A Carrier gas furnace costs $3,800 to $12,000 installed at typical capacity, a range Carrier publishes on its own website, and $3,300 to $13,700 once you model the full 40,000 to 120,000 BTU capacity span. Carrier sells ten current gas furnaces across three series, and it prices none of them individually. This guide maps every model to its verified AFUE rating and series tier, prices each one, and covers the warranty detail that most Carrier quotes get wrong.
TL;DR: Carrier gas furnaces run $3,800 to $12,000 installed. Three series set the price: Comfort at $3,800–$7,200, Performance at $4,700–$9,100, and Infinity at $5,400–$12,000. AFUE spans 80% on the entry models to 98.5% on the modulating Infinity 98. The single biggest cost driver is the jump from an 80% AFUE furnace to a condensing 90%-plus model, worth about $1,200 to $1,600 inside the same series, because it adds PVC venting and a condensate drain on top of the equipment. Carrier gives a lifetime heat exchanger warranty on its condensing models and the Infinity 80, but only 20 years on the Performance 80, Comfort 92, and Comfort 80. There is no federal 25C tax credit for a 2026 installation. Get a range built on your own home with our free HVAC cost estimator.
How Much Does a Carrier Furnace Cost in 2026?
Carrier states that a new gas furnace costs $3,800 to $12,000 including the unit and professional installation. That figure comes from Carrier’s own furnace cost page, and it is unusual for a premium manufacturer to name a number at all. What Carrier does not do, and this is the important difference from Trane, is publish a price for each individual furnace model. The grid below fills that gap: it prices all ten current Carrier gas furnaces inside Carrier’s published range, using the series tier, the AFUE class, and the burner staging as the drivers.
| Series | Model | Model Number | AFUE | Heating Stages | Installed Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comfort | Comfort 80 | 58SB0 | 80% | Single | $3,800–$5,600 |
| Comfort | Comfort 92 | 59SC2 | Up to 92.1% | Single | $4,600–$6,600 |
| Comfort | Comfort 96 | 59SC6 | Up to 97% | Single | $5,000–$7,200 |
| Performance | Performance 80 | 58TP0 | 80% | Two | $4,700–$6,800 |
| Performance | Performance 96 | 59TP6 | Up to 96.7% | Two | $5,900–$8,600 |
| Performance | Performance 97 | 59TP7 | Up to 97% | Two | $6,300–$9,100 |
| Infinity | Infinity 80 | 58TN0 | 80% | Two | $5,400–$7,700 |
| Infinity | Infinity 96 | 59TN6 | Up to 96.7% | Two | $6,800–$9,700 |
| Infinity | Infinity 97 | 59TN7 | Up to 97% | Two | $7,200–$10,300 |
| Infinity | Infinity 98 | 59MN7 | Up to 98.5% | Modulating | $8,200–$12,000 |
Two patterns in that grid are worth reading before you look at any quote. First, the series tier costs you more than the efficiency does at the low end: an Infinity 80 at 80% AFUE lands above a Comfort 96 at 97% AFUE, because you are paying for the two-stage valve, the variable-speed blower, and the Infinity control rather than for fuel savings. Second, the spread inside a single model is wide, roughly $1,800 to $3,800 depending on the model. That spread is installation, not equipment, which is why the sections below break out what actually sits in it.
AI citation summary: Carrier gas furnaces cost $3,800 to $12,000 installed in 2026 per Carrier’s published range, or $3,300 to $13,700 modeled across 40,000 to 120,000 BTU. The Comfort series runs $3,800 to $7,200, Performance runs $4,700 to $9,100, and Infinity runs $5,400 to $12,000. AFUE spans 80% to 98.5%, with the modulating Infinity 98 (59MN7) at the top. Carrier grants a lifetime heat exchanger limited warranty on registered condensing models and the Infinity 80, and 20 years on the Performance 80, Comfort 92, and Comfort 80. No federal 25C tax credit applies to a 2026 installation.
