80% AFUE furnace replacement cost in Texas
| Typical totalinstalled, 80 afue | $3,667 |
|---|---|
| Range you should see in bidsthree bids on the same scope normally land inside this | $2,895 – $5,019 |
| Labor portion40% of the job — this is the part that moves by state | $1,467 |
| Material portion60% — bought at national prices | $2,200 |
| Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers pay in Texasabout $28/hr · BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 49-9021 | $59,130/yr |
| U.S. mean for the same tradeSOC 49-9021 | $64,780/yr |
| Versus the national priceTexas trade pay runs −8.7% against the U.S. mean | −$133 |
Notes
- Where the number comes from. The national price for an 80% AFUE furnace replacement is $3,800 installed — gas furnace replacement pricing published for 2026. Labor is about 40% of that. Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers in Texas average $59,130 a year against a U.S. mean of $64,780 — a factor of 0.913 — so the labor half is scaled by that and the material half is not.
- What is in the price: the furnace, removal and disposal of the old one, a new flue or vent kit, gas and electrical connections, a thermostat, permit and labor.
- What is not: ductwork changes, a chimney liner where an 80% unit is orphaned by a water heater, and any return-air work the new blower needs. These are the lines that turn a $3,667 quote into a $4,584 invoice, so ask about each one before signing.
- Why state matters more than people expect. Materials ship at national prices; crews do not move. Texas sits below the national mean by 8.7%, which lands on 40% of the job and moves the total by $133.
- Use this as a bid check, not a quote. It prices an average job in an average condition. Difficult access, the state of what is being replaced, the season, and a crew booked out three months all move the real number, and none of them are in a national average for the job.
An 80% AFUE furnace replacement in Texas
$3,667 is the typical installed figure, and bids normally land between $2,895 and $5,019. This is a job price, not a unit price.
Why this is not the national number
The same job priced at the U.S. average comes to $3,800 — this one is $133 less.
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers in Texas average $59,130 a year against a U.S. mean of $64,780, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for May 2025, SOC 49-9021. That is roughly $28 an hour of trade pay, a factor of 0.913.
Labour is about 40% of this job; equipment is the other 60% and it costs the same in every state. So only the labour half is scaled here.
$1,467 of labour, $2,200 of equipment.
The efficiency step is not only the box price
Going from 80% to 90% or above means the flue changes. A condensing furnace vents in PVC and produces acidic condensate that needs a drain — neither of which the old metal flue provides.
There is a second-order cost people meet at the worst moment: if a gas water heater shared that chimney, removing the furnace from it leaves the water heater orphaned in a flue far too large to draft properly. The fix is a chimney liner, and it is a line nobody quotes until the installer is on site.
Where the payback actually is
The jump from 80% to 96% saves roughly a sixth of the gas bill. In a cold zone with a large heating load that pays back in a handful of years; in a mild climate it may never pay back on fuel alone, and the honest reason to buy it is comfort from the variable-speed blower rather than the AFUE number.
Rebates change the arithmetic more than the sticker does
Utility and state rebates on high-efficiency equipment are frequently four figures and are rarely included in a quote. Check what is available before choosing the tier — it can make the 96% unit cheaper than the 90%.
Using this against a real bid
Three quotes on identical scope should cluster. One well under $2,895 usually means something was left out rather than found cheaper. One well over $5,019 is either a harder job than average or a crew that does not want the work.
Nearby sizes
Read more
- Water Dripping From the Furnace Vent — Normal on One Type, a Fault on the OtherThe same drip is expected on one furnace and dangerous on another. Which one you have is decided by the vent material, and you can see it from across the room.
- Gas Bill Went Up After a New Furnace — Five Reasons That Are Not the FurnaceCompare therms against degree days, not dollars against last year. Half of these complaints disappear the moment the weather is normalised out.
- New High-Efficiency Furnace Short Cycles — Usually the SizingThe upgrade from 80% to 96% adds a fifth more heat from the same size box. Keep the input the same and you have just oversized the house by 20%.