Heat Pump vs. Fossil Fuel Cost Comparison Calculator
ANA›Life Services Authority›National Calculator Authority›Heat Pump vs. Fossil Fuel Cost Comparison Calculator
.calc-container { max-width: 640px; margin: 2rem 0; padding: 1.5rem; background: #fff; border: 1px solid #ddd; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.06); font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, sans-serif; } .calc-container h3 { font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.15rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin-bottom: 1rem; padding-bottom: 0.5rem; border-bottom: 2px solid var(--ac, #3d5a80); } .calc-row { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 0.75rem; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; flex-wrap: wrap; } .calc-row label { min-width: 160px; font-size: 0.9rem; color: #333; font-weight: 500; } .calc-row input[type="number"], .calc-row select { flex: 1; min-width: 120px; max-width: 200px; padding: 0.5rem 0.6rem; border: 1px solid #ccc; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 0.9rem; font-family: system-ui, sans-serif; color: #1a1a1a; background: #fafaf8; } .calc-row input:focus, .calc-row select:focus { outline: none; border-color: var(--ac, #3d5a80); box-shadow: 0 0 0 2px rgba(26,74,138,0.12); } .calc-row .unit { font-size: 0.82rem; color: #888; min-width: 30px; } .calc-btn { display: inline-block; margin-top: 0.5rem; padding: 0.55rem 1.5rem; background: var(--ac, #3d5a80); color: #fff; border: none; border-radius: 4px; font-size: 0.9rem; font-weight: 600; cursor: pointer; font-family: system-ui, sans-serif; } .calc-btn:hover { opacity: 0.9; } .calc-result { margin-top: 1.25rem; padding: 1rem 1.25rem; background: #f0f6fc; border-left: 3px solid var(--ac, #3d5a80); border-radius: 0 6px 6px 0; display: none; } .calc-result.visible { display: block; } .calc-result-label { font-size: 0.78rem; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.06em; color: #666; margin-bottom: 0.25rem; } .calc-result-value { font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 700; color: var(--ac, #3d5a80); } .calc-result-detail { font-size: 0.85rem; color: #555; margin-top: 0.5rem; line-height: 1.5; } .calc-note { margin-top: 1rem; font-size: 0.8rem; color: #888; font-style: italic; } .calc-grid { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr; gap: 0.75rem; margin-top: 0.75rem; } .calc-grid-item { padding: 0.6rem 0.8rem; background: #f8f9fa; border-radius: 4px; border: 1px solid #eee; } .calc-grid-item .label { font-size: 0.75rem; color: #888; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.04em; } .calc-grid-item .value { font-size: 1.1rem; font-weight: 600; color: #1a1a1a; } @media (max-width: 720px) { .calc-row { flex-direction: column; align-items: flex-start; gap: 0.3rem; } .calc-row label { min-width: auto; } .calc-row input[type="number"], .calc-row select { max-width: 100%; width: 100%; } .calc-grid { grid-template-columns: 1fr; } } .calc-chart { margin: 1rem 0; text-align: center; } .calc-chart svg { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .calc-chart-legend { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; justify-content: center; gap: 0.6rem 1.2rem; margin-top: 0.6rem; font-size: 0.8rem; color: #555; } .calc-chart-legend span { display: inline-flex; align-items: center; gap: 0.3rem; } .calc-chart-legend i { display: inline-block; width: 10px; height: 10px; border-radius: 2px; font-style: normal; } .calc-related { max-width: 640px; margin: 2rem 0 1rem; padding: 1.25rem 1.5rem; background: #f8f9fa; border: 1px solid #e8e8e8; border-radius: 8px; } .calc-related h3 { font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 1rem; color: #1a1a1a; margin: 0 0 0.75rem; padding-bottom: 0.4rem; border-bottom: 2px solid var(--ac, #3d5a80); } .calc-related-list { list-style: none; padding: 0; margin: 0 0 0.75rem; display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr; gap: 0.4rem 1.5rem; } .calc-related-list li a { font-size: 0.88rem; color: var(--ac, #3d5a80); text-decoration: none; } .calc-related-list li a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } .calc-browse-all { margin: 0.5rem 0 0; font-size: 0.9rem; font-weight: 600; } .calc-browse-all a { color: var(--ac, #3d5a80); text-decoration: none; } .calc-browse-all a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } @media (max-width: 720px) { .calc-related-list { grid-template-columns: 1fr; } }
Heat Pump vs. Fossil Fuel Cost Comparison Calculator
Compare the annual operating costs of a heat pump against natural gas, oil, or propane heating systems to estimate your potential savings.
