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New Home HVAC Cost in Ontario (2026): Five Complete Mechanical Systems for the Same 2,000 sq ft House, Priced Line by Line in Frame and in ICF
Heating, Cooling & Ventilation
What the Mechanical Costs in a New House: Five Systems, One 2,000 sq ft Two-Storey, Every Line Added Up
A new-house budget usually carries one line called “HVAC” and one called “plumbing”, and the water heater, the HRV and the ductwork fall somewhere between them. This page takes one house, a 2,000 sq ft two-storey in wood frame, 1,000 sq ft a floor on a full basement in Simcoe County, and prices five complete systems for it: the heat, the cooling, the distribution, the ventilation and the hot water. Then it prices the same house in ICF, which is how I build, and shows which lines shrink and which stay put.
The numbers
$19,250gas furnace, central AC, ducts, HRV, gas tank
$26,500ducted cold-climate heat pump, all electric
$55,000gas combi, radiant floors, ductless cooling
about halfthe heat loss of the same house in ICF
| System, 2,000 sq ft frame house | Line | Basis | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Gas furnace + central AC | High-efficiency furnace and AC together | default | $10,500 |
| New-build ductwork | middle of $2,000 to $5,000 | $3,500 | |
| HRV, dedicated ducts, balanced | new-construction default | $2,500 | |
| Power-vented gas water tank | middle of $2,000 to $3,500 | $2,750 | |
| Total | $19,250 | ||
| 2. Ducted cold-climate heat pump | Heat pump, air handler and all new ducts | middle of $15,000 to $25,000 | $20,000 |
| HRV | default | $2,500 | |
| Heat pump water heater | middle of $3,000 to $5,000 | $4,000 | |
| Total | $26,500 | ||
| 3. Dual fuel | Gas furnace | default | $6,000 |
| Standard ducted heat pump on the furnace | default | $9,500 | |
| New-build ductwork | middle of range | $3,500 | |
| HRV | default | $2,500 | |
| Power-vented gas water tank | middle of range | $2,750 | |
| Total | $24,250 | ||
| 4. Gas combi + radiant + ductless | Combi boiler, heat and hot water | default | $7,500 |
| Manifolds and zone controls, whole house | middle of $4,000 to $10,000 | $7,000 | |
| Radiant tubing, 2,000 sq ft at $9 | middle of $6 to $12 | $18,000 | |
| 1.5 in. topping over wood floors, 2,000 sq ft at $4 | middle of $3 to $5 | $8,000 | |
| Multi-zone ductless cooling, 3 heads | default | $12,000 | |
| HRV | default | $2,500 | |
| Total (hot water comes from the combi) | $55,000 | ||
| 5. Air-to-water heat pump + radiant | Plant: outdoor unit, buffer tank, pumps, controls, backup | middle of $15,000 to $35,000 | $25,000 |
| Manifolds, tubing and topping as system 4 | $7,000 + $18,000 + $8,000 | $33,000 | |
| Indirect hot water tank | allowance | $2,000 | |
| Multi-zone ductless cooling, 3 heads | default | $12,000 | |
| HRV | default | $2,500 | |
| Total | $74,500 |
Not in any total: the design, $395 for the CSA F280 heat loss report or $695 for the full HVAC design and mechanical drawings a permit needs; the 240 V circuit for the outdoor unit, $500 to $1,500, which every one of the five has and which sits in the electrician’s contract on a new house; and HST at 13 percent. Upgrade system 3 to a cold-climate heat pump and add $2,000 to $5,000.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: the contractors and price guides we checked for this page did not agree on much. For a cold-climate ducted heat pump alone, one heat pump price guide said $12,000 to $18,000 and up, a national HVAC cost guide said $7,000 to $12,000, and a home-services marketplace said $4,500 to $10,000 with existing ducts. That is about $13,000 between the cheapest low end and the dearest high end for the same class of machine. Some include the ducts, the electrical and the line set; some are a one-truck shop and some have a showroom to pay for. Budget the totals in the table, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
What each system buys
System 1 is what most Ontario tract houses still get. It is the cheapest to install and still cheap to run at $0.45 a cubic metre all in. You pay a gas customer charge of about $25 to $30 a month forever, and the house has two combustion appliances that need venting and a CO alarm on every floor.
System 2 takes the gas line off the house. It costs $7,250 more than system 1, and the house needs the 200 A service most new houses get anyway; the 100 or 200 amp page covers that. One machine heats and cools; the HRV does the fresh air.
System 3 keeps the furnace as the backup and lets the heat pump carry the house down to whatever outdoor temperature the controls are set to switch at. It costs less than system 2 here only because I priced a standard heat pump; the dual fuel page explains the switchover.
Systems 4 and 5 are the radiant houses. They cost more because the distribution is 2,000 sq ft of tubing in concrete instead of $3,500 of sheet metal, and because a radiant floor heats and does nothing else. It does not cool, ventilate or dehumidify, so the HRV and a cooling plan are added on top. I priced three ductless heads for the cooling; a small ducted air handler or fan coils are the other choices, and the radiant ventilation page lays them out. The topping adds weight the floor joists must be designed for, before the floor is ordered.
