Homeowners
Plain-language cost guides for homeowners: repair versus replace, running costs by state, safety, and how to read an HVAC contractor’s quote.
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AC Coil Cleaning: Two Coils, Two Jobs, and What Dirt Costs
The outdoor condenser coil is a garden-hose rinse with the power off. The indoor evaporator coil is a technician job. What federal and national-lab sources actually measure about…
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AC Compressor Replacement: The Decision Behind the Costliest Part
The compressor is the most expensive single part in a home cooling system. What decides an AC compressor replacement: burnout, warranty status, refrigerant supply and the federal cost…
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Attic Insulation Cost: What the Federal Record Actually States Per Square Foot
No federal agency publishes installed insulation prices. DOE and PNNL cost-effectiveness analysis does: R-38, R-49 and R-60 blown cellulose priced per square foot of ceiling, in 2024 dollars,…
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Ductwork Cost in 2026: The Federal Data Gap, and What Does Exist
Duct installation is bundled into equipment quotes, so there is even less federal price data than for equipment. Every duct dollar figure DOE, PNNL and EIA publish, with…
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Mini Split Cost: The Only Federal Numbers, Per Zone and Per Ton
No federal agency collects ductless transaction prices. We read the one EIA table that carries a ductless row, the LBNL project database behind it, and what zones, line…
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New Furnace Cost in 2026: What Federal Estimates Actually Show
No federal agency measures installed furnace prices. EIA and DOE publish modelled figures instead: $3,690 at the 80% AFUE minimum, $4,150 at 95% AFUE, and a venting bill…
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Heat Pump Cost in 2026: What the Federal Estimates Actually Say
No federal series measures installed heat pump prices. EIA, DOE and LBNL publish modelled and benchmark figures instead. Here is every sourced number by efficiency tier, capacity and…
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What Americans Actually Set the Thermostat To: 72°F, Not 78°F
EIA surveyed 18,496 households on what they set the thermostat to. The median summer setting is 72F, only 12.8% set 78F or warmer, and 61.7% never set back…
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Evaporator Coil Replacement: Replace the Coil or the Whole System?
When the indoor coil springs a pinhole leak, the choice is a matched replacement coil or a new system. Federal certification, EPA recovery rules and EIA cost figures…
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Condensate Pump: How It Works, When You Need One and What Fails
A condensate pump lifts the water your cooling or condensing heating equipment produces up to a drain when gravity cannot carry it there. How it works, where it…