Heat Pump Payback in Houma, LA
Is a heat pump worth it in Houma?
In Houma, the math is close enough that it comes down to how long you plan to stay. $3,000 is what Houma would pay extra to go electric rather than replace the furnace and AC with the same again. Houma's residents would see roughly $267 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 11.2 years. Whether that's worth it in Houma depends on how many years you expect to own the place.
Not the city you meant?
Houma is one of 3206 cities covered here, each run through the same model. Search another below.
The climate behind Houma's payback figure
Houma barely has a winter to speak of, 981 heating degree days a year against a 65°F base, and summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill, at 3273 cooling degree days. The 99% winter design temperature here, the cold snap equipment must be sized for, not the seasonal average, is 32°F, and the coldest daily reading in the 2024 station record was 21.2°F. That puts the seasonal coefficient of performance at 3.15 for the recommended standard unit. A standard ducted system is enough here; Houma's design temperature doesn't justify the cold-climate premium. These numbers come from Houma-Terrebonne Airport, the closest NOAA station, 3 miles out.
What it actually costs to run, year to year
Electricity use for heating alone comes out to about 789 kWh a year on the 2000-square-foot reference house; folding in cooling puts the electric bill near $484 a year. That compares with roughly 10 Mcf a year of gas at Houma's $17.38 per-Mcf rate, about $751 a year with the old AC included, against a local electricity rate of 13.52¢/kWh. If the current system still worked and you replaced it anyway, the full cost would take longer than the 15-year equipment life to earn back; against buying a new furnace and AC regardless, the 15-year total lands $1,007 ahead.
How sensitive Houma's result is to prices
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 Houma at any electricity price. When quotes arrive, compare the heat pump price with a like-for-like furnace and AC replacement: at $267 a year saved, a difference under $1,869 pays back within 7 years here, and under $2,670 within 10.
The other scenario: no gas furnace to begin with
Not every home in Houma has gas service. Against electric-resistance heat, baseboard or an electric furnace, both 100% efficient but still just resistance, the case for switching gets stronger here. Even against resistance heat, the running-cost gap here isn't enough to clear the $7,500 incremental cost within the equipment's 15-year life.
How Houma compares nationally
Houma lands at position 2912 out of 3206 cities on heating severity (coldest is 1), and 1292 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.
Deciding what's next in Houma, LA
About 31,671 people live in Houma, Louisiana, 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.
Ask a local HVAC contractor for a quote before committing either way.
Where Houma's figure comes from
Every constant behind this page, the 3.15 seasonal COP, the degree-day corrections, the equipment costs, is documented in the methodology guide. Not every home in Houma has gas; the guide comparing a heat pump against electric baseboard covers that case separately.