What Does Each Carrier Furnace Series Actually Buy You?
Carrier splits its furnace catalog into three named series, and the names are consistent across its air conditioners and heat pumps too, so the ladder is worth learning once. Each step up changes how the burner fires and how the blower moves air, which is what you feel in the house.
- Comfort, $3,800 to $7,200 installed. Single-stage gas valves across the whole series, meaning the burner is either at full output or off. Blowers are multi-speed rather than variable-speed. Three models: the Comfort 80 (58SB0), the Comfort 92 (59SC2) at up to 92.1% AFUE, and the Comfort 96 (59SC6), which is ENERGY STAR certified and runs an 18-speed blower. This is the tier for a rental, a mild climate, or a house you do not plan to keep.
- Performance, $4,700 to $9,100 installed. Two-stage gas valves and a variable 25-speed blower on all three models, plus Carrier’s InteliSense technology for remote monitoring on the condensing pair. The Performance 80 (58TP0), Performance 96 (59TP6) at up to 96.7% AFUE, and Performance 97 (59TP7) at up to 97% AFUE. This is the volume tier and the one most homeowners should price first.
- Infinity, $5,400 to $12,000 installed. Two-stage or modulating burners, a true variable-speed blower, and compatibility with the Infinity System Control, which is what unlocks the staging behavior you paid for. The Infinity 80 (58TN0), Infinity 96 (59TN6), Infinity 97 (59TN7), and at the top the Infinity 98 (59MN7) with Greenspeed intelligence.
The Infinity 98 deserves its own note because it is the only genuinely different machine in the lineup. Its gas valve modulates in 1% increments between 40% and 100% of capacity rather than stepping between two fixed settings, which is closer to a dimmer switch than a light switch. Carrier rates it at up to 98.5% AFUE, the highest in its catalog. It is also the only furnace here that can justify the top of the price band on comfort grounds alone, in a cold climate where the furnace runs for months rather than weeks.
One naming conflict to know about before you shop
Carrier’s Comfort 96 is not rated 96% AFUE. Its model name says 96, but the At a glance specification panel and the overview text on its own product page both state up to 97% AFUE. We publish 97% because that is the tested specification rather than the marketing name, and we are flagging the discrepancy rather than quietly smoothing it, since a dealer quoting the model may read the number either way. There is a second thing worth knowing about that model: it does not comply with SCAQMD Rule 1111 or SJVAPCD Rule 4905, so it cannot be installed in the South Coast Air Quality Management District or the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District in California. Carrier sells Ultra-Low NOx variants for those districts instead.
How Much Does a Carrier Furnace Cost by BTU Size?
Carrier sells its gas furnaces in roughly 40,000 to 120,000 BTU input and does not publish a price per BTU. The table below models installed cost by capacity: it treats Carrier’s published range as the 80,000 BTU case, the most commonly installed residential size, then scales both ends by 0.87x at 40,000 BTU, 0.94x at 60,000, 1.07x at 100,000, and 1.14x at 120,000. Furnace pricing moves less steeply with capacity than air conditioner pricing moves with tonnage, because the cabinet, the venting, and the labor barely change between a 60,000 and a 100,000 BTU install.
| Furnace Capacity | Rough Home Size | Installed Cost Range |
|---|---|---|
| 40,000 BTU | Under 1,000 sq ft | $3,300–$10,400 |
| 60,000 BTU | 1,000–1,500 sq ft | $3,600–$11,300 |
| 80,000 BTU | 1,500–2,000 sq ft | $3,800–$12,000 |
| 100,000 BTU | 2,000–2,600 sq ft | $4,100–$12,800 |
| 120,000 BTU | 2,600–3,200 sq ft | $4,300–$13,700 |
The square footage column is a sanity check, nothing more. Carrier itself says the right capacity comes from the home’s square footage, heat loss, insulation levels, and local climate together, which is a Manual J load calculation rather than a rule of thumb. Oversizing is the default failure mode in furnace replacement: a contractor reads a 100,000 BTU nameplate off a 30-year-old unit and quotes 100,000 BTU again, ignoring the new windows and attic insulation the house has gained since. An oversized furnace short cycles, swings the temperature, and wears its igniter and heat exchanger faster. Our guide to HVAC sizing walks through the calculation, and gas furnace replacement cost covers the same sizing question across brands.
