Heat Pump vs Gas Furnace: What Does Each Cost a Year?
Replacing your heating system? Enter your home, climate and local rates — get annual costs for a heat pump, a gas furnace and propane, plus how long the heat pump's equipment premium takes to pay back.
Climate & insulation aware Includes cold-climate aux heat Multi-currency — switch in the header
1 Your home & equipment
Home & climate
ft²
Equipment
HSPF
%
USD
USD
My A/C also needs replacing
A heat pump replaces A/C too — fair comparison adds it to the furnace side
USD
Your fuel prices
/kWh
/therm
/gal
US average residential ~18¢/kWh (Nov 2026); peak/off-peak are typical utility TOU values. Source: EIA, 2026-11.
2 The verdict
—
Calculating… Adjust inputs to see results instantly.
Heat pump / year
—
electricity for heating
Gas furnace / year
—
fuel for heating
Equipment premium
—
heat pump vs furnace + A/C
Payback
—
on the equipment difference
Heating only — cooling costs are similar for both systems and excluded. See methodology for every assumption.
15-year total cost: heat pump vs your current fuel
equipment + heating energy, cumulative — the crossing point is payback Heat pump Gas furnace
Annual heating cost, all three options
same home, same weather, only the system changes| System | Fuel / energy use | Annual cost | New equipment | 15-year total |
|---|
How this calculator works (methodology & assumptions)
Heating demand = floor area × climate factor × insulation factor (kWh thermal/yr)
Gas: input therms = (demand / 29.3) ÷ AFUE → × your $/therm
Propane: gallons = input therms × 100,000 ÷ 91,500 → × your $/gal
Heat pump: COP = HSPF ÷ 3.412
kWh = (1 − aux) × demand ÷ COP + aux × demand → × your $/kWh
Payback = (heat pump equipment − furnace [+ A/C]) ÷ annual savings
Gas: input therms = (demand / 29.3) ÷ AFUE → × your $/therm
Propane: gallons = input therms × 100,000 ÷ 91,500 → × your $/gal
Heat pump: COP = HSPF ÷ 3.412
kWh = (1 − aux) × demand ÷ COP + aux × demand → × your $/kWh
Payback = (heat pump equipment − furnace [+ A/C]) ÷ annual savings
- Climate factors: mild 8 · mixed 12 · cold 16 · very cold 20 kWh/ft²/yr of heat demand; insulation scales it ×0.65 / ×1.0 / ×1.45.
- Auxiliary resistance heat share rises with cold: 0% mild · 5% mixed · 15% cold · 30% very cold — this is why heat pumps lose ground in sub-zero climates.
- Cooling excluded: both systems cool similarly (a heat pump is an A/C that reverses), so it cancels out of the comparison.
- With "A/C also needs replacing" ON, the A/C cost is added to the furnace side — the fair way to compare, since a heat pump handles both jobs.
- Excluded: duct modifications, electric panel upgrades, fuel price volatility, maintenance differences (heat pumps need less service).
- Incentives not modeled: the federal 25C credit ended for systems placed in service after Dec 31, 2025. Subtract any state or utility rebate from the heat pump cost before comparing.