Heat pump vs Furnace in El Paso County, Colorado
When a heat pump makes sense
If you already have gas and want air conditioning too, a cold-climate heat pump covers both jobs with one system. It will keep working on the 17°F nights, but it has to work harder to do it, and running it here costs more than gas at Colorado's prices. A standard heat pump without cold-climate specs is the wrong call for this area, since it loses heating power in that kind of cold.
When a furnace makes sense
If your home is on natural gas already, a furnace is the cheaper way to get through a winter here, by at least 35% on the numbers. With nine months of heating a year and nights averaging 17°F in December through February, that gap adds up. The tradeoff is it only heats, so you would still need a separate system for summer.
When a heat pump makes sense
If you already have gas and want air conditioning too, a cold-climate heat pump covers both jobs with one system. It will keep working on the 17°F nights, but it has to work harder to do it, and running it here costs more than gas at Colorado's prices. A standard heat pump without cold-climate specs is the wrong call for this area, since it loses heating power in that kind of cold.
When a furnace makes sense
If your home is on natural gas already, a furnace is the cheaper way to get through a winter here, by at least 35% on the numbers. With nine months of heating a year and nights averaging 17°F in December through February, that gap adds up. The tradeoff is it only heats, so you would still need a separate system for summer.
Heat pump
- Runs on
- Electricity
- What it does
- Heats and cools
- Tax credit
- No federal tax credit since the end of 2025
Sources: U.S. Department of Energy · Internal Revenue Code
Furnace
- Runs on
- Natural gas
- What it does
- Heats only
- Tax credit
- No federal tax credit since the end of 2025
Sources: U.S. Department of Energy · Internal Revenue Code
Furnace wins in El Paso County.
Winter nights here average 17°F, and gas heat costs at least 35% less than a heat pump, so a furnace makes more sense.
If your home has no gas line, a cold-climate heat pump will still heat it through those 17°F nights and cool it in summer too.
Find a contractor| Compared on | Heat pump | Furnace |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to run here | Costs more to run | At least 35% less to run |
| What it does | Heats and cools | Heats only |
| Homes in the Mountain West that heat with one | 9.1% | 69.6% |
| Handles a 17°F night | Standard models lose heating power in the cold; cold-climate models are built for it | Yes |
Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, NOAA
When a heat pump makes sense
If you already have gas and want air conditioning too, a cold-climate heat pump covers both jobs with one system. It will keep working on the 17°F nights, but it has to work harder to do it, and running it here costs more than gas at Colorado's prices. A standard heat pump without cold-climate specs is the wrong call for this area, since it loses heating power in that kind of cold.
When a furnace makes sense
If your home is on natural gas already, a furnace is the cheaper way to get through a winter here, by at least 35% on the numbers. With nine months of heating a year and nights averaging 17°F in December through February, that gap adds up. The tradeoff is it only heats, so you would still need a separate system for summer.
A El Paso County contractor will price both against your own house, your ductwork and your panel.
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