Annual Heating Load (MMBtu)
Typical home: 40–120 MMBtu/year. Check your utility bills or use 60 as a starting point.
Heat Pump COP (Coefficient of Performance)
Modern air-source heat pumps: 2.0–3.5; ground-source: 3.0–5.0. Average: 2.5.
Electricity Rate ($/kWh)
U.S. average ~$0.13/kWh. Check your electric bill for your actual rate.
Fossil Fuel Type
Natural Gas Heating Oil Propane
Natural Gas Price ($/therm)
U.S. average ~$1.20/therm for natural gas.
Fossil Fuel System Efficiency (AFUE %)
Standard furnace: 80%; high-efficiency: 90–98%. Check your equipment label.
Calculate
function heaUpdateFuelLabel() { var type = document.getElementById("hea-fossil-fuel-type").value; var label = document.getElementById("hea-fuel-price-label"); var hint = document.getElementById("hea-fuel-price-hint"); var input = document.getElementById("hea-fuel-price"); if (type === "natural_gas") { label.textContent = "Natural Gas Price ($/therm)"; hint.textContent = "U.S. average ~$1.20/therm for natural gas."; input.placeholder = "e.g. 1.20"; } else if (type === "oil") { label.textContent = "Heating Oil Price ($/gallon)"; hint.textContent = "U.S. average ~$3.50/gallon for heating oil."; input.placeholder = "e.g. 3.50"; } else { label.textContent = "Propane Price ($/gallon)"; hint.textContent = "U.S. average ~$2.50/gallon for propane."; input.placeholder = "e.g. 2.50"; } }
function heaCalc() { var errors = [];
var heatingLoad = parseFloat(document.getElementById("hea-heating-load").value); var cop = parseFloat(document.getElementById("hea-hp-cop").value); var elecRate = parseFloat(document.getElementById("hea-electricity-rate").value); var fuelType = document.getElementById("hea-fossil-fuel-type").value; var fuelPrice = parseFloat(document.getElementById("hea-fuel-price").value); var afue = parseFloat(document.getElementById("hea-furnace-efficiency").value);
if (isNaN(heatingLoad) || heatingLoad 1000) errors.push("Annual heating load must be between 1 and 1000 MMBtu."); if (isNaN(cop) || cop 6) errors.push("Heat pump COP must be between 1.0 and 6.0."); if (isNaN(elecRate) || elecRate 1) errors.push("Electricity rate must be between $0.01 and $1.00 per kWh."); if (isNaN(fuelPrice) || fuelPrice 99) errors.push("Furnace efficiency (AFUE) must be between 50% and 99%.");
var resultDiv = document.getElementById("hea-result"); resultDiv.style.display = "block";
if (errors.length > 0) { resultDiv.className = "calc-result calc-error"; resultDiv.innerHTML = "Please fix the following errors:" + errors.map(function(e){ return ""; }).join("") + ""; return; }
// ── Fuel energy content & unit labels ────────────────────────────────────── // Natural gas: 1 therm = 0.1 MMBtu // Heating oil: 1 gallon = 0.138 MMBtu // Propane: 1 gallon = 0.0915 MMBtu var fuelBtuPerUnit, fuelUnitLabel; if (fuelType === "natural_gas") { fuelBtuPerUnit = 0.1; // MMBtu per therm fuelUnitLabel = "therms"; } else if (fuelType === "oil") { fuelBtuPerUnit = 0.138; // MMBtu per gallon fuelUnitLabel = "gallons"; } else { fuelBtuPerUnit = 0.0915; // MMBtu per gallon fuelUnitLabel = "gallons"; }