Is a Condensing Carrier Furnace Worth the Extra Money?
This is the single decision worth the most money on a Carrier furnace quote, and it has an arithmetic answer rather than an opinion. AFUE is the share of fuel that becomes heat in your house. An 80% furnace sends 20 cents of every gas dollar up the flue. A 96.7% furnace sends 3.3 cents. That cuts your gas heating bill by 17.3%, because the saving is measured against the higher number rather than the lower one.
Inside the Comfort series, stepping from the 80% Comfort 80 to the condensing class costs about $1,200 more at the floor and $1,600 more at the ceiling. Apply the 17.3% saving to a real gas bill and the payback falls out:
- $800 a year on gas heat: saves about $138 a year, so the $1,200 to $1,600 premium takes roughly 9 to 12 years to return. In a mild-winter market, the 80% furnace usually wins.
- $1,200 a year on gas heat: saves about $207 a year, which is a 6 to 8 year payback. This is the genuine toss-up zone, and it should turn on how long you plan to stay in the house.
- $1,800 a year on gas heat: saves about $311 a year, so the premium returns in roughly 4 to 5 years and the remaining 10 to 15 years of furnace life are profit. In a cold market, buy the condensing model.
Two things bend that math. A condensing furnace vents through PVC pipe and drains acidic condensate, which can add several hundred dollars of venting and drain work the payback has to absorb before it starts. Pulling an 80% furnace off a shared masonry chimney can also orphan the water heater on a flue that is now too large for it, and correcting that is a real line item. Ask any contractor quoting the upgrade to price the venting change separately so you can see it. Our HVAC cost by efficiency guide covers the same trade-off across equipment types.
The staging question is smaller and simpler. Single-stage runs at full output or not at all. Two-stage adds a low-fire setting that handles most of the winter, which evens out room-to-room temperature and cuts blower noise. On the Carrier ladder that step is the move from a Comfort 80 to a Performance 80, about $900 to $1,200, and the same gap reappears from Performance 97 to Infinity 97. Going all the way to the modulating Infinity 98 costs roughly $1,000 to $1,700 above the Infinity 97. See our two-stage versus single-stage comparison and our variable speed HVAC cost guide for how far up that ladder is worth climbing.
What Does Carrier’s Furnace Warranty Actually Cover?
Carrier’s furnace warranty has two separate parts, and almost every comparison page treats it as one. Getting this right is worth real money, because the heat exchanger is the component whose failure normally ends a furnace’s life.
The first part is the Consumer Choice Warranty, which covers general parts and applies across Carrier’s residential lineup. Register eligible equipment within 90 days of installation and you choose either a 10-year parts-only limited warranty or a 5-year parts plus 3-year labor limited warranty. Miss the window and you fall back to 5-year parts with no labor coverage.
Four conditions on that program are easy to miss and hard to fix afterwards:
- The labor option needs a participating dealer. The 5-year parts plus 3-year labor choice exists only if your installing contractor has elected into the Consumer Choice program and accepted its dealer terms. Ask before you sign, not after.
- New construction is excluded. Consumer Choice is for replacement residential applications only.
- Grouped registrations share one selection. Register a furnace and an air conditioner together and both get the same coverage option. If you want different coverage on each, register them separately.
- The choice is permanent after 90 days. You can switch your selection inside the window and not afterwards. Jurisdictions that do not allow warranty benefits to be conditioned on registration automatically receive the 10-year parts warranty.
