Heat pump vs oil cost calculator

Compare an oil furnace with a heat pump supplying the same annual useful heat. Useful heat is heat delivered to your home after the furnace's fuel losses. Enter heating-only oil use in US gallons, its price per gallon and the furnace's seasonal efficiency.

Use delivery records and tank readings for a matching year where possible. Oil bought during a year can differ from oil burned if the tank level changes. Leave out oil used for other purposes. Select the stored EIA oil energy value or enter the energy content supplied for your fuel.

Enter two assessed seasonal heat pump COP values to see a lower and higher running-cost scenario. Include yearly fixed fuel costs, decide which would remain, and enter extra heat pump maintenance. The net installed changeover quote lets the calculator show how long positive annual savings could take to repay that cost.

Useful heat = heating-only fuel use × fuel energy content × existing seasonal efficiency. Heat pump electricity = useful heat ÷ assessed seasonal COP. Add only the fixed fuel charges that remain. Payback uses net installed price and positive annual savings after extra maintenance.

Oil energy content is entered in Btu per US gallon when you use the supplier option. The stored conversion turns Btu into kWh before calculating useful heat. Keep gallons, heat content and the oil price on the same basis; an Imperial gallon is a different amount.

COP means heat delivered divided by electricity used. A COP of 3 means 3 kWh of heat per 1 kWh of electricity. The higher seasonal COP gives the lower heat pump cost. Convert furnace efficiency once, such as 85% to 0.85. Electricity prices in cents per kWh are divided by 100 to obtain dollars.

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.

The EIA oil heat content is a rounded comparison value, not a test of your delivered oil. Use a matching supplier figure when available. The COP range must include whole-system electricity, backup heat and defrost over the assessed season; one rated test point is not a seasonal forecast.

Remove fixed fuel costs only when they genuinely end after the change. Existing electricity account fees and furnace auxiliary electricity are not added to this comparison. Check the included costs before treating the difference as a complete household bill saving.

Simple payback uses positive yearly savings after extra maintenance. If savings are zero or negative, there is no finite payback. Prices, heat demand and performance stay unchanged in this illustration. Borrowing, replacement and future price changes are excluded. Monthly figures divide the annual cost by twelve; actual seasonal bills can be uneven.

The published electricity option uses EIA state residential averages for July 2026, released on 24 September 2026 and checked on 14 October 2026. These describe past average prices. They are not your supplier's offer or a promise of future prices. Choose your bill price for a personal comparison. Include the taxes and usage charges that change with consumption; keep fixed account charges separate.

Ask a qualified heating contractor to check the heating-only oil use, furnace efficiency and seasonal heat pump range. Take delivery records, tank information and the oil supplier's energy value if you have it.

Confirm heating capacity, backup arrangements, electrical work and any tank or fuel-system costs before accepting a quote. Ask which ongoing oil costs will disappear. The calculator does not inspect the property, verify safe oil storage or confirm that a proposed system can meet the home's cold-weather demand.