Will a heat pump pay off in Webster Groves, MO?
Webster Groves technically pencils out, but only past the point the equipment would need replacing anyway. Swap a failed furnace and AC for a heat pump rather than buying like-for-like, and the extra cost here runs $3,500 after a $2,000 federal tax credit. Webster Groves's residents would see roughly $232 a year back in running costs, putting the payback around 15.1 years. Webster Groves's own numbers say this pencils out only in theory, not in practice.
The climate behind Webster Groves's payback figure
Webster Groves has a real but manageable winter — 3639 heating degree days a year against a 65°F base — and summers are hot enough that cooling matters as much as heating, at 1688 cooling degree days. Sizing runs off the design temperature, not the average day: 1.9°F here (record low -5.1°F), which works out to a seasonal COP of 2.75 for the cold-climate class of unit this climate calls for. Below the 25°F line where a standard machine starts leaning on resistance backup, Webster Groves sits firmly in cold-climate territory, so that's the class of unit priced here. Climate figures trace to the nearest NOAA station, ST LOUIS DOWNTOWN AIRPORT, 10.7 miles from Webster Groves.
The month-to-month numbers for Webster Groves
Modelled on a typical 2000-square-foot house, the heat pump draws about 3,351 kWh a year to keep it warm, plus cooling, for a combined electric bill near $615 a year. That compares with roughly 38 Mcf a year of gas at Webster Groves's 14.94 per-Mcf rate — about $847 a year — against a local electricity rate of 12.83¢/kWh. Priced as a standalone purchase rather than against a like-for-like replacement, equipment payback runs about 58.1 years, for a 15-year net position $15 behind.
Electric resistance heat in Webster Groves, compared
Plenty of homes in Webster Groves heat with electricity alone, no gas line involved. Against electric-resistance heat — baseboard or an electric furnace, both 100% efficient but still just resistance — the case for switching gets stronger here. Switching saves about $848 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 9.4 years.
Where Webster Groves ranks in this dataset
Ranked against the other 3206 cities covered, Webster Groves comes in at 1713 for heating severity — 1 would be the coldest place in the dataset — and 1685 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 Webster Groves
About 23,525 people live in Webster Groves, 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.
Get quotes from local HVAC contractors before deciding.
Where Webster Groves's figure comes from
Every constant behind this page — the 2.75 seasonal COP, the degree-day corrections, the equipment costs — is documented in the methodology guide. At a 1.9°F design temperature, Webster Groves sits in cold-climate territory; the guide to that class of unit explains why.