Heat Pump vs. Furnace Cost Calculator

Compare what a heat pump and a furnace cost to heat your home for a year, with your own energy prices.

A typical U.S. home in a cold climate uses 50 to 90. See the tips.
Heat Pump
HSPF ÷ 3.412. An HSPF of 9 is about 2.6.
$
Furnace
Fuel
$
Fractions and decimals both work.
–
Saved per Year
Heat pump per year
Furnace per year
Heat pump per million BTU
Furnace per million BTU
Break-even COP
Cheaper

Scenarios

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Heat Pump vs. Furnace Cost

Compare heating systems by what it costs to deliver one million BTU of heat into the house. Divide the fuel price by the heat in that unit of fuel and by the system's efficiency. Heat pumps move heat instead of making it, so their efficiency (COP) is above 100%: a COP of 3 delivers 3 units of heat per unit of electricity.

Heat pump $/million BTU = $/kWh × 1,000,000 ÷ (3,412 × COP)
Furnace $/million BTU = fuel price × 1,000,000 ÷ (BTU per unit × AFUE)
Annual cost = $/million BTU × million BTU needed

Worked Example

Heat Content of Fuels

FuelBTU per Unit
Electricity3,412 per kWh
Natural gas100,000 per therm
Propane91,452 per gallon
Heating oil138,500 per gallon

U.S. Energy Information Administration heat content values.

Tips

To estimate heat needed, look at last winter's bills: therms of gas × 0.1 × furnace efficiency gives million BTU delivered (for example, 700 therms × 0.1 × 0.80 = 56). A heat pump's COP drops in very cold weather, so use a seasonal figure (from HSPF) rather than the rated COP at 47 °F. Heat pumps also cool, which a furnace doesn't.