Pennsylvania Heating

Heat pump vs furnace in Berks County, Pennsylvania

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Which costs less to run in Berks County?

A gray outdoor air conditioning condenser unit with a top-mounted fan grille sits on a concrete pad beside a dark blue horizontal lap-siding wall, with an electrical disconnect box and conduit on the wall above it, lit at night.

Heat pump

To heat your home here$2.37per 100,000 Btu

A beige furnace with a galvanized metal flue pipe stands on a concrete floor in a basement with dark blue painted walls, lit by a bare ceiling bulb.

Furnace

To heat your home here$1.64per 100,000 Btu

At Pennsylvania's gas and electricity prices, a gas furnace makes the same heat as a heat pump for at least 30% less.

Btu stands for British thermal unit, the standard measure of heat energy.

Where does a heat pump shine?

  • No gas line, nothing burning in the house

    A heat pump runs on electricity alone. Nothing burns inside the house.

    A kitchen island with a white stone countertop holding a black induction cooktop, a light blue stovetop kettle with a wooden handle, and a ceramic jar of wooden utensils, with navy cabinets, a sink under a window, and a wicker chair in the foreground.

  • Heats and cools in one system

    One machine handles the heat in winter and the cooling in summer. There's no second system to buy or keep up.

    Living room with a cream sofa holding navy and blue cushions and a grey fringed throw, a wooden coffee table with a glass vase of greenery, a dark blue built-in shelving unit, a stone column, and a large window looking onto a green garden.

  • Steady, even comfort

    Instead of short bursts of heat, it keeps a gentle, steady output going. The house stays at one comfortable temperature.

    A golden retriever sleeps on a woven rug in front of a dark blue armchair holding an open book, a cushion and a knit blanket, beside a lit fireplace, a bookshelf, and a side table with a lamp and mug by a dark window.

Where does a furnace shine?

  • Proven, simple, easy to get serviced

    The design is simple and well understood. That keeps service calls short.

    A gloved hand holds a white pleated air filter in front of a blue storage cabinet with folded towels and a gray furnace unit.

  • Pairs with any central AC

    The ductwork that delivers heat in winter delivers cool air in summer once an AC coil is added.

    A dark metal floor register set into a wood plank floor near a white baseboard and window, with a sheer white curtain, a navy door, and a blue and white rug nearby in sunlight.

  • Fast, strong heat on demand

    A furnace pushes out hot air within minutes of switching on. A cold house warms up fast.

    Interior entryway with a blue door with a window, a sheer curtain blowing inward, a steaming mug on a wooden bench with boots stored beneath, snow-dusted fur-lined boots on a stone floor, and a floor vent near the threshold.

What winter here actually asks of a heat pump

Your heat runs eight months a year here, October through May, and the overnight low averages 23°F across the worst of it. That number matters because a standard heat pump starts losing ground below 40°F and often needs backup heat below about 35°F. Your winter average sits below both marks. This isn't a county with a few cold snaps to plan around. Cold is the normal condition the system has to work in.

About 115 nights a year here drop to freezing or below, roughly half the nights across the whole heating season. On those nights a standard heat pump is putting out less than its rated capacity, not more. Only about one night a year reaches 0°F, so the deep cold is rare. The ordinary cold, the kind that shows up on half your winter nights, is the one that matters more for sizing and backup heat.

None of this rules out a heat pump. It means the unit has to be chosen for 23°F nights, not for a mild-climate average, and that backup heat is part of the system here rather than a rare exception. A cold-climate model changes this math: to earn that label a heat pump has to hold at least 70 percent of its rated output at 5°F and still produce 1.75 units of heat per unit of electricity there, verified by outside testing. In field tests of prototype cold-climate units, backup heat covered only a small share of the heat needed between 0°F and 35°F, and running on backup alone was rare even above 0°F. A standard heat pump and a cold-climate heat pump are not the same purchase in this county.

Snow-covered stone steps lead to a frosted-glass door on a dark blue clapboard house, flanked by a snow-topped dry stone wall, a metal railing, and a stacked woodpile under an adjoining roof.

What each one costs to run, and what that means for your house

At Pennsylvania's average prices, a gas furnace makes 100,000 Btu of heat for $1.64. A heat pump makes the same heat for $2.37. An oil furnace costs more than either, $3.03. If you already have gas to the house, it is the cheapest of the three to run, and by a wide enough margin that eight months of heating season will feel it.

If your house heats with oil now, the comparison runs the other way. A heat pump costs less to run than an oil furnace, $2.37 against $3.03, and it adds central air conditioning for the three months a year you run cooling, June through August. A furnace only heats. For the other four months of the year it has nothing to do, while a heat pump is running your AC on the same equipment.

So the choice splits on what's already at the house. Gas on site favors the furnace on running cost alone. No gas line, and oil or electric heat now, favors the heat pump, both on running cost against oil and on getting cooling out of the same system. Either way, if a heat pump is the answer, the 23°F average here means the cold-climate version is the one built for what this county actually does in January.

Sources: NOAA nClimDiv · NOAA 1991–2020 seasonal normals · PNNL Building America guide · PNNL-37127 field study · ENERGY STAR product criteria · EIA SEDS 2024 · 10 CFR 430.32

A two-story navy blue clapboard house with white trim, blue shutters, two brick chimneys and a columned front porch, surrounded by deep snow and bare trees under a partly cloudy sky.

Common questions about heat pumps and furnaces

  • Can a heat pump heat a house through a Pennsylvania winter?

    It can, but a standard heat pump needs help on the coldest nights. Below 40°F its heat output falls short of its rated capacity, and below about 35°F it often needs backup heat, while Berks County sees about 115 nights a year at or below freezing. A cold-climate heat pump holds up better: to earn that label it has to keep at least 70 percent of its 47°F capacity down at 5°F, and field tests of prototype cold-climate units found backup heat covered only a small share of the heat between 0°F and 35°F.

  • Do I need backup heat with a heat pump here?

    With a standard heat pump, most likely yes. Its heating efficiency drops once it's below about 35°F outside, and the overnight low here averages 23°F in December, January and February, with about 115 nights a year at or below freezing. A heat pump with the ENERGY STