Will a heat pump pay off in Sunrise, FL?
The math in Sunrise isn't close — a heat pump wins outright. 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). That premium is recovered through $352 of lower running costs every year, landing the payback clock at roughly 2.8 years. Nothing about that conclusion is generic — it's built entirely from Sunrise's own numbers.
Why Sunrise's climate drives this number
Sunrise barely has a winter to speak of — 65 heating degree days a year against a 65°F base — and summers are severe enough that cooling can dominate the annual bill, at 4997 cooling degree days. The 99% winter design temperature here — the cold snap equipment must be sized for, not the seasonal average — is 50°F, against a record low of 48.9°F. That puts the seasonal coefficient of performance at 3.69 for the recommended standard unit. A standard ducted system is enough here; Sunrise's design temperature doesn't justify the cold-climate premium. These numbers come from FT LAUDER EXECUTIVE ARPT, the closest NOAA station, 5.9 miles out.
Sunrise's running-cost comparison, in dollars
A 2000-square-foot house here would pull roughly 45 heating kilowatt-hours annually on top of cooling, totalling about $664 a year on electricity. The gas furnace it replaces burns roughly 1 Mcf a year at 25.48 per Mcf here, for a running cost near $1,017 a year (electricity here runs 15.43¢/kWh). Looked at as a full purchase rather than an incremental one, payback here is roughly 31.2 years, leaving the 15-year total $4,283 ahead.
Electric resistance heat in Sunrise, compared
Not every home in Sunrise has gas service. Compared with baseboard or electric-furnace resistance heat, the numbers shift in the heat pump’s favor. About $360 a year comes back this way, enough that the 15.3-year payback clears the $5,500 premium comfortably within the equipment's life.
How Sunrise compares nationally
Among 3206 cities, Sunrise's winter puts it at rank 3157 for severity, while its size puts it at rank 342 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.
Next step for 100,128 people in Sunrise
About 100,128 people live in Sunrise, 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.
Where Sunrise's figure comes from
Nothing above is a black box: the methodology guide shows the full arithmetic behind Sunrise's 3.69 seasonal COP and payback figure. See what Sunrise's figure looks like without the $2,000 federal credit in the guide to how that credit moves the payback window.