Denver metro heating companies publish flat rate books, and the numbers below are theirs, part by part, next to the permit, license and rebate figures the city and the gas utility publish for themselves. It is market context for reading an estimate, not a quote.
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Six boxes, about thirty seconds. You pick when to be called back, and that is when the phone rings.
Or call (303) 955-3612Denver charges $35 for the first $2,000 of valuation and $8 for each additional $1,000, so a $6,000 furnace replacement is $67. Mechanical work is a quick permit category, issued without a plan review charge.
Every mechanical license type costs $250 for three years, and the supervisor certificate that has to stand behind it is $60 for the same term. A journeyman registration is $40.
Paid on an AHRI listed gas furnace at 95 percent AFUE or better, and only when the equipment coming out is non-condensing, which the program defines as 86 percent AFUE or lower.
Every range below is what companies working in Denver publish for that job, gathered from the numbered price pages under the table. It spans what several of them show, so the figures move with the specifics of the property and with who does the work. Nothing here is a quote, and no business has set a price on this page. A real number comes from whoever looks at the job.
| The job | Range seen | Billed as | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekday diagnostic visit on a dead furnace | $60–$1801234 | per visit | Rabbit posts $60 with no repair and nothing with one, UniColorado credits its $180 toward the work, Right Way and All Climate post $89 and $79 flat. |
| Hot surface igniter replaced | $150–$585125 | flat | Gale Force posts $150 to $450, UniColorado $250 to $500, Rabbit a flat $485 to $585 with the weekday trip charge folded in when the repair proceeds. |
| Draft inducer assembly replaced | $500–$1,500125 | flat | UniColorado posts $500 to $1,100, Gale Force $500 to $1,500, Rabbit $1,050 to $1,485 as a flat rate covering part and labor. |
| Gas valve replaced | $200–$1,275125 | flat | Gale Force posts $200 to $800 and notes original manufacturer parts cost more than universal ones. UniColorado posts $500 to $1,100 and Rabbit $950 to $1,275. |
| Integrated control board replaced | $300–$1,450125 | flat | Gale Force posts $300 to $950, UniColorado $500 to $1,000, Rabbit $950 to $1,450. Erratic fault codes make the diagnosis time as variable as the part. |
| Variable speed or ECM blower motor replaced | $600–$2,075125 | flat | UniColorado posts $600 to $1,600, Gale Force $1,500 to $2,000 for an ECM, Rabbit $1,475 for an ECM and $2,075 for a variable speed motor. |
| Heat exchanger replaced on a furnace worth keeping | $1,000–$5,000256 | flat | Gale Force posts $1,000 to $3,500 and UniColorado $1,900 to $3,700. Plumbline posts $3,000 to $5,000 and up to eight hours on the job. |
| Furnace changed out with the permit pulled | $3,200–$12,000267 | flat | UniColorado posts $3,200 to $5,800, Right Way $3,800 to $10,500 by efficiency tier including permit and disposal, Plumbline $4,500 to $12,000 for this area. |
Prices each of these companies publishes on its own site, read on the date shown in each listing. A published price can change without notice, so treat a number here as what was posted rather than what you will be told today.
An igniter is an igniter. Yet the published flat rates for swapping one across this metro run from $150 at the low end of one company's range to $585 at the top of another's, and both companies are legitimate. The spread is not really about the part. It reflects whether the trip charge is folded in or billed separately, whether the shop stocks original manufacturer parts or universals, how long the labor warranty runs, and how far the truck drives. Reading a flat rate therefore means reading what it includes, because two identical dollar figures can describe very different obligations.
The one comparison worth making across quotes is the treatment of the diagnostic. One company posts $60 when no repair follows and nothing when one does. Another credits $180 toward the work. Two more post $79 and $89 as flat visit fees. Ask which model applies before the truck is dispatched, and the rest of the estimate becomes readable.
Equipment nameplates are written for sea level, and at 5,280 feet the derating rules change both the input rating and, on many models, the pressure switch that has to be fitted. That has two consequences on this page. First, an oversized furnace short cycles, and short cycling is what puts igniters, inducers and boards into early graves, which is part of why part replacement calls cluster in older changeouts done on square footage alone. Second, arctic outbreaks here arrive every few winters and expose undersized ductwork and marginal combustion air the moment the furnace runs continuously for three days.
Denver prices permits off declared valuation: $35 covers the first $2,000, then $8 for every additional $1,000. A $6,000 furnace replacement therefore carries a $67 permit, and because mechanical work falls in the quick permit category it is issued without a plan review charge on top. That is a small number against a five figure job, which is exactly why its absence from a bid is informative. The license behind it is not free either. Every mechanical license class costs $250 for three years and the supervisor certificate standing behind it another $60, and an outfit avoiding the permit is usually avoiding the license too.
One Denver company publishes the whole structure: a $175 minimum service charge after hours, a basic repair at $149 during the week and $250 after hours. Both charges apply on a night call, so the floor for a small after-hours fix is $425 before any part goes in, against $149 for the same fix on a weekday when the trip is covered by the repair. Another publishes an after-hours call of $150 to $250 with emergency labor of $140 to $210 an hour on top. The largest single variable on a minor repair in this market is not the part. It is the hour on the clock, which is worth knowing at eleven at night with a space heater running.
The rebate structure creates it. Xcel pays $300 on a 95 percent AFUE or better furnace, and only when the unit coming out is non-condensing at 86 percent AFUE or below, so there is a standing incentive to frame any repair on an older 80 percent furnace as a replacement decision. Sometimes that is right. It is right on a cracked exchanger, a failed exchanger on a twenty year old cabinet, or a third major part in two seasons. It is not right on a $500 board failure in a twelve year old condensing furnace, and a rebate does not change that. Ask for the carbon monoxide reading in parts per million and a photograph of the crack before signing anything that starts with removal.
Chimney liner work when a condensing furnace orphans the water heater on an oversized masonry flue, return duct that was never sized for a modern blower, a dedicated circuit, condensate protection in an unconditioned crawlspace, sidewall venting through a brick 1950s wall, and the permit and inspection. On the repair side it leaves out the second failure the first one caused, which is the usual reason a job that was quoted mid range lands at the top of it.
Heat should not be a mystery. Schedule a Denver furnace diagnosis, get a defined repair recommendation, and see the price before the work starts.
Call (303) 955-3612Upfront pricing · No obligation · Local Denver County technician