Heat pump vs. gas furnace in Hattiesburg, MS
This one's marginal in Hattiesburg: it only clears if you stay long enough. Against a like-for-like gas furnace and AC swap, going electric costs $3,500 more up front here (already netting out a $2,000 tax credit). Hattiesburg's residents would see roughly $279 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 12.5 years. It's a genuine toss-up here — Hattiesburg's numbers don't point clearly either way.
Hattiesburg's weather, in the numbers that matter
Hattiesburg has a mild winter by US standards — 1503 heating degree days a year against a 65°F base — and summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill, at 2911 cooling degree days. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 23°F here (record low 15.1°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 3.25 for the cold-climate class of unit this climate calls for. Hattiesburg needs the cold-climate class of unit: past a 25°F design temperature a standard heat pump falls back on resistance backup often enough to eat the savings. These numbers come from BOBBY L CHAIN MUNI AIRPORT, the closest NOAA station, 4.2 miles out.
What it actually costs to run, year to year
A 2000-square-foot house here would pull roughly 1,171 heating kilowatt-hours annually on top of cooling, totalling about $565 a year on electricity. That compares with roughly 16 Mcf a year of gas at Hattiesburg's 16.64 per-Mcf rate — about $844 a year — against a local electricity rate of 15.47¢/kWh. Looked at as a full purchase rather than an incremental one, payback here is roughly 48.4 years, leaving the 15-year total $685 ahead.
Electric resistance heat in Hattiesburg, compared
Gas isn't universal in Hattiesburg — many houses run on electric heat already. Compared with baseboard or electric-furnace resistance heat, the numbers shift in the heat pump’s favor. About $607 a year comes back this way, enough that the 13.2-year payback clears the $8,000 premium comfortably within the equipment's life.
Where Hattiesburg ranks in this dataset
Among 3206 cities, Hattiesburg's winter puts it at rank 2690 for severity, while its size puts it at rank 849 for population — 1 in both cases being the extreme. 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 Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg, Mississippi is home to about 48,522 people, and the figures above are the same ones a local HVAC contractor uses to size and quote a system — this site doesn't guess where a real quote would land, it just tells you whether it's worth asking for one. In Hattiesburg, nothing is lost by holding off until the current equipment genuinely fails.
Ask a local HVAC contractor for a quote before committing either way.
Where Hattiesburg's figure comes from
Every constant behind this page — the 3.25 seasonal COP, the degree-day corrections, the equipment costs — is documented in the methodology guide. Hattiesburg's 23°F design temperature is below the 25°F line, which is why a cold-climate unit is the right call here — see what that changes in the cold-climate unit guide.