The same house in ICF
A 2,000 sq ft frame house in Simcoe at a design temperature of minus 24 C usually loses 40,000 to 60,000 BTU/h. The same house built in ICF to our standard loses about half that, 20,000 to 30,000 BTU/h. At 12,000 BTU/h a ton, the frame house wants a 4 ton heat pump and the ICF house wants about 2.
That sounds like half the bill. It is not, because the expensive parts serve rooms, not make heat. Every bedroom still needs a supply and a return. The HRV is sized on bedrooms and floor area, not heat loss, so it costs the same $2,500. The radiant tubing is priced by the square foot of floor, so it costs the same $18,000 whether the room loses a lot or a little.
| System | Frame | ICF | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Furnace + AC | $19,250 | $21,250 | The smallest furnace made is still too big; I add a modulating burner and variable-speed blower, about $2,000 of the $1,500 to $2,500 range |
| 2. Ducted cold-climate heat pump | $26,500 | $21,500 | About 2 tons instead of 4; I carry the low end of the new-house range, $15,000, instead of the middle |
| 3. Dual fuel | $24,250 | $24,250 | Nothing gets cheaper, and with a heat loss this small the furnace is a spare tire you pay a gas bill on every month |
| 4. Combi + radiant + ductless | $55,000 | $52,000 | Two cooling heads instead of three, about $3,000 off; tubing, manifolds and combi unchanged |
| 5. Air-to-water + radiant | $74,500 | $61,500 | Plant at the low end, $15,000, about $10,000 off; two cooling heads, $3,000 off |
The ICF wall itself is not in this table; it belongs to the wall price. The ICFhome.ca houses are all built this way, with the radiant floor and the HRV in every one.
Where ICF really wins is the fuel bill. My showhome in Tiny Township is ICF with radiant floors and costs about $100 a month to heat in the coldest part of winter. Halve the heat loss and you halve the fuel, every year, on every system.
Where new-house budgets go wrong
- Sizing from the square footage. A 2,000 sq ft house can need 25,000 BTU/h or 60,000, and the square footage does not know which. Every system starts with a room-by-room CSA F280 heat loss; OntarioHeatLoss.ca does the report for $395 and the full design and drawings for $695. The sizing mistakes page covers what happens when nobody does.
- Leaving the HRV out of the HVAC number. A new Ontario house needs one. If the mechanical quote does not name it, it is in somebody else’s quote or nobody’s.
- Pricing radiant without the cooling. A radiant quote of $40,500 is a heating quote. Add $9,000 to $12,000 for cooling before comparing it to system 1.
- Forgetting the water heater belongs to somebody. In systems 1 to 3 it is a separate appliance. Decide who supplies it, bought or rented, before the rough-in.
- Counting a rebate on a new house. The Home Renovation Savings heat pump rebate does not cover new builds; a home occupied six months or less is a new build for the program. The rebate page has the rules.
Questions people ask
How much does HVAC cost in a new house in Ontario?
For a 2,000 sq ft two-storey in frame, about $19,250 before HST for a gas furnace, central AC, ducts, HRV and a power-vented gas tank, and about $26,500 for an all-electric cold-climate heat pump with its ducts, HRV and a heat pump water heater. Radiant floors with ductless cooling start around $55,000. Add the design, $395 to $695.
Is a heat pump more expensive than a furnace in a new house?
About $7,250 more on this house, comparing system 2 with system 1. In ICF the gap closes to about $250, because the heat pump shrinks to about 2 tons and the furnace cannot shrink below the smallest one made.
Why is radiant floor heating so much more expensive?
Because the distribution is tubing in concrete over the whole floor, $9 a square foot plus $4 for a topping over wood, instead of $3,500 of ducts, and because the radiant house still needs its HRV and a separate cooling system. The comfort is the reason people pay it; the radiant vs forced air page weighs it.
Does an ICF house need a smaller HVAC system?
Yes, about half the heating capacity of the same house in frame, around 2 tons instead of 4 here. The ducts, the HRV and the radiant tubing do not halve, so the heat pump and radiant systems drop $3,000 to $13,000 installed, and the fuel bill drops by about half.
Run the five systems on your own house
The system cost comparison calculator takes your heat loss, your fuel prices and your choices and gives the installed cost and the 15-year cost of all five side by side. If your builder or mechanical contractor has already sent quotes, the $99 review reads up to three of them against this table and tells you what each one left out.
Sources and further reading
- Ontario’s Building Code: the official page with the current regulation; heating, ventilation and air conditioning in houses are Part 9, sections 9.32 (ventilation) and 9.33 (heating and air conditioning).
- Ontario’s Building Code, Supplementary Standard SB-12: the energy-efficiency packages that set equipment efficiency, HRV and envelope requirements for a new or renovated Ontario house.
- OntarioHeatLoss.ca: the CSA F280 room-by-room heat loss and the HVAC design and drawings a permit needs, and the number every piece of equipment should be sized from.
