Maryland Heights, MO: the heat pump payback math
Maryland Heights sits right on the fence — how long you'll own the house decides this one. $3,500 is what Maryland Heights 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. Maryland Heights's residents would see roughly $242 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 14.5 years. Whether that's worth it in Maryland Heights depends on how many years you expect to own the place.
Why Maryland Heights's climate drives this number
Degree days tell the story here: Maryland Heights racks up 3396 heating degree days each year (base 65°F), and summers are hot enough that cooling matters as much as heating, with 2013 cooling degree days on the cooling side. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 1.9°F here (record low -7.1°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 2.75 for the cold-climate class of unit this climate calls for. Maryland Heights 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. Source: NOAA station LAMBERT-ST LOUIS INTERNATIONA, 5.8 miles from Maryland Heights — the closest one on record.
What it actually costs to run, year to year
Electricity use for heating alone comes out to about 3,127 kWh a year on the 2000-square-foot reference house; folding in cooling puts the electric bill near $621 a year. That compares with roughly 35 Mcf a year of gas at Maryland Heights's 14.94 per-Mcf rate — about $863 a year — against a local electricity rate of 12.83¢/kWh. Looked at as a full purchase rather than an incremental one, payback here is roughly 55.8 years, leaving the 15-year total $126 ahead.
Electric resistance heat in Maryland Heights, compared
Not every home in Maryland Heights has gas service. Compared with baseboard or electric-furnace resistance heat, the numbers shift in the heat pump’s favor. Switching saves about $817 a year here — a heat pump moving heat rather than generating it needs far less electricity than resistance coils — so the extra $8,000 spent up front comes back in about 9.8 years.
How Maryland Heights compares nationally
Ranked against the other 3206 cities covered, Maryland Heights comes in at 1797 for heating severity — 1 would be the coldest place in the dataset — and 1447 by population, where 1 is largest. That's the middle third for winter severity among the cities covered here.
What to do with this number in Maryland Heights
About 27,671 people live in Maryland Heights, Missouri, 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.
More on how this number was built
Nothing above is a black box: the methodology guide shows the full arithmetic behind Maryland Heights's 2.75 seasonal COP and payback figure. Maryland Heights's 1.9°F design temperature falls on the cold side of the 25°F cutoff the cold-climate unit guide walks through.