Tools & Calculators

HVAC operating-cost calculator

The sticker price is half the story. This is the other half: what it costs to deliver heat, in dollars per MMBtu (one million BTU) and per year — for a heat pump, a gas furnace, and electric resistance, side by side, at your energy prices.

$/ kWh
On your bill. U.S. avg ≈ $0.1883/kWh.
$/ therm
On your bill. U.S. avg ≈ $1.68/therm.
HSPF2
Standard ≈ 7.5 · efficient ≈ 9 · cold-climate ≈ 10–13.
% AFUE
Older ≈ 80% · high-efficiency ≈ 95–98%.
MMBtu / year
Delivered heat your home needs per winter. Small/mild ≈ 20 · moderate ≈ 40 · large/cold ≈ 80+.
Cost to heat your homeLive
Heat pump
per MMBtu
per year
Gas furnace
per MMBtu
per year
Electric resistancebaseboard / furnace strips · 100% efficient, still the priciest
per MMBtu
per year

How it's computed. $/MMBtu = energy price ÷ delivered heat. Electricity: 1 kWh = 3,412 BTU, so a heat pump delivers 3,412 × (HSPF2 ÷ 3.412) BTU per kWh. Gas: 1 therm = 100,000 BTU × AFUE delivered. Electric resistance is 100% efficient but electricity is the pricey fuel — which is exactly why an efficient heat pump, moving 2.5–3× more heat than the energy it draws, wins. These are steady-state estimates; real bills vary with weather, defrost cycles and backup heat. Prices default to EIA U.S. averages (EIA US avg 2026); enter your own for a personalized answer. Full formulas in our methodology.

See the heat pumps that hit these numbers →