Get ready for an AC or heat pump replacement quote
Twenty minutes of homework before the visit gets you quotes you can actually compare, and a contractor who sizes the system to your house.
What to watch for: The useful parts: get several quotes, judge the contractor before the brand, and insist on a load calculation. His view on extended warranties is one opinion; compare what each warranty actually covers.
Why does this matter in Tucson?
In the City of Tucson, a replacement furnace, heat pump or air conditioner needs a permit, and the City requires load and sizing calculations for new and replacement HVAC equipment. The contractor pulls that permit. A quote that just swaps in the same size without measuring your house skips a step the City expects.
Money has shifted too. The federal 25C credit ended: a heat pump or AC installed in 2026 doesn't qualify. TEP's Efficient Home Program is active through participating contractors, and as listed by TEP in October 2026 it showed up to $720 for a heat pump quality installation and up to $600 for an AC quality installation. Amounts change, so confirm with TEP or the contractor at quote time.
What you'll learn
- Which labels, bills and notes to gather before anyone visits
- Why the City of Tucson requires a load calculation for a replacement
- The line items every written quote should show
- Rebates that still exist in 2026, and the federal credit that ended
How do you do it, step by step?
- Photograph the data plates on the outdoor unit and the indoor unit (furnace or air handler). The model and serial numbers tell the pro the size and age.
- Write down the filter size and where the filter sits.
- List the comfort problems room by room: hot bedrooms, a room that never cools, noise, dust.
- Pull together recent repair invoices and a year of TEP or Trico bills if you have them.
- Know where the ductwork runs (attic, roof, crawlspace) and clear a path to it and to the electrical panel.
- Ask each contractor for a written, itemized quote. Get more than one so you can compare line by line.
- Check each company’s license at roc.az.gov before you sign. See the ROC guide below.
When should you stop and call a pro?
- A quote with no load calculation, or a size picked from square footage alone.
- No permit on the quote, or a suggestion to skip it.
- Pressure to sign on the spot, or a price that only exists if you decide now.
- A license number that doesn’t match the company name on the contract.
What a written quote should list: equipment brand and model numbers for each piece, the load calculation, the permit, refrigerant line and duct work included or excluded, electrical work, removal of old equipment, the manufacturer's warranty terms and who registers them, any labor warranty, and whether the job qualifies for TEP's Efficient Home rebate.
Read next
Sources and official pages
Rather have a pro handle it?
Climate Pros Tucson matches homeowners with licensed local HVAC pros across the Tucson area. You talk to us, then to the pro, and the pro quotes the job before any work starts.
What else can you check yourself?
Check an HVAC contractor's Arizona ROC license
Two minutes on the Arizona Registrar of Contractors site tells you whether the company in your driveway can legally do the job.
Stay safe in the heat while you wait for AC repair
In a Tucson June, a house without AC heats up fast and stays hot overnight. Protect the people in it first, then work on the repair.
Change your AC filter, and again after a dust storm
A clogged return filter is the first thing to check when the house won't cool. In Tucson, the monsoon's dust storms load a filter fast.