Heat pump vs electric furnace: running cost

This is the largest running-cost gap on this site, and the reason is physics rather than efficiency ratings: one of these makes heat, the other moves it. At the US average rate of 18.34¢ per kilowatt-hour the gap is $1,230 a year.

All comparisons · Both figures from the same duty-cycle model · EIA June 2026

Heat pump (heating) costs less by

$1,230a year

$12,298 over ten years · heat pump (heating) uses 74% less electricity

Heat pump (heating) 2,307 kWh a year against 9,012 kWh — at the US average rate of 18.34¢/kWh.

Heat pump (heating)2,307 kWh$423
Electric furnace9,012 kWh$1,653

The verdict

A heat pump wins, and not narrowly. Resistance heating is 100% efficient by definition — one kilowatt-hour in, one kilowatt-hour of heat out — and that is its ceiling. A heat pump moves heat instead of creating it, so it delivers two to four kilowatt-hours of heat per kilowatt-hour drawn. There is no resistance furnace on the market that closes this gap, because the gap is not about build quality.

Side by side

Heat pump (heating) and electric furnace are costed by the same function from the same dataset, so the $1,230 between them is a difference in the appliances and not in how each was measured. Heat pump (heating) draws an average 999 W across the hours it runs; electric furnace draws 3,755 W across its own.

Both at 18.34¢/kWh, the EIA residential average for June 2026. Ten years is roughly the service life of either.

Heat pump (heating)Electric furnaceDifference
Electricity a year2,307 kWh9,012 kWh6,705 kWh
Cost a year$423$1,653$1,230
Cost a month$35$138$102
Over ten years$4,230$16,528$12,298

The assumptions behind those figures

Nothing above is a manufacturer’s claim. 1,800 W at 55% for 14 hours a day, 165 days a year, is where heat pump (heating)’s 2,307 kWh comes from; 15,000 W at 25% for 16 hours over 150 days is where electric furnace’s 9,012 kWh comes from. The duty cycle is the input most published comparisons leave out, and it is why the ratings and the running costs are not in the same proportion here.

Change any of these on the appliance’s own page and every figure moves with it. The duty cycle is a property of the machine; the hours are a property of you.

Heat pump (heating)Electric furnace
Rated power1,800 W15,000 W
Duty cycle55%25%
Hours a day in service1416
Days a year165150
Average draw while in service999 W3,755 W

Does the switch pay for itself?

The saving is $1,230 a year. What that has to pay back is the one number this site does not have — what heat pump (heating) costs you, installed, after whatever incentives you qualify for — and quotes for the same job differ by thousands. So put yours in rather than have this page invent one, and the arithmetic runs in front of you.

Residential average for June 2026, from the EIA. Your own tariff may differ; you can read it off your bill.

The price after any rebate or tax credit you qualify for — that is the number the saving has to pay back.

Not how long it lasts — how long you expect to be the one paying the bill.

Saving a year
$1,230
Pays back in
—

once you enter a price

Net over 15 years
—
Electricity saved
6,705 kWh

a year

Enter the quote you were actually given, after any rebate or credit. At the US average rate of 18.34¢ per kWh the switch saves $1,230 a year — that is the figure your quote has to pay back.

The gap in your state

The appliances are the same everywhere; the rate is not. The gap between these two is worth $3,535 a year in Hawaii and $879 in Nevada — 4× apart, on identical appliances.

A year of each, by state. Residential average price, EIA June 2026.

StateRateHeat pump (heating)Electric furnaceDifference
Hawaii52.72¢$1,216$4,751$3,535
California34.74¢$801$3,131$2,329
Massachusetts29.61¢$683$2,668$1,985
Maine29.59¢$683$2,667$1,984
New York29.49¢$680$2,658$1,977
Rhode Island29.23¢$674$2,634$1,960
Alaska28.21¢$651$2,542$1,892
New Hampshire27.01¢$623$2,434$1,811
New Jersey24.95¢$576$2,248$1,673
Vermont24.44¢$564$2,203$1,639
District of Columbia24.39¢$563$2,198$1,635
Connecticut24.32¢$561$2,192$1,631
Michigan22.99¢$530$2,072$1,542
Maryland21.84¢$504$1,968$1,464
Pennsylvania21.73¢$501$1,958$1,457
Illinois19.89¢$459$1,792$1,334
Wisconsin19.56¢$451$1,763$1,312
Delaware19.29¢$445$1,738$1,293
Ohio19.19¢$443$1,729$1,287
Minnesota17.52¢$404$1,579$1,175
Indiana17.51¢$404$1,578$1,174
Virginia17.22¢$397$1,552$1,155
Colorado17.13¢$395$1,544$1,149
Alabama16.4¢$378$1,478$1,100
Georgia16.36¢$377$1,474$1,097
Oregon16.32¢$376$1,471$1,094
Missouri16.22¢$374$1,462$1,088
Texas15.94¢$368$1,437$1,069
Iowa15.93¢$367$1,436$1,068
Kansas15.71¢$362$1,416$1,053
South Carolina15.55¢$359$1,401$1,043
West Virginia15.45¢$356$1,392$1,036
South Dakota15.36¢$354$1,384$1,030
Wyoming15.24¢$352$1,373$1,022
Arizona15.18¢$350$1,368$1,018
Montana15.14¢$349$1,364$1,015
Florida15.1¢$348$1,361$1,013
New Mexico15.06¢$347$1,357$1,010
Washington14.91¢$344$1,344$1,000
Mississippi14.88¢$343$1,341$998
North Carolina14.74¢$340$1,328$988
Idaho14.37¢$331$1,295$964
Oklahoma14.33¢$331$1,291$961
Kentucky14.26¢$329$1,285$956
Arkansas14.12¢$326$1,272$947
North Dakota14.12¢$326$1,272$947
Tennessee14.07¢$325$1,268$943
Louisiana13.49¢$311$1,216$905
Utah13.37¢$308$1,205$896
Nebraska13.25¢$306$1,194$888
Nevada13.11¢$302$1,181$879

Questions

Is a heat pump actually cheaper to run than electric resistance heat?
A heat pump wins, and not narrowly. On the assumptions printed above, heat pump (heating) costs $423 a year and electric furnace costs $1,653 at 18.34¢ per kilowatt-hour — a difference of $1,230 a year, or $12,298 over ten years at today’s rate.
How is heat pump (heating)’s 2,307 kWh a year calculated?
Rated watts × duty cycle × hours × days, plus standby, times your rate — the same function that produces every figure on this site. For heat pump (heating): 1,800 W × 55% × 14 h × 165 days ÷ 1,000 = 2,307 kWh, which at 18.34¢ is $423. Electric furnace runs through the identical arithmetic on its own assumptions and lands at $1,653. The rate is the EIA residential average for June 2026; nothing here is a manufacturer’s claim.
Does a heat pump stop working in the cold?
Modern cold-climate models produce useful heat well below freezing, though their coefficient of performance falls as the outdoor temperature drops. The temperature at which the backup element engages is the balance point, and it is a property of the installation rather than of heat pumps in general — a correctly sized unit in an insulated house has a much lower balance point than an undersized one in a leaky one.
Is the saving worth the install cost?
That depends entirely on the quote, which is why the calculator above asks for yours rather than assuming one. Divide the installed price by the annual saving to get the payback in years, then compare that with how long you expect to stay and how long the equipment lasts. Utility and federal incentives frequently move that number by several years.
Does my state change the answer?
It changes the size of the gap, never its direction. The same pair costs $3,535 a year apart in Hawaii and $879 in Nevada. Whichever uses less electricity uses less everywhere; only what that is worth moves.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, June 2026. U.S. Government work, public domain.

How every figure on this page is computed · Where the data comes from