The Biggest Mistake Homeowners Make: Buying a Furnace
February 15, 2024
So – the monster in the basement/attic/hall closet has finally failed, or is no longer able to be maintained (can’t get parts, etc).
In short, you need a new furnace! (actually you don’t).
Buying a new furnace in 2024 is one of the worst things you can do for your wallet, the planet, and the value of your home. Gas appliances are falling out of favor quickly, for plenty of good reasons.
It turns out natural gas is as dirty as coal in the real world. And while a 95+% furnace sounds efficient, the fact is heat pumps vastly exceed 100% efficiency – by 3X and 4X (in short, a heat pump is 300-400% efficient) In this analysis, efficiency is the amount of heating BTUs or cooling provided per unit of energy you put in. A furnace provides heat, but many climates that only needed heat in the past now need both heating and cooling. A furnace cannot provide cooling, but a heat pump provides both heating and cooling. And for homeowners with a furnace and an A/C unit, that outdoor unit for the A/C is likely as worn and inefficient as the heater.
Assuming national average rates for electricity (~$0.14/kWh) and 300% efficiency (i.e. a cold climate heat pump used in an actual cold climate), the monthly? Yearly? price difference between electrical heat via a heat pump, and a natural gas furnace, is a wash. There’s no more than a few hundred dollars difference between the two. And in the author’s experience installing dozens of heat pumps, the heat pump is usually cheaper. In milder climates, where efficiency is closer to 400%, homeowners will see even lower heating costs compared to natural gas.
What about the cooling side? Typical A/C units have a SEER rating of 10-15. SEER ratings measure the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, which means higher SEER ratings are better. The SEER rating for efficient cold climate heat pumps is ~25. So, homeowners will have savings there, as well.
But that isn’t even the best part! Now layer in solar on top of your clever heat pump purchase, keeping in mind that the cost of a heat pump is roughly equivalent to the cost of an A/C plus a furnace replacement. Solar is almost perfectly matched to hot summer days, especially with some west facing panels. As your heating and cooling are electrified, your solar installation can be sized to produce, on an annual basis, your total needs, greatly reducing your costs for heating and cooling, and reducing pollution along the way.
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