Miami Gardens, FL: the heat pump payback math
In Miami Gardens, a heat pump is the cheaper choice, and not by a little. Against a like-for-like gas furnace and AC swap, going electric costs $1,000 more up front here (already netting out a $2,000 tax credit). Miami Gardens's residents would see roughly $359 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 2.8 years. That verdict holds specifically for Miami Gardens's own climate and rates, not a national average.
How cold Miami Gardens actually gets
54 heating degree days pile up here every year, so Miami Gardens barely has a winter to speak of; the cooling side runs to 5123 cooling degree days, where summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 50°F here (record low 48.9°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 3.69 for the standard class of unit this climate calls for. Miami Gardens's winters don't get cold enough to need the cold-climate premium — a standard unit holds up fine. Climate figures trace to the nearest NOAA station, NORTH PERRY AIRPORT, 3.5 miles from Miami Gardens.
The month-to-month numbers for Miami Gardens
Modelled on a typical 2000-square-foot house, the heat pump draws about 37 kWh a year to keep it warm, plus cooling, for a combined electric bill near $680 a year. The gas furnace it replaces burns roughly 1 Mcf a year at 25.48 per Mcf here, for a running cost near $1,039 a year (electricity here runs 15.43¢/kWh). Priced as a standalone purchase rather than against a like-for-like replacement, equipment payback runs about 30.6 years, for a 15-year net position $4,386 ahead.
The other scenario: no gas furnace to begin with
Plenty of homes in Miami Gardens heat with electricity alone, no gas line involved. Swap the comparison to resistance heat instead of gas, and Miami Gardens's answer improves. About $366 a year comes back this way, enough that the 15-year payback clears the $5,500 premium comfortably within the equipment's life.
Miami Gardens against the rest of the country
Among 3206 cities, Miami Gardens's winter puts it at rank 3180 for severity, while its size puts it at rank 264 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.
What to do with this number in Miami Gardens
Miami Gardens, Florida is home to about 116,173 people, and the figures above are the same ones a local HVAC contractor uses to size and quote a system — this site doesn't guess where a real quote would land, it just tells you whether it's worth asking for one. Given the math above, Miami Gardens is a place worth lining up quotes ahead of a breakdown, not waiting for one.
Get quotes from local HVAC contractors before deciding.
Where Miami Gardens's figure comes from
Nothing above is a black box: the methodology guide shows the full arithmetic behind Miami Gardens's 3.69 seasonal COP and payback figure. The $2,000 federal credit baked into Miami Gardens's number is explained, with the before-and-after math, in the tax credit guide.