Does a Heat Pump Add Home Value in California?

A national study of 450,000 home sales in 23 states (Shen and coauthors, Nature Energy, 2021) found homes with an air-source heat pump sold for 4.3%–7.1% more, or $10,400–$17,000 in the study's data. It is not California-specific, so we show it as context and do not turn it into a city figure.

Our likely cost runs from $14,600 in Fresno to $16,300 in San Francisco for the same job.

Estimate this project by ZIP All projects

Not an appraisal, a broker price opinion or a prediction of a sale price. Costs are budget estimates, not a bid, appraisal, or insurance claim valuation. Pilot.

The project we priced

Heat pump (replaces furnace and AC). Ducted heat pump (3 tons) with an air handler for an 1,800 sq ft home, replacing a furnace and AC. Existing ducts kept and sealed where they leak, new smart thermostat, 240 V circuits and the required HERS verification.

Same scope in every city, mid-range finishes. Your own home, size and finish choices will differ.

Heat pump (replaces furnace and AC): cost by California city

City	Likely cost	Range	Share of median home value
San Francisco (Bay Area)	$16,300	$14,100–$18,600	1%
Oakland (Bay Area)	$16,300	$14,300–$18,700	2%
San Jose (Bay Area)	$16,300	$14,300–$18,800	1%
Los Angeles (Los Angeles and Orange County)	$15,200	$13,600–$17,400	2%
Long Beach (Los Angeles and Orange County)	$15,300	$13,600–$17,300	2%
Irvine (Los Angeles and Orange County)	$15,000	$13,300–$17,100	1%
San Diego (San Diego)	$15,100	$13,400–$17,000	2%
Sacramento (Sacramento)	$14,800	$13,100–$16,800	3%
Riverside (Inland Empire)	$14,800	$13,200–$16,800	2%
San Bernardino (Inland Empire)	$14,700	$13,100–$16,700	3%
Fresno (Central Valley)	$14,600	$12,900–$16,500	4%
Bakersfield (Central Valley)	$14,600	$13,000–$16,500	4%
Stockton (Central Valley)	$14,900	$13,200–$16,900	3%

Likely is the median of 4,000 simulated outcomes from our estimator; the range is the 10th to 90th percentile. Share of median home value compares the likely cost with the city's median owner-occupied home value (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2025 1-year, table B25077).

Resale value: what we can verify

450,000 homes in 23 states: homes with an air-source heat pump sold for 4.3%-7.1% more ($10,400-$17,000). National, not California-specific.

Source: Shen, Liu, Qiu, Patwardhan and Vaishnav, "Estimation of change in house sales prices in the United States after heat pump adoption", Nature Energy (2021). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-00706-4

Shown as outside research context, with credit. It is not a Caissonix figure and is not applied to any city.

Value figures for this project are coming. Here is how we will get them, without borrowing anyone else's survey numbers:

Public sales and permit records: compare homes that sold after a permitted project with similar homes that did not, county by county.
A 2027 Caissonix survey of California real estate agents and appraisers, by region.

Until then, this page shows cost only. How we measure value.

Questions

How much does a heat pump cost in California?

For the fixed scope on this page (Ducted heat pump (3 tons) with an air handler for an 1,800 sq ft home, replacing a furnace and AC. Existing ducts kept and sealed where they leak, new smart thermostat, 240 V circuits and the required HERS verification), our likely cost runs from $14,600 in Fresno to $16,300 in San Francisco. Your size, finishes and ZIP change it; the free estimator recalculates it line by line.