Should Corsicana switch to a heat pump?
In Corsicana, the math is close enough that it comes down to how long you plan to stay. Swap a failed furnace and AC for a heat pump rather than buying like-for-like, and the extra cost here runs $3,500 after a $2,000 federal tax credit. Corsicana's residents would see roughly $334 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 10.5 years. Whether that's worth it in Corsicana depends on how many years you expect to own the place.
Why Corsicana's climate drives this number
Degree days tell the story here: Corsicana racks up 1441 heating degree days each year (base 65°F), and summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill, with 3235 cooling degree days on the cooling side. 17.1°F is the figure equipment gets sized against here — the 99th-percentile cold snap, not an average day — with a record low of 15.1°F on file. Worked through the model, that's a seasonal COP of 3.11 on the cold-climate unit fit for this climate. Below the 25°F line where a standard machine starts leaning on resistance backup, Corsicana sits firmly in cold-climate territory, so that's the class of unit priced here. Source: NOAA station CAMPBELL FLD-CORSICANA MU, 5.3 miles from Corsicana — the closest one on record.
What it actually costs to run, year to year
Modelled on a typical 2000-square-foot house, the heat pump draws about 1,173 kWh a year to keep it warm, plus cooling, for a combined electric bill near $635 a year. That compares with roughly 15 Mcf a year of gas at Corsicana's 19.42 per-Mcf rate — about $969 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 40.5 years, leaving the 15-year total $1,504 ahead.
The other scenario: no gas furnace to begin with
Gas isn't universal in Corsicana — many houses run on electric heat already. Swap the comparison to resistance heat instead of gas, and Corsicana's answer improves. About $631 a year comes back this way, enough that the 12.7-year payback clears the $8,000 premium comfortably within the equipment's life.
Where Corsicana ranks in this dataset
Ranked against the other 3206 cities covered, Corsicana comes in at 2709 for heating severity — 1 would be the coldest place in the dataset — and 1569 by population, where 1 is largest. 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 Corsicana
About 25,591 people live in Corsicana, 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.
Line up a few local HVAC quotes before you decide.
More on how this number was built
Every constant behind this page — the 3.11 seasonal COP, the degree-day corrections, the equipment costs — is documented in the methodology guide. At a 17.1°F design temperature, Corsicana sits in cold-climate territory; the guide to that class of unit explains why.