Heat pump vs gas furnace cost calculator

Compare a Canadian gas furnace and a heat pump supplying the same yearly heat. Use gas for heating only, rather than the whole bill if it also covers other uses. Enter furnace seasonal efficiency and lower and higher whole-system heat pump performance.

Choose the gas unit shown on your bill: cubic metres or gigajoules. Match the variable gas price to that unit. Enter annual fixed gas charges separately and say whether they will end. The results show yearly costs, monthly averages, savings and an economic break-even COP. You can also compare simple payback using an actual installation quote and grant.

Useful heat (kWh) = heating-only gas units × fuel kWh per unit × furnace seasonal efficiency fraction. One GJ contains 1,000 MJ; divide MJ by 3.6 MJ/kWh to obtain kWh. For cubic metres, use the published generic or actual supplier MJ/m³ on the same energy basis as the efficiency. Heat pump electricity = useful heat ÷ seasonal COP. Price that electricity, then add fixed gas costs that remain. Simple payback uses the net installed quote divided by positive annual saving.

COP means coefficient of performance: heat delivered divided by electricity used. SCOP is this ratio over a season. A ratio of 4 means 4 kWh of heat per 1 kWh of electricity. Use the ratio itself, without a percent conversion.

Use a percentage as a fraction once: for example, 50% means 50 ÷ 100 = 0.5. Use 0.5 in the energy formula; do not divide it by 100 again.

Quebec standard Rate D prices the first 40 kWh per billing day at one rate and the rest at a second rate. Heating cost is the electricity line with heating minus the same line without it. The daily access charge cancels. The annual scenario repeats your entered daily profile.

Economic break-even COP is the heat pump ratio that matches the furnace’s variable energy cost. It excludes fixed charges and installation cost. It cannot identify a fuel-switching temperature without matching equipment and load data.

These illustrative inputs are separate from your saved answers. Prices, use and performance are held constant for this worked scenario; they are not personal defaults.

Seasonal heat pump ratios should include defrost and electric backup in the whole-system electricity input. A rated COP at one temperature is not a prediction for a full winter. Higher COP uses less electricity for the same heat. Your bounds are scenarios, not promised performance.

Fuel energy content and furnace efficiency must use the same energy basis. Use the stored generic fuel value only where appropriate, or enter the supplier’s value. Furnace auxiliary electricity and a hybrid system’s switching schedule are excluded. Existing electricity fixed charges are also excluded.

Remove fixed gas costs only when the supply or account and those costs actually end. Annual use and prices stay constant. Payback uses the extra installed price after the actual grant, divided by positive yearly saving. There is no finite payback when saving is zero or negative. Display rounding does not alter the calculation.

Use tax-inclusive Canadian bill prices and include all variable gas charges in the selected unit price. Keep fixed charges separate. The electricity bill-price option uses your flat cents-per-kWh price; it is not an automatic model of every utility tariff.

Choose Quebec standard Rate D only when the account and dated rate match. Enter other household electricity without the heating load, the representative billing days and the required profile confirmation. The tariff comparison repeats that daily profile. Source dates identify method or rate records, not a check of your property.

Ask a qualified heating contractor to check heat demand, cold-weather output, backup heating and any gas work. Bring the fuel bill, efficiency evidence and proposed system performance.

Ask the installer to confirm the extra quoted cost and which fixed charges will end. Use the calculation as one part of a decision. It cannot survey the property, certify installation safety or confirm grant eligibility.