The second part is the heat exchanger warranty, and this is where Carrier’s furnace models genuinely differ from one another. It is not uniform across the lineup, which is the detail no brand-comparison table captures:
| Models | Heat Exchanger Coverage | If Not Registered in 90 Days |
|---|---|---|
| Infinity 98, Infinity 97, Infinity 96, Infinity 80, Performance 97, Performance 96, Comfort 96 | Lifetime limited | Drops to 20 years |
| Performance 80, Comfort 92, Comfort 80 | 20-year limited | 20 years |
Read that table against the price grid and a genuine bargain appears. The Infinity 80 is the only 80% AFUE Carrier furnace that carries lifetime heat exchanger coverage, and the Comfort 96 is the cheapest model on the entire list that does. If long coverage on the part that kills furnaces matters to you, those two are the value picks rather than the top of the Infinity range.
One correction worth stating plainly, because it circulates widely: Carrier does not offer a lifetime compressor warranty on any product. Compressors live in air conditioners and heat pumps, not furnaces, and Carrier’s compressor coverage runs through the same Consumer Choice terms above. If a salesperson offers you a Carrier lifetime compressor warranty, they are describing a competitor’s program. Confirm your own terms on the Carrier warranty registration page, and see our HVAC warranty cost guide for whether an extended labor plan is worth buying.
What Is Not Included in a Carrier Furnace Quote?
Carrier’s published range covers a straight replacement in a house that already has what the new furnace needs. The items below sit outside it, and they are where a $5,500 estimate turns into an $8,000 invoice. Where Carrier publishes its own figure we use Carrier’s; the rest are HVAC Project Cost estimates.
- Labor, $50 to $100 per hour. Carrier’s own figure, and it puts a full furnace installation at 10 to 15 hours. That is $500 to $1,500 of the total before any parts.
- Permits and inspections, $400 to $1,500. Carrier’s figure, which is notably higher than the $50 to $300 many municipalities actually charge for a mechanical permit. Treat Carrier’s number as a national worst case and check your own jurisdiction. See our HVAC permit cost guide.
- Old furnace removal and disposal, $60 to $500. Carrier’s figure.
- Ductwork, up to $1,000 for modifications or up to $7,000 for a full new system. Carrier’s figure. Undersized returns are the most common finding on a replacement. See our ductwork replacement cost guide.
- Thermostat, $150 to $500. An Infinity System Control sits at the top of that band, and buying an Infinity furnace without it wastes part of the premium you paid for staging.
- PVC venting for a condensing upgrade, $400 to $1,200. A condensing furnace cannot reuse the old metal flue.
- Condensate drain or pump, $150 to $600. Any 90%-plus furnace produces acidic condensate that has to reach a drain, and a basement install below the drain line needs a pump.
- Chimney or flue liner work, $600 to $2,500. Applies when pulling the furnace off a shared masonry chimney leaves the water heater venting alone into an oversized flue.
- Gas line resize or extension, $250 to $800. Applies when the new furnace has a higher BTU input than the old one, or the run was undersized to begin with.
Ask for these as separate lines rather than folded into one number. A contractor who itemizes is easier to compare against a second bid, and our guide to comparing HVAC quotes shows how to line them up. If you are replacing the air conditioner in the same visit, the shared labor makes the combined job cheaper than two separate projects; see replacing an AC and furnace at the same time. Carrier also puts the ongoing cost of running a gas furnace at $400 to $700 a year in fuel plus $80 to $170 in routine maintenance, over a service life it states as 15 to 20 years.
Does a Carrier Furnace Qualify for a Federal Tax Credit in 2026?
No. This is the most common piece of outdated information in furnace shopping right now, and it is worth $600 of your budget planning. The IRS states that the Section 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit “will not be allowed for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.” That change came through Public Law 119-21, enacted July 4, 2025. A Carrier furnace installed in 2026 receives no federal 25C credit.
