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Heating & Cooling in Excelsior, MN
Central Minnesota Heating and Cooling repairs and replaces furnaces, ACs, heat pumps and boilers in Excelsior (Hennepin County), about 16 miles from downtown Minneapolis.
HVAC service in Excelsior, MN
Excelsior, founded in 1853 as Lake Minnetonka's first settlement, has 2,355 residents and Victorian-era houses on narrow lots beyond Water Street.
- County
- Hennepin County
- ZIP code
- 55331
- Natural gas
- CenterPoint Energy
- Electric
- Xcel Energy
- From downtown Minneapolis
- about 16 miles
Updated October 27, 2026 · By Eric Brown, owner, Central Minnesota Heating and Cooling
What HVAC work do we do most in Excelsior?
- Boiler and radiator service in pre-1920 houses: bleeding air, zone valves, circulator pumps, expansion tanks
- Central air for radiator-heated homes using high-velocity small-duct systems or ductless heads
- Quiet outdoor condenser and heat pump placement on narrow lots
- Chimney liner work when a new furnace leaves the water heater venting alone into an old chimney
Around town: Lake Minnetonka · Excelsior Commons · Water Street historic district · Minnesota Streetcar Museum's Excelsior line · Highway 7
Book in ExcelsiorWhat are Excelsior homes like to heat and cool?
A settlement association organized in New York founded Excelsior in 1853 as the first village on Lake Minnetonka, and by the late 1800s it was a summer resort as well. That gives the town an unusual housing mix for its size: year-round Victorians and foursquares on the grid behind Water Street, alongside former summer cottages that were winterized one room at a time. The cottages are the harder ones to heat, with shallow crawlspaces, thin walls and furnaces or wall heaters added long after they were built.
Excelsior was built out early, so later eras show up as infill: postwar houses on leftover lots, and condominium and townhome buildings near the lake where an association controls vent and condenser locations. Many older houses carry additions, a kitchen bump-out or a second-floor dormer, tied into the original duct system with one long run. Those rooms end up colder in January and warmer in July than the rest of the house, and they are usually the first place a ductless head earns its keep.
What goes wrong with heating in Excelsior in winter?
Houses near the water take the wind straight off the ice on Excelsior Bay and St. Albans Bay, and a long lake winter finds every gap in 1890s window frames and balloon-framed walls. Boilers here run hard for weeks at a time, so a leaking relief valve, a waterlogged expansion tank or a circulator that won't start shows up in the first real cold. Ice dams are common on story-and-a-half roofs with little attic insulation, and winterized cottages on crawlspaces freeze their pipes before anything else.
What goes wrong with cooling in Excelsior in summer?
Lake humidity reaches every old basement in town, and fieldstone walls wick moisture in, so converted-gravity duct systems can carry a musty smell upstairs once the air conditioning starts. Most of the older homes were never designed for central air, which leaves high-velocity tubing, ductless heads or window units. Third floors and finished attics in the Victorians trap heat worst of all. On narrow lots, a condenser squeezed between two houses also recirculates its own hot air unless it has room to breathe.
Which utilities and rebates apply in Excelsior?
CenterPoint's heating rebates cover high-efficiency boilers as well as furnaces, which matters in a town with this many radiator systems, and you can use any dealer. Xcel's heat pump rebates include ductless mini-splits, a common way to cool a radiator house; ask whether the rebate needs a registered contractor. Xcel's Saver's Switch and AC Rewards programs offer bill savings or an annual reward for letting Xcel cycle your AC on peak days.
Rebate programs change every year; check the utility's current terms before you buy. Our guides: Xcel and CenterPoint rebates, heat pump rebates, what happened to the federal credits.