// ── Heat Pump Annual Cost ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── // Energy delivered by heat pump = heatingLoad (MMBtu) // Electrical energy consumed = heatingLoad / COP (MMBtu) // Convert MMBtu → kWh: 1 MMBtu = 293.071 kWh var MMBtuToKwh = 293.071; var hpElecConsumption_kWh = (heatingLoad / cop) * MMBtuToKwh; var hpAnnualCost = hpElecConsumption_kWh * elecRate;
// ── Fossil Fuel Annual Cost ───────────────────────────────────────────────── // Fuel consumed = heatingLoad / (AFUE/100) / fuelBtuPerUnit (units) var afueFraction = afue / 100; var fuelUnitsConsumed = heatingLoad / afueFraction / fuelBtuPerUnit; var fossilAnnualCost = fuelUnitsConsumed * fuelPrice;
// ── Savings ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── var annualSavings = fossilAnnualCost - hpAnnualCost; var savingsPct = (annualSavings / fossilAnnualCost) * 100;
// ── Effective COP of fossil fuel system ───────────────────────────────────── // For reference: fossil "COP equivalent" = AFUE fraction (always = 0 ? "Heat Pump" : "Fossil Fuel System"; var savingsAbs = Math.abs(annualSavings); var savingsPctAbs = Math.abs(savingsPct);
var fuelTypeName = fuelType === "natural_gas" ? "Natural Gas" : fuelType === "oil" ? "Heating Oil" : "Propane";
resultDiv.className = "calc-result calc-success"; resultDiv.innerHTML = "### Results " + "" + "Metric" + "Heat Pump" + "" + fuelTypeName + "" +
"Annual Heating Load" + "" + fmt(heatingLoad, 1) + " MMBtu" +
"System Efficiency" + "COP " + fmt(cop, 2) + "" + "AFUE " + fmt(afue, 0) + "%" +
"Energy Consumed" + "" + fmt(hpElecConsumption_kWh, 0) + " kWh" + "" + fmt(fuelUnitsConsumed, 1) + " " + fuelUnitLabel + "" +
"Energy Rate" + "" + fmtUSD(elecRate) + "/kWh" + "" + fmtUSD(fuelPrice) + "/" + (fuelType === "natural_gas" ? "therm" : "gal") + "" +
"Annual Cost" + "" + fmtUSD(hpAnnualCost) + "" + "" + fmtUSD(fossilAnnualCost) + "" + "" +
"= 0 ? "#e8f5e9" : "#fff3e0") + ";border-radius:6px;'>" + "" + cheaper + " is cheaper by " + fmtUSD(savingsAbs) + "/year " + "(" + fmt(savingsPctAbs, 1) + "% savings)." + "" +
"" + "10-year operating cost — Heat Pump: " + fmtUSD(hpAnnualCost * 10) + " | " + fuelTypeName + ": " + fmtUSD(fossilAnnualCost * 10) + "" + "
"; }
#### Formulas Used
Heat Pump Annual Cost:
HP Cost = (Heating Load [MMBtu] ÷ COP) × 293.071 [kWh/MMBtu] × Electricity Rate [$/kWh]
Fossil Fuel Annual Cost:
Fossil Cost = (Heating Load [MMBtu] ÷ AFUE) ÷ Fuel Energy Content [MMBtu/unit] × Fuel Price [$/unit]
Annual Savings:
Savings = Fossil Cost − HP Cost
Fuel Energy Content: Natural Gas = 0.1 MMBtu/therm | Heating Oil = 0.138 MMBtu/gal | Propane = 0.0915 MMBtu/gal
Unit Conversion: 1 MMBtu = 293.071 kWh
#### Assumptions & References
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