A chiller typically costs between $3,000 and $200,000, depending on its cooling capacity and type. Small air-cooled units in the 5 to 20 ton range start around $3,000 to $15,000, while large water-cooled systems rated at 100 tons can run $100,000 to $200,000. The upfront price is only part of the picture, though. Energy, maintenance, and refrigerant choices all shape what you’ll actually spend over the life of the equipment.
Cost by Capacity and Type
Chiller pricing scales with cooling capacity, measured in tons. A “ton” of cooling equals 12,000 BTU per hour, roughly the amount needed to cool a small commercial space. The two main categories are air-cooled and water-cooled, and water-cooled units cost more upfront but tend to be more energy efficient over time.
For air-cooled chillers, expect to pay roughly $500 to $1,500 per ton of capacity. A small unit in the 5 to 20 ton range runs $3,000 to $15,000. Mid-range systems between 20 and 100 tons fall in the $15,000 to $80,000 window, and a 100-ton air-cooled chiller specifically lands around $70,000 to $120,000.
Water-cooled chillers carry a higher price tag: approximately $700 to $2,000 per ton. In the 20 to 100 ton bracket, pricing ranges from $20,000 to $100,000, though a dedicated 100-ton water-cooled unit more realistically costs $100,000 to $200,000. Water-cooled systems also require a cooling tower, which adds to the installation budget.
What Drives the Price Up or Down
Capacity is the biggest cost driver, but several other factors move the number significantly. The compressor type matters: scroll compressors are common in smaller units and cost less, while screw and centrifugal compressors handle larger loads and come at a premium. Custom configurations for specific industrial processes (pharmaceutical manufacturing, plastics molding, data center cooling) also increase costs because they require tighter temperature tolerances or specialized materials.
Refrigerant choice is becoming an increasingly important pricing factor. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends purchasing chillers with lower-GWP (global warming potential) refrigerants to avoid future retrofit costs as older refrigerants are phased out under federal regulations. Units designed for next-generation refrigerants may carry a modest premium now, but choosing a system that runs on a soon-to-be-restricted refrigerant could mean expensive conversions or early replacement down the road.
Annual Energy Costs
Electricity is the single largest ongoing expense for any chiller. Energy consumption is measured in kilowatts per ton (kW/ton), and the difference between an efficient unit and a mediocre one adds up fast.
High-efficiency chillers can produce chilled water at less than 0.50 kW per ton. For air-cooled systems, anything consistently above 1.2 kW/ton signals poor performance. For water-cooled systems, that threshold is around 0.64 kW/ton. To put real dollars on this: a 100-ton chiller running 24 hours a day for a 180-day cooling season at an average electricity rate of $0.086 per kWh costs roughly $18,600 per year at 0.5 kW/ton efficiency, $22,300 at 0.6 kW/ton, and $26,000 at 0.7 kW/ton. That $7,400 annual spread between a good unit and a slightly less efficient one represents tens of thousands of dollars over a chiller’s lifetime.
Water-cooled chillers generally win on efficiency. Centrifugal models in the 300 to 2,000 ton range achieve the best available performance at around 0.38 kW/ton under partial load conditions, while comparable air-cooled screw chillers bottom out around 0.83 kW/ton. This efficiency gap is why water-cooled systems often make financial sense for large facilities despite higher purchase prices.
Maintenance Costs
Preventive maintenance for a commercial chiller typically runs $800 to $5,000 per unit per year, depending on the size and complexity of the system. A typical service contract covers three visits: a spring startup inspection, a mid-season operational check, and a winter shutdown. Based on contract pricing from a state government procurement (Trane service contracts for Wisconsin state buildings), individual service visits range from about $230 to $3,200 per visit depending on the chiller model and the type of work performed. Emergency service rates run $160 to $320 per hour depending on the time of day, with weekend and holiday calls at the higher end.
Skipping maintenance is a false economy. A neglected cooling tower can reduce chiller efficiency by 10% to 35%, and a dirty condenser coil on an air-cooled unit cuts performance by 5% to 15%. On a 100-ton chiller spending $20,000 a year in electricity, a 20% efficiency loss means $4,000 in wasted energy, likely more than the cost of a maintenance contract. Chemical cleaning of heat transfer surfaces alone can recover 5% to 10% in energy savings.
How Long Chillers Last
Chiller lifespan varies dramatically by type. ASHRAE data from nearly 300 buildings shows centrifugal chillers lasting an average of 25.2 years before replacement. Air-cooled screw chillers average 23 years, and absorption chillers (a less common type used in specific industrial applications) can reach a mean lifespan of 38 years. Air-cooled reciprocating chillers have the shortest average life at around 11 years.
These numbers matter for total cost of ownership. A $120,000 water-cooled centrifugal chiller that lasts 25 years costs $4,800 per year in equipment depreciation alone. An $80,000 air-cooled reciprocating unit lasting 11 years costs $7,270 per year. When you factor in the lower energy consumption of water-cooled systems, the more expensive unit frequently turns out cheaper over its full service life.
Total Cost of Ownership
The purchase price of a chiller represents roughly 10% to 20% of what you’ll spend on it over its lifetime. Energy dominates. A 100-ton chiller running at 0.6 kW/ton for 25 years at current electricity rates racks up over $550,000 in energy costs alone, dwarfing even a $200,000 purchase price. Add $2,000 to $4,000 per year in maintenance, and the total ownership cost for a large commercial chiller easily exceeds $700,000.
This is why efficiency ratings deserve as much attention as the sticker price. Spending an extra $20,000 to $30,000 upfront for a unit that operates at 0.5 kW/ton instead of 0.7 kW/ton saves roughly $7,400 per year in electricity. That premium pays for itself in three to four years, with 20-plus years of savings after that. If you’re comparing quotes, ask for the kW/ton rating at both full load and partial load conditions, since most chillers spend the majority of their operating hours at partial load.