orleans?
Replacing one part
When only the outdoor unit or only the indoor unit gets swapped.
- What does it cost to replace just the AC condenser in New Orleans?
New Orleans permits for replacing only the outdoor unit had a median applicant-reported cost of $7,800. Prices by size, the condenser-plus-coil job, and why the indoor side decides whether a condenser-only swap works.
- What does it cost to replace just the air handler or furnace in New Orleans?
New Orleans permits for replacing only the air handler had a median applicant-reported cost of $10,600, and furnace-only jobs $8,700. One company files most of these permits, which changes how to read the numbers.
Whole systems
Prices for a specific kind of full replacement.
- What does a new gas furnace and AC cost in New Orleans?
New Orleans permits for replacing the condenser and gas furnace together had a median applicant-reported cost of $15,400. Prices by size, and how much one high-volume company moves them.
- What a mini-split installation costs
Mini-split prices from the same permits, plus where in the city they get installed.
Before you sign
Pages elsewhere on the site for checking a quote and the decision behind it.
- What a good replacement quote includes
The model numbers, sizing, scope, and paperwork a quote should name.
- Repair or replace an old AC
The facts that lean toward a repair, and the ones that lean toward replacement.
- What size AC a house needs
Why size comes from a load calculation, not square footage alone.
- HVAC permit explorer
Permit counts by neighborhood and year, from the same city records.
New Orleans permits put a whole-system AC replacement on a house at a median of $12,800 over the last two years, with the middle half of jobs between $8,500 and $16,400. These are the costs applicants wrote on 2,534 city permits filed October 2024 through September 2026. They are not survey answers or national averages. The tables below break that number down by size, by kind of system, and by year, and the last section explains exactly which permits count.
By size
| Size | Permits | Middle half of costs | Median | Median without the largest filer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 tons | 65 | $7,500–$13,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| 2 tons | 238 | $7,000–$14,000 | $10,400 | $10,000 |
| 2.5 tons | 207 | $7,500–$15,500 | $11,600 | $9,600 |
| 3 tons | 607 | $7,000–$15,300 | $10,000 | $9,000 |
| 3.5 tons | 140 | $9,000–$16,600 | $13,100 | $11,000 |
| 4 tons | 361 | $9,400–$17,900 | $13,600 | $12,000 |
| 5 tons | 193 | $11,000–$20,000 | $16,000 | $15,300 |
Bigger systems cost more, but not in proportion to size. The 2-ton median was $10,400, the 3-ton median $10,000, and the 5-ton median $16,000, for two and a half times the cooling capacity of a 2-ton. The permits don’t say what made one job cost more than another, so read the table as a range of real jobs, not a price list. The right size for a house comes from a load calculation, which this guide to AC sizing explains. A 3-ton system is not a cheaper version of a 4-ton one if the house needs 4.
By kind of system
| System | Permits | Middle half of costs | Median | Median without the largest filer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central AC with an electric air handler | 710 | $7,500–$15,000 | $10,700 | $9,000 |
| Central AC with a gas furnace | 776 | $12,800–$18,300 | $15,400 | $13,000 |
| Heat pump | 139 | $10,700–$18,000 | $14,400 | $13,800 |
| Whole system, parts not listed | 909 | $7,500–$14,900 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| All whole-system replacements | 2,534 | $8,500–$16,400 | $12,800 | $10,000 |
“Central AC with an electric air handler” means an outdoor condenser and an indoor air handler, usually with electric heat strips. A gas furnace in place of the air handler raised the median to $15,400, and the gas furnace and AC page covers that job and why one company dominates it. Heat pumps had a median of $14,400 on 139 permits. “Parts not listed” means the permit says something like “install HVAC split system” without naming the pieces.
Prices rose fast
| Year | Permits | Middle half of costs | Median | Median without the largest filer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 919 | $4,500–$9,400 | $6,500 | $6,500 |
| 2022 | 1,057 | $5,000–$10,500 | $7,500 | $7,500 |
| 2023 | 1,163 | $6,500–$14,000 | $8,900 | $8,900 |
| 2024 | 849 | $6,900–$13,700 | $8,900 | $8,700 |
| 2025 | 1,111 | $8,000–$15,600 | $12,000 | $10,000 |
| 2026 (through September) | 1,221 | $9,500–$17,400 | $13,900 | $11,800 |
The median whole-system permit went from $6,500 in 2021 to $13,900 in 2026. Part of the later jump is one high-volume company that started filing in 2024 and reports higher costs than most. Without it, the 2026 median was $11,800, still far above 2021. New home equipment also switched refrigerants in 2025, which the R-410A transition guide explains, but the permits can’t show how much of the rise that caused. Before 2021 most permits left the cost blank, so the table starts there.
One company files a large share
Over the last two years one contractor filed 27% of all HVAC permits on one- and two-family houses in the city, more than any other. Many of its permits describe replacing a condenser, gas furnace, and coil. The last column in each table shows the median with that company’s permits taken out, so you can see how much one firm’s pricing moves the number. Where the two medians are close, the price is broad-based. Where they differ, read both.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
The cost on a permit is what the applicant estimated when filing. It is usually the contractor’s job price, but nothing requires it to include or exclude the same things every time, such as ductwork, electrical upgrades, or the permit fee. Some applicants enter only equipment or only labor, which is why the low end of each range looks cheap.
Which permits count:
- Mechanical HVAC permits on one- and two-family houses, applied for October 2024 through September 2026, from city records compiled by See Dat (data through October 17, 2026).
- One system per permit. Permits for two or more systems are left out of the price tables.
- Reported costs from $1,000 to $60,000. Blank costs, placeholders, and commercial-size jobs fall outside that range.
- The job type comes from the permit’s own description. “Replace condenser and air handler” counts as a whole system; “replace condenser” counts as condenser only. Descriptions that don’t say are left in the “parts not listed” row.
- A row needs at least 30 permits before it shows a price.
Work done without a permit doesn’t appear at all. Every replacement needs one, and how long an AC permit takes covers the wait. The figures are checked against fresh city records at least every 90 days.
Using this with a quote
A quote far outside the middle half isn’t automatically wrong. Different jobs include different work. Before comparing a price to these tables, make sure the quote names the full matched system, the size calculation, and everything included. What a good replacement quote includes lists those items. AHRI’s homeowner guide makes the same point: a system performs as rated only when it is correctly sized, properly matched, and correctly installed. If the old system might still be worth fixing, start with repair or replace.