Heat Pump Payback in Roswell, NM
Should Roswell switch to a heat pump?
The payback math works in Roswell on paper, past the equipment's own working life. Against a like-for-like gas furnace and AC swap, going electric costs $5,500 more up front here. Roswell's residents would see roughly $140 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 39.2 years. Roswell's own numbers say this pencils out only in theory, not in practice.
Checking a different city
Roswell is one of 3206 cities covered here, each run through the same model. Search another below.
The climate behind Roswell's payback figure
Degree days tell the story here: Roswell racks up 2546 heating degree days each year (base 65°F), and summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill, with 2762 cooling degree days on the cooling side. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 19°F here (coldest 2024 reading 8.1°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 3.16 for the cold-climate class of unit this climate calls for. The average winter here is gentle, but sizing follows the cold snaps, and 19°F is below the 25°F point where a standard unit leans on resistance backup, so a cold-climate unit is what gets priced for Roswell. Climate figures trace to the nearest NOAA station, Roswell International Air Cen, 4.7 miles from Roswell.
What it actually costs to run, year to year
Electricity use for heating alone comes out to about 2,040 kWh a year on the 2000-square-foot reference house; folding in cooling puts the electric bill near $648 a year. The gas furnace it replaces burns roughly 27 Mcf a year at $9.83 per Mcf here, for a running cost near $789 a year including the old AC (electricity here runs 14.75¢/kWh). Priced as a standalone purchase, with a working furnace ripped out early, payback would take longer than the 15-year equipment life. Measured against the like-for-like replacement instead, a household here ends 15 years $3,395 behind.
What would change Roswell's answer
This result holds unless electricity climbs above 32.0¢/kWh (it is 14.75¢ now) or gas drops below $4.54 per Mcf (now $9.83); past either point, gas becomes the cheaper fuel in Roswell. When quotes arrive, compare the heat pump price with a like-for-like furnace and AC replacement: at $140 a year saved, a difference under $980 pays back within 7 years here, and under $1,400 within 10.
Electric resistance heat in Roswell, compared
Plenty of homes in Roswell heat with electricity alone, no gas line involved. Compared with baseboard or electric-furnace resistance heat, the numbers shift in the heat pump’s favor. About $831 a year comes back this way, enough that the 12-year payback clears the $10,000 premium comfortably within the equipment's life.
Roswell against the rest of the country
Among 3206 cities, Roswell's winter puts it at rank 2137 for severity, while its size puts it at rank 867 for population, 1 in both cases being the extreme. That's the middle third for winter severity among the cities covered here.
What to do with this number in Roswell
About 47,176 people live in Roswell, New Mexico, 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.
More on how this number was built
Nothing above is a black box: the methodology guide shows the full arithmetic behind Roswell's 3.16 seasonal COP and payback figure. At a 19°F design temperature, Roswell sits in cold-climate territory; the guide to that class of unit explains why.