How to Calculate Snow Blower Auger Housing Cost in 5 Steps

Step 1: Count the housings the blowers actually need

Start with the blowers being serviced, not the housings on sale. Each blower needs its own sound housing — so the default count here is 2 housings for two blowers, not one housing shared between machines that throw snow through separate augers. Check every blower before you settle the count, because a housing on one blower cannot guard the auger of another, and a blower left on a cracked housing is the one that sprays snow sideways and chews gravel in heavy snow. Write the count down before you look at any price: once a sale price is in front of you, it is easy to buy the housings on offer rather than the housings the blowers need.

Step 2: Find the price per housing

Use the shelf price for the width and mounting pattern your blower actually takes — $142.99 a housing on the defaults. Housings differ in width, steel gauge and bolt pattern, and a housing that will not bolt squarely to the frame leaves a gap the auger can catch on, so do not use one average price for every blower, and do not use a housing whose mounting pattern you have not checked against the frame; both errors cost money, one at the till and one in a blower that throws snow where it should not. If the shop lists a multi-pack price, divide it by the housing count to get the per-housing price, and check whether the pack price already includes a discount before you apply another one in step 4.

Step 3: Multiply count by price for the subtotal

The subtotal is the count times the price each: 2 × $142.99 = $285.98. This is the figure before anything is taken off and before any tax is added, and it is the figure most people mistake for the total. It is not the total — it is only the starting point. If your subtotal looks wrong, the count or the price is wrong, because this step is pure multiplication; fix the input, not the arithmetic.

Step 4: Take the discount off the subtotal

Multiply the subtotal by one minus the discount rate: $285.98 × 90% = $257.38 at 10% off. The discount comes off the subtotal, not off the taxed total, and that order matters — it is also why a bigger discount shrinks the tax in the next step. If a voucher applies only to certain housings, apply it only to those housings’ share of the subtotal, not to the whole basket.

Step 5: Add the tax, then check the per-housing figure

Tax is charged on the discounted price: $257.38 × 6% = $15.44, so the total is $257.38 + $15.44 = $272.82. Then divide by the count to check the per-housing figure: $272.82 ÷ 2 = $136.41 a housing. That per-housing figure is the one to compare against other shops and other housings — if it is far above the shelf price you started with, something went wrong, because a discount should pull the per-housing figure below the shelf price, not above it.

Worked example

2 housings, $142.99 a housing, 10% off, 6% tax. Subtotal: 2 × $142.99 = $285.98. Discounted: $285.98 × 90% = $257.38. Tax: $257.38 × 6% = $15.44. Total: $257.38 + $15.44 = $272.82, which is $136.41 a housing. At 4 housings the same arithmetic gives $571.96 subtotal, $514.76 discounted, $30.89 of tax, $545.65 in all. At no discount the same 2 housings cost $285.98 plus $17.16 of tax, $303.14 in all. The Winter Snow Blower Auger Housing Cost Calculator reproduces every one of these figures from the same inputs.

Three mistakes that break the total

First, taxing the pre-discount price: tax on $285.98 instead of $257.38 gives $8.58 of tax instead of $15.44, overstating the total by $0.86. Second, counting housings on offer instead of housings the blowers need: buying 4 housings when the blowers need 2 ties up $545.65 that could have stayed in the household budget. Third, using the wrong mounting pattern: a housing that will not bolt squarely to the frame is not a saving if it leaves a gap the auger catches on — price the housing the blower takes, then look for that housing on sale.

Frequently asked questions