Heat Pump Payback in Boerne, TX
Will a heat pump pay off in Boerne, TX?
In Boerne, the math is close enough that it comes down to how long you plan to stay. Against a like-for-like gas furnace and AC swap, going electric costs $3,000 more up front here. Boerne's residents would see roughly $337 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 8.9 years. Whether that's worth it in Boerne depends on how many years you expect to own the place.
Compare against another city
Boerne is one of 3206 cities covered here, each run through the same model. Search another below.
The climate behind Boerne's payback figure
1016 heating degree days pile up here every year, so Boerne barely has a winter to speak of; the cooling side runs to 3775 cooling degree days, where summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill. 27°F is the figure equipment gets sized against here, the 99th-percentile cold snap, not an average day, with a low of 18°F in the 2024 station record. Worked through the model, that's a seasonal COP of 3 on the standard unit fit for this climate. A standard ducted system is enough here; Boerne's design temperature doesn't justify the cold-climate premium. Source: NOAA station San Antonio International Air, 22.2 miles from Boerne, the closest one on record.
The yearly running costs in Boerne
Modelled on a typical 2000-square-foot house, the heat pump draws about 858 kWh a year to keep it warm, plus cooling, for a combined electric bill near $658 a year. The gas furnace it replaces burns roughly 11 Mcf a year at $19.42 per Mcf here, for a running cost near $996 a year including the old AC (electricity here runs 16.15¢/kWh). Priced as a standalone purchase, with a working furnace ripped out early, payback would take longer than the 15-year equipment life. Measured against the like-for-like replacement instead, a household here ends 15 years $2,059 ahead.
What would change Boerne's answer
Because the heat pump's better air conditioning saves more electricity than its heating uses, it stays cheaper to run than the current furnace and AC in Boerne at any electricity price. When quotes arrive, compare the heat pump price with a like-for-like furnace and AC replacement: at $337 a year saved, a difference under $2,359 pays back within 7 years here, and under $3,370 within 10.
If your home heats with electric baseboard instead of gas
Not every home in Boerne has gas service. Swap the comparison to resistance heat instead of gas, and Boerne's answer improves. The saving here runs about $547 a year, which recovers the extra $7,500 spent going electric in roughly 13.7 years.
Where Boerne ranks in this dataset
Boerne lands at position 2895 out of 3206 cities on heating severity (coldest is 1), and 1735 out of 3206 by population size (biggest is 1). That's the mildest third of cities covered, where utility rates carry more of the answer than climate does.
Next step if you live in Boerne
About 22,712 people live in Boerne, Texas, and every number on this page is what a contractor would actually work from when quoting a system here, the point isn't to replace that quote, it's to tell you whether to bother asking for one. Here, there's no cost penalty to waiting until your current furnace or AC actually needs replacing.
Get quotes from local HVAC contractors before deciding.
Where Boerne's figure comes from
Every constant behind this page, the 3 seasonal COP, the degree-day corrections, the equipment costs, is documented in the methodology guide. Not every home in Boerne has gas; the guide comparing a heat pump against electric baseboard covers that case separately.