Converse, TX: the heat pump payback math
The math in Converse isn't close — a heat pump wins outright. Against a like-for-like gas furnace and AC swap, going electric costs $1,000 more up front here (already netting out a $2,000 tax credit). That premium is recovered through $336 of lower running costs every year, landing the payback clock at roughly 3 years. Nothing about that conclusion is generic — it's built entirely from Converse's own numbers.
The climate behind Converse's payback figure
Degree days tell the story here: Converse racks up 1011 heating degree days each year (base 65°F), and summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill, with 3754 cooling degree days on the cooling side. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 27.3°F here (record low 16.2°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 3.01 for the standard class of unit this climate calls for. A standard ducted system is enough here; Converse's design temperature doesn't justify the cold-climate premium. Climate figures trace to the nearest NOAA station, RANDOLPH AFB AIRPORT, 2.9 miles from Converse.
The month-to-month numbers for Converse
Modelled on a typical 2000-square-foot house, the heat pump draws about 850 kWh a year to keep it warm, plus cooling, for a combined electric bill near $654 a year. That compares with roughly 11 Mcf a year of gas at Converse's 19.42 per-Mcf rate — about $990 a year — against a local electricity rate of 16.15¢/kWh. Looked at as a full purchase rather than an incremental one, payback here is roughly 32.7 years, leaving the 15-year total $4,039 ahead.
Electric resistance heat in Converse, compared
Gas isn't universal in Converse — many houses run on electric heat already. Swap the comparison to resistance heat instead of gas, and Converse's answer improves. Switching saves about $545 a year here — a heat pump moving heat rather than generating it needs far less electricity than resistance coils — so the extra $5,500 spent up front comes back in about 10.1 years.
Where Converse ranks in this dataset
Converse lands at position 2905 out of 3206 cities on heating severity (coldest is 1), and 1304 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.
What to do with this number in Converse
About 31,400 people live in Converse, 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, it's worth getting quotes before your current system fails, not after.
Get quotes from local HVAC contractors before deciding.
Where Converse's figure comes from
Nothing above is a black box: the methodology guide shows the full arithmetic behind Converse's 3.01 seasonal COP and payback figure. See what Converse's figure looks like without the $2,000 federal credit in the guide to how that credit moves the payback window.