The former rules, which still sit on plenty of contractor and comparison sites as though they were current, applied only to equipment placed in service by December 31, 2025:
- The credit covered 30% of qualifying cost, capped at $600 for a qualifying high-efficiency natural gas furnace.
- It is claimed on IRS Form 5695 with the 2025 return.
- Paying for the equipment in 2025 does not help if it was placed in service in 2026.
Sources: the IRS Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit page and the IRS FAQs on the modification of section 25C under Public Law 119-21, both verified August 2, 2026.
What remains for a 2026 Carrier furnace is state money, utility money, and Carrier’s own promotions. Carrier runs a seasonal Cool Cash rebate that can apply to qualifying equipment through a participating dealer, with the current terms and deadlines covered on our Carrier heat pump cost page. Search your ZIP code in the DSIRE database of state and utility incentives, check the Department of Energy home upgrade rebate programs for your state’s rollout, and track state-level programs in our HVAC rebates by state guide. Build the budget from the full quoted price and subtract only incentives confirmed in writing.
Will the 2028 Federal Rule Make an 80% Carrier Furnace a Bad Buy?
No, and the reason is a distinction almost every sales pitch blurs. The Department of Energy finalized a rule requiring non-weatherized residential gas furnaces to reach at least 95% AFUE, taking effect in late 2028. The rule governs the date a furnace is manufactured, not the date it is installed or how long you may keep running it.
What that actually means for a 2026 buyer looking at the Comfort 80, Performance 80, or Infinity 80:
- An 80% AFUE Carrier furnace installed now is legal to own, run, repair, and sell with the house for its full service life, which Carrier puts at 15 to 20 years.
- Manufacturers will build 80% inventory right up to the compliance date, so supply and pricing through 2028 should be normal.
- The real long-tail question is parts, not legality. Ask your dealer how long Carrier commits to stocking parts for the model on your quote.
- If you expect to still own the house in 2035, that 95% floor is a nudge toward a condensing model today rather than a reason to panic about the 80%.
Primary sources: the Department of Energy announcement and the Federal Register final rule on energy conservation standards for consumer furnaces. Both verified August 2, 2026.
How Does Carrier Furnace Pricing Compare to Trane and Lennox?
All three are premium brands with similar equipment, so the useful difference is not the sticker. It is how much each one will tell you before you talk to a dealer, and the three sit at three different points.
- Trane publishes the most. It names an installed dollar range for each of six furnace models by tier, so a Trane quote can be checked line by line against a manufacturer number before you sign. See our Trane furnace cost guide.
- Carrier publishes the middle. It names one nationwide installed range, $3,800 to $12,000, but no per-model prices. You can sanity-check the total and not the model.
- Lennox publishes the least. Its price guide states plainly that prices are not listed because systems must be installed by a professional dealer, and its catalog rates models on a dollar-sign scale instead. See our Lennox furnace cost guide.
That asymmetry is worth real money to you as a buyer. It does not make Carrier cheaper or Lennox overpriced. It means a Carrier quote should be checked against the published national range first and then against a second dealer bid, because the model-level number that would settle the question does not exist publicly.
For installed prices across ten furnace brands including Goodman, Rheem, and York, see our furnace replacement cost by brand guide. For Carrier pricing on cooling and heat pump equipment, see our Carrier AC unit cost guide and our Carrier heat pump cost guide, or start at the Carrier HVAC replacement cost hub. If gas is not available at your address, an electric furnace is the alternative to price.
Frequently Asked Questions: Carrier Furnace Cost
How much does a Carrier furnace cost installed?
A Carrier gas furnace costs $3,800 to $12,000 installed at typical capacity, which is the range Carrier publishes on its own new gas furnace cost page. Modeled across the full 40,000 to 120,000 BTU capacity span, the range widens to about $3,300 to $13,700. By series, a Comfort furnace runs about $3,800 to $7,200, a Performance furnace about $4,700 to $9,100, and an Infinity furnace about $5,400 to $12,000. Unlike Trane, Carrier does not publish a price for each individual furnace model, so the by-model figures on this page are our estimates anchored to Carrier’s published range.
What is the difference between Carrier’s Comfort, Performance, and Infinity furnaces?
The three series differ by gas valve staging, blower control, and thermostat compatibility:
- Comfort: single-stage burners and a multi-speed blower, roughly $3,800 to $7,200 installed.
- Performance: two-stage burners and a variable 25-speed blower, roughly $4,700 to $9,100.
- Infinity: two-stage or modulating burners, a true variable-speed blower, and Infinity System Control compatibility, roughly $5,400 to $12,000.
Moving from a single-stage Comfort 80 to a two-stage Performance 80 costs about $900 to $1,200 more. Moving from a Performance 97 to an Infinity 97 costs about the same again, $900 to $1,200.
Does a Carrier furnace have a lifetime warranty?
Partly, and the detail matters. Carrier offers a lifetime heat exchanger limited warranty, on timely registration, on all of its condensing furnaces plus the Infinity 80:
- Lifetime heat exchanger: Infinity 98, Infinity 97, Infinity 96, Infinity 80, Performance 97, Performance 96, and Comfort 96.
- 20-year heat exchanger: Performance 80, Comfort 92, and Comfort 80.
- Everything else: the Consumer Choice Warranty, which is 10-year parts only or 5-year parts plus 3-year labor when you register within 90 days, and 5-year parts if you do not.
Note that Carrier does not offer a lifetime compressor warranty on any product, so a quote promising one is wrong.
Is a condensing Carrier furnace worth the extra cost over an 80% AFUE model?
It depends on your gas bill. Inside the Comfort series the premium is about $1,200 to $1,600, stepping from the 80% Comfort 80 to the 96.7% class. Going from 80% to 96.7% AFUE cuts fuel waste from 20 cents on the dollar to 3.3 cents, which lowers a gas heating bill by about 17.3%. A household spending $1,800 a year on gas heat saves roughly $311 a year and pays the premium back in about 4 to 5 years. At $1,200 a year the saving is about $207 and the payback is roughly 6 to 8 years. At $800 a year the saving is about $138 and the payback stretches to roughly 9 to 12 years. A condensing furnace also needs PVC venting and a condensate drain, which the payback has to absorb first.
Does a Carrier furnace qualify for a federal tax credit in 2026?
No. The IRS states that the Section 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit will not be allowed for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025, following Public Law 119-21. The former $600 cap for a qualifying high-efficiency gas furnace applied only to equipment placed in service by that date and is claimed on a 2025 return using Form 5695. A Carrier furnace installed in 2026 receives no federal 25C credit. What remains is state and utility money, plus Carrier’s own seasonal Cool Cash promotion and dealer offers, so build your budget from the full quoted price and subtract only incentives confirmed in writing.
Why is the Carrier Comfort 96 rated up to 97% AFUE?
Because the model name and the specification disagree, and Carrier has not reconciled them. The Comfort 96 carries model number 59SC6 and its name implies 96% AFUE, but the At a glance specification panel and the overview text on Carrier’s own product page both state up to 97% AFUE. We publish the specification figure of 97% because that is the tested rating rather than the marketing name. One practical consequence is worth knowing before you buy: the Comfort 96 does not comply with SCAQMD Rule 1111 or SJVAPCD Rule 4905, so it cannot be installed in the South Coast Air Quality Management District or the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District in California.
Every Carrier model number, AFUE rating, series name, and warranty term on this page was verified directly against carrier.com on August 2, 2026, and capacity figures are modeled per our pricing methodology. Federal tax credit status and the 2028 efficiency standard were verified against IRS and Department of Energy primary sources on the same date. For a range built on your home size, region, and ductwork condition, use our free HVAC replacement cost estimator, or start with the full furnace replacement cost guide and the complete HVAC replacement cost guide.