Will a heat pump pay off in Longwood, FL?
In Longwood, a heat pump pays for itself within a reasonable window. $1,000 is what Longwood would pay extra to go electric rather than replace the furnace and AC with the same again, once the $2,000 federal credit is applied. Longwood's residents would see roughly $313 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 3.2 years. That's a real payback, built from Longwood's own climate and utility rates, not a national guess.
The climate behind Longwood's payback figure
Degree days tell the story here: Longwood racks up 497 heating degree days each year (base 65°F), and summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill, with 3473 cooling degree days on the cooling side. The 99% winter design temperature here — the cold snap equipment must be sized for, not the seasonal average — is 41°F, against a record low of 37.9°F. That puts the seasonal coefficient of performance at 3.42 for the recommended standard unit. A standard ducted system is enough here; Longwood's design temperature doesn't justify the cold-climate premium. These numbers come from ORLANDO SANFORD AIRPORT, the closest NOAA station, 8.3 miles out.
Longwood's running-cost comparison, in dollars
Electricity use for heating alone comes out to about 368 kWh a year on the 2000-square-foot reference house; folding in cooling puts the electric bill near $514 a year. Longwood's gas rate of 25.48 per Mcf, applied to the 5 Mcf a year the furnace burns, puts its running cost near $826 a year, against 15.43¢ per kWh for electricity. Looked at as a full purchase rather than an incremental one, payback here is roughly 35.2 years, leaving the 15-year total $3,691 ahead.
Electric resistance heat in Longwood, compared
Plenty of homes in Longwood heat with electricity alone, no gas line involved. Against electric-resistance heat — baseboard or an electric furnace, both 100% efficient but still just resistance — the case for switching gets stronger here. About $375 a year comes back this way, enough that the 14.7-year payback clears the $5,500 premium comfortably within the equipment's life.
Where Longwood ranks in this dataset
Ranked against the other 3206 cities covered, Longwood comes in at 3059 for heating severity — 1 would be the coldest place in the dataset — and 2185 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.
Next step for 17,089 people in Longwood
About 17,089 people live in Longwood, Florida, 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.
Get quotes from local HVAC contractors before deciding.
More on how this number was built
Nothing above is a black box: the methodology guide shows the full arithmetic behind Longwood's 3.42 seasonal COP and payback figure. See what Longwood's figure looks like without the $2,000 federal credit in the guide to how that credit moves the payback window.