Heat Pump Payback in Redding, CA
Heat pump vs. gas furnace in Redding, CA
Redding sits right on the fence, how long you'll own the house decides this one. $3,000 is what Redding would pay extra to go electric rather than replace the furnace and AC with the same again. Lower bills claw that back: about $303 saved annually, for a payback of roughly 9.9 years. Whether that's worth it in Redding depends on how many years you expect to own the place.
Checking a different city
This runs the same numbers for 3206 US cities, not just Redding. Look one up here.
The climate behind Redding's payback figure
Redding has a mild winter by US standards, 2301 heating degree days a year against a 65°F base, and summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill, at 2713 cooling degree days. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 30°F here (coldest 2024 reading 28.9°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 3.09 for the standard class of unit this climate calls for. A standard ducted system is enough here; Redding's design temperature doesn't justify the cold-climate premium. These numbers come from Redding Municipal Airport, the closest NOAA station, 5.1 miles out.
What it actually costs to run, year to year
Modelled on a typical 2000-square-foot house, the heat pump draws about 1,886 kWh a year to keep it warm, plus cooling, for a combined electric bill near $1,378 a year. The gas furnace it replaces burns roughly 24 Mcf a year at $22.01 per Mcf here, for a running cost near $1,682 a year including the old AC (electricity here runs 32.83¢/kWh). If the current system still worked and you replaced it anyway, the full cost would take longer than the 15-year equipment life to earn back; against buying a new furnace and AC regardless, the 15-year total lands $1,550 ahead.
The break-even point in Redding
This result holds unless electricity climbs above 77.3¢/kWh (it is 32.83¢ now) or gas drops below $9.35 per Mcf (now $22.01); past either point, gas becomes the cheaper fuel in Redding. When quotes arrive, compare the heat pump price with a like-for-like furnace and AC replacement: at $303 a year saved, a difference under $2,121 pays back within 7 years here, and under $3,030 within 10.
Electric resistance heat in Redding, compared
Gas isn't universal in Redding, many houses run on electric heat already. Compared with baseboard or electric-furnace resistance heat, the numbers shift in the heat pump’s favor. Switching saves about $1,689 a year here, a heat pump moving heat rather than generating it needs far less electricity than resistance coils, so the extra $7,500 spent up front comes back in about 4.4 years.
Redding against the rest of the country
Among 3206 cities, Redding's winter puts it at rank 2272 for severity, while its size puts it at rank 371 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 Redding
About 93,502 people live in Redding, 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, there's no cost penalty to waiting until your current furnace or AC actually needs replacing.
Get quotes from local HVAC contractors before deciding.
Reading further on this page's numbers
The methodology guide walks through exactly how Redding's 3.09 seasonal COP and the rest of this page's numbers get built. Not every home in Redding has gas; the guide comparing a heat pump against electric baseboard covers that case separately.