Bellevue calls us in July. Almost every time, the conversation starts the same way: the furnace works fine, the house is unbearable upstairs by 4 p.m., and someone wants a number before the next heat stretch arrives.
Here is the honest version of that number, what moves it, and the one question worth answering before you write a check for cooling only.
What central AC actually costs here
Bellevue and the close-in Eastside sit at the top of our pricing map. Labor, access, finish expectations, and permit complexity are all a notch above a Kent rambler. These are installed prices — equipment, labor, materials, permits.
| What you're buying | Installed cost, Bellevue / Eastside |
|---|---|
| What you're buyingStandalone central AC added to an existing furnace | Installed cost, Bellevue / Eastside$6,000 – $15,000 |
| What you're buyingFurnace and central AC replaced together | Installed cost, Bellevue / Eastside$11,500 – $19,200 |
| What you're buyingDucted heat pump (heating + cooling, one system) | Installed cost, Bellevue / Eastside$15,000 – $24,300 |
A single quote inside a $9,000 spread is meaningless without a load calculation behind it. Anyone who gives you a firm price over the phone is guessing at your tonnage, your ductwork, and your electrical panel. We price AC installation after someone has actually looked at the equipment closet and the side yard.
The six things that move your price
1. Tonnage, from a real load calculation
Most Eastside homes land between 2 and 5 tons. Square footage alone does not decide it — insulation, window area and orientation, ceiling height, and how open the floor plan is all change the answer. West-facing glass on a Somerset or Newport Hills slope adds real cooling load that a tape measure never sees.
Oversizing is the classic mistake. An oversized AC satisfies the thermostat fast, shuts off, and never runs long enough to pull humidity out of the air. You get cold, clammy rooms and a compressor that short-cycles its way to an early grave. Bigger is not better, and it costs more twice.
2. Whether your furnace can run an AC coil
This is the detail that surprises people. A central air conditioner is not a standalone appliance — it uses your furnace's blower to move the cooled air. An older single-speed PSC blower will physically work, but it moves air less efficiently and noticeably louder than the variable-speed blower in a modern furnace. If your furnace is 15-plus years old, adding AC to it means spending real money on a system that is already near the end of its life.
3. Ductwork condition and capacity
Heating ducts and cooling ducts are not the same job. Cold air is denser and wants more return path. Plenty of 1970s and 1980s Eastside homes were ducted generously for supply and stingily for return, which shows up as an upstairs that never quite cools. Adding a return, resizing a trunk, or sealing leaky crawlspace runs adds cost — and skipping it means paying for capacity you never feel.
4. Refrigerant line set and outdoor placement
A short, straight run from the furnace closet to a side yard pad is the cheap version. Threading a new line set up through a finished two-story home, around a daylight basement, or 60 feet to the only viable equipment location is the expensive version. Lot geometry on the Eastside — tight side yards, retaining walls, mature landscaping — drives more price variance than most homeowners expect.
5. Electrical
An air conditioner needs its own 240V circuit and an outdoor disconnect. Most homes with a 100-amp panel or larger absorb that without drama. Full panels and old fuse boxes are the exception, and a panel upgrade is licensed electrical work with its own cost. We are an HVAC contractor and coordinate that scope rather than performing panel work ourselves.
6. Equipment tier
We present Good, Better, and Best on every proposal. Higher-efficiency, two-stage and variable-speed systems cost more up front and run quieter, longer, and gentler on the compressor. In a mild marine climate, the efficiency payback on the top tier is slower than a salesperson will tell you. The comfort and noise difference is real, and that is usually the honest reason to step up — not the utility bill.
Permits are not optional in Bellevue
A mechanical permit is required for an AC installation, and the new circuit and disconnect typically require an electrical permit as well. We pull them and schedule the inspections on every job. This matters beyond compliance: Washington's seller disclosure form asks directly whether unpermitted work was performed, and unpermitted mechanical work can complicate an insurance claim. If one bid is thousands lower than the rest, ask what is in it.
HOAs and shared-lot-line setbacks are the other Eastside wrinkle. Outdoor unit placement sometimes needs approval, and sound is usually the concern. Modern condensing units run roughly as loud as a dishwasher, and placement away from bedroom windows and property lines does more for real-world noise than any brand name.
Want a number before anyone visits? Answer seven questions with the instant estimate tool and see Good, Better, and Best starting prices in about a minute. A free in-home estimate confirms the real one.
Why we usually make you look at a heat pump first
A heat pump is an air conditioner that also runs in reverse. Same outdoor unit, same ducts, same cooling performance in July. In winter it heats — and Bellevue's winter design temperature is 24°F, squarely in the range where a correctly sized heat pump carries the house without breaking a sweat.
So the comparison is not "AC versus heat pump." It is:
- AC only: $6,000 – $15,000. Cools. Furnace replacement still ahead of you.
- Heat pump: $15,000 – $24,300 in Bellevue. Cools and heats. Replaces both.
- Furnace + AC together: $11,500 – $19,200. Two pieces of equipment, no rebate path.
And the rebate question decides it for a lot of people. Local utility rebate money is aimed at qualifying heat pump installations replacing an existing electric or fossil-fuel system. A standalone air conditioner generally does not qualify. One utility bills Bellevue for both gas and electric, so those programs are genuinely on the table here. The amount depends on the system you are replacing and the equipment you install; rebate rules change, so we confirm what your utility actually pays before we quote and handle the paperwork. Details are in our local utility rebate guide.
Two things to state plainly. The federal 25C tax credit ended December 31, 2025 — no 2026 installation qualifies. And utility rebate programs pay only through their own contractor networks, and the rules change. If a bid promises rebate money, ask which program it comes from and whether that company can actually file it, because otherwise the rebate quietly evaporates at the end of the job.
When standalone AC is genuinely the right call
We say this on estimates even though the heat pump ticket is larger. Buy the AC if your furnace is newer, efficient, and has years of life left; if the budget is firm; or if you are adding cooling to a home you plan to sell soon. Spending $15,000 to electrify a house you are leaving in eighteen months is not the smart move, and we will tell you so.
What our installs include
Every installation gets a Manual J load calculation at no extra cost, written Good/Better/Best options, permits pulled and inspections scheduled, warranties registered, and a 10-year parts and 10-year labor warranty. Most installs are done in one day. We install Day & Night, Carrier, and American Standard for ducted systems.
Ready for a real number on your house? Book a free in-home estimate, see the range for your address on our Bellevue AC page, or call us at (253) 785-4622, Monday through Friday, 8 to 6.