Heat pump vs. gas furnace in La Plata, MD
La Plata technically pencils out, but only past the point the equipment would need replacing anyway. 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). La Plata's residents would see roughly $99 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 35.3 years. La Plata's own numbers say this pencils out only in theory, not in practice.
The climate behind La Plata's payback figure
Degree days tell the story here: La Plata racks up 3611 heating degree days each year (base 65°F), and summers are hot enough that cooling matters as much as heating, with 1506 cooling degree days on the cooling side. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 11.8°F here (record low 8.8°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 2.98 for the cold-climate class of unit this climate calls for. A cold-climate unit is the right call in La Plata — below 25°F design temperature, a standard heat pump leans hard on electric-resistance backup, which erases most of the savings. Climate figures trace to the nearest NOAA station, DAVISON AAF AIRPORT, 16.6 miles from La Plata.
What it actually costs to run, year to year
Electricity use for heating alone comes out to about 3,068 kWh a year on the 2000-square-foot reference house; folding in cooling puts the electric bill near $921 a year. La Plata's gas rate of 16.14 per Mcf, applied to the 38 Mcf a year the furnace burns, puts its running cost near $1,020 a year, against 21.16¢ per kWh for electricity. Priced as a standalone purchase rather than against a like-for-like replacement, equipment payback runs about 136.3 years, for a 15-year net position $2,015 behind.
The other scenario: no gas furnace to begin with
Gas isn't universal in La Plata — 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 $1,427 a year comes back this way, enough that the 5.6-year payback clears the $8,000 premium comfortably within the equipment's life.
Where La Plata ranks in this dataset
La Plata lands at position 1734 out of 3206 cities on heating severity (coldest is 1), and 2916 out of 3206 by population size (biggest is 1). That's the middle third for winter severity among the cities covered here.
Next step for 11,374 people in La Plata
About 11,374 people live in La Plata, Maryland, 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.
Reading further on this page's numbers
The methodology guide walks through exactly how La Plata's 2.98 seasonal COP and the rest of this page's numbers get built. At a 11.8°F design temperature, La Plata sits in cold-climate territory; the guide to that class of unit explains why.