Most-requested in Excelsior
Furnace repair in Excelsior In the late-1800s houses, fieldstone foundations let in moisture that rusts burners and flue pipe, so rust on those parts and a weak chimney draft are the first things to rule out. Furnace replacement in Excelsior Furnace replacement in Excelsior costs $4,500–$9,500 installed, flat-rate and in writing. AC repair in Excelsior Humid July air off Lake Minnetonka exposes a weak system fast, and the fix is priced in writing before we start. AC replacement in Excelsior Central AC replacement in Excelsior costs $5,200–$9,800 installed, with a written flat-rate quote, a Manual J and a 2-year labor warranty. Heat pumps in Excelsior Heat pump installation in Excelsior runs $7,500–$14,500 with us, on a written quote. Mini-splits in Excelsior Ductless mini-split installation in Excelsior costs $4,200–$12,500, flat-rate, a way to cool radiator houses without cutting plaster. Boiler service in Excelsior Excelsior's Victorian-era houses and former lake cottages still use boilers and cast-iron radiators in many places, and we repair and replace them. Tune-ups in Excelsior A furnace or AC tune-up in Excelsior starts at $129, and both together are $219.
More HVAC services we offer
Excelsior HVAC questions
Who repairs furnaces and air conditioners in Excelsior, MN?
Central Minnesota Heating and Cooling, owned by Eric Brown and in business since 2009, serves Excelsior and nearby towns in Hennepin County, about 16 miles from downtown Minneapolis. We're open 7 days, 7am–9pm, and no-heat calls get priority. Call 612-429-3465.
How much does an HVAC service call cost in Excelsior?
An HVAC service call in Excelsior is a flat $79 trip charge, waived when you approve the repair. You get a written price before any work. Installed prices are on our pricing page.
Can an older Excelsior house that heats with radiators get central air?
Yes, though not by borrowing ductwork, because a radiator house has none. The usual choices are a high-velocity system that runs small flexible tubes through closets and attic space to small round outlets, or ductless heads in the rooms you use most. We look at the attic, closets and wall cavities first, then show you where the air handler, outlets and line set would go before you decide.
Who supplies gas and electricity in Excelsior?
CenterPoint Energy supplies natural gas throughout town and Xcel Energy supplies electricity. Gas boilers and furnaces both fall under CenterPoint's heating rebates, and Xcel handles the cooling and heat pump side, including ductless mini-splits. If you smell gas, leave the house and call CenterPoint before anyone touches the equipment.
Can we control radiator heat room by room in our Excelsior house?
On a hot-water system, yes. Thermostatic radiator valves fit each radiator and throttle it to a set temperature, which evens out sunny and shady rooms and keeps a small bedroom from overheating. On larger houses, splitting the piping into zones with their own thermostats and zone valves or pumps does the same thing floor by floor. Steam systems need different parts, so we confirm which you have first.
Our winterized Excelsior cottage sits on a crawlspace. How do we keep pipes and floors from freezing?
Start underneath. Seal and insulate the crawlspace walls and rim joists, lay a vapor barrier over the ground, and bring the space inside the heated envelope so ducts and water lines sit in warm air. If the furnace or air handler lives down there too, a Wi-Fi thermostat with a low-temperature alert warns you before anything freezes. Floors over a warm crawlspace stop feeling cold underfoot as well.
Also serving near Excelsior
- Shorewood, MN 1 mi
- Deephaven, MN 2 mi
- Minnetonka, MN 3 mi
- Chanhassen, MN 3 mi
- Spring Park, MN 4 mi
- Orono, MN 5 mi
- Mound, MN 5 mi
- Victoria, MN 6 mi
Guides for Excelsior homeowners
HSPF2 and COP: Heat Pump Ratings for Minnesota Winters
HSPF2 is a seasonal average; COP is efficiency at one temperature. For a Minnesota winter, compare capacity and COP at 5°F. Our heat pumps run $7,500–$14,500.
Read the guideHow Long Does a Furnace Last in Minnesota?
Most gas furnaces last 15–20 years, per Carrier and Lennox. See why Minnesota winters add wear, the end-of-life signs and our $4,500–$9,500 replacement range.
Read the guide- Carrier Performance vs Comfort Air Conditioners ComparedCooling
- Bryant Evolution vs Legacy Furnaces: What You Pay ForHeating
Brands we service in Excelsior: Carrier · Trane · Lennox · Goodman · Rheem · Mitsubishi Electric · Daikin · American Standard · Navien · Weil-McLain · and every other major brand
Contact Us
Heat out in Excelsior? Call or send a request.