Should La Puente switch to a heat pump?
A heat pump earns back its extra cost in La Puente within a sensible timeframe. Swap a failed furnace and AC for a heat pump rather than buying like-for-like, and the extra cost here runs $1,000 after a $2,000 federal tax credit. Lower bills claw that back: about $323 saved annually, for a payback of roughly 3.1 years. That's a real payback, built from La Puente's own climate and utility rates, not a national guess.
Why La Puente's climate drives this number
Degree days tell the story here: La Puente racks up 686 heating degree days each year (base 65°F), and summers are hot enough that cooling matters as much as heating, with 2300 cooling degree days on the cooling side. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 39.2°F here (record low 37.4°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 3.37 for the standard class of unit this climate calls for. A standard ducted system is enough here; La Puente's design temperature doesn't justify the cold-climate premium. Climate figures trace to the nearest NOAA station, EL MONTE AIRPORT, 5.7 miles from La Puente.
What it actually costs to run, year to year
Modelled on a typical 2000-square-foot house, the heat pump draws about 515 kWh a year to keep it warm, plus cooling, for a combined electric bill near $813 a year. La Puente's gas rate of 22.01 per Mcf, applied to the 7 Mcf a year the furnace burns, puts its running cost near $1,136 a year, against 32.83¢ per kWh for electricity. Priced as a standalone purchase rather than against a like-for-like replacement, equipment payback runs about 34.1 years, for a 15-year net position $3,842 ahead.
Electric resistance heat in La Puente, compared
Plenty of homes in La Puente heat with electricity alone, no gas line involved. Swap the comparison to resistance heat instead of gas, and La Puente's answer improves. The saving here runs about $736 a year, which recovers the extra $5,500 spent going electric in roughly 7.5 years.
La Puente against the rest of the country
Among 3206 cities, La Puente's winter puts it at rank 3007 for severity, while its size puts it at rank 1127 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.
Next step for 36,670 people in La Puente
About 36,670 people live in La Puente, California, 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.
Ask a local HVAC contractor for a quote before committing either way.
Where La Puente's figure comes from
Nothing above is a black box: the methodology guide shows the full arithmetic behind La Puente's 3.37 seasonal COP and payback figure. See what La Puente's figure looks like without the $2,000 federal credit in the guide to how that credit moves the payback window.