Is a heat pump cheaper to run than an electric furnace?

Far cheaper — typically two to four times — because a heat pump moves heat instead of creating it.

At the default usage on each page, electric furnace costs about 2.6× as much to run as heat pump — $3,012 against $1,171 a year.

Why heat pump wins, and when it does not

• An electric furnace converts one unit of electricity into one unit of heat. A heat pump uses one unit of electricity to move two to four units of heat from outside.
• That multiplier is the single largest efficiency gap between any two appliances on this site.
• The gap narrows in severe cold, when a heat pump's backup resistance strips engage — and at that moment it is running as an electric furnace.

What the difference is worth where you live

The 2.6× above holds at any price: both a heat pump and an electric furnace scale with whatever you pay per kilowatt-hour. The money does not. Choosing heat pump over electric furnace saves about $1,841 a year at the U.S. average, and $5,292 a year in Hawaii at 52.72¢ — against $1,316 in Nevada, the cheapest jurisdiction in the country. Swapping electric furnace for heat pump is worth 4.0× as much in Hawaii as in Nevada, so what you pay per kilowatt-hour decides this more than the wattage on either label.

Both figures use each appliance’s typical wattage and default usage at the U.S. average of 18.34¢ per kilowatt-hour, and exclude fixed charges, taxes and time-of-use rates. Change the wattage, usage or state on either appliance’s own page to compare them on your terms, or read how to check a running-cost figure before trusting any of them.