Why this exists

Most "heat pump savings" pages online quote one national number, which is close to meaningless: whether a heat pump saves money depends entirely on how cold your winters get, what your utility charges for electricity and gas, and what you are heating with today. HeatPumpPayback replaces that one number with 3206 local ones, each computed from the same public data a contractor would actually size a system against.

What goes into the number

Climate figures — heating and cooling degree days, the 99% winter design temperature — come from the nearest NOAA weather station to each city. Electricity and gas rates come from EIA's state-level residential rate tables. Both are cited on every city page, and the full model, including every constant it assumes, is documented in the methodology guide.

It is allowed to say no

A calculator that always recommends the thing it is about is a sales pitch. In cold climates with cheap natural gas — Minnesota, North Dakota, parts of Montana — this site says plainly that a heat pump would cost more to run each year than the furnace it replaces. That verdict is computed the same way as every other city's, not softened because it is an unwelcome answer.

Who runs this

HeatPumpPayback is an independently run site. It is not affiliated with any heat pump manufacturer, HVAC contractor, or utility. Where a page includes a sponsored link or an affiliate programme, that is disclosed on the page itself and in the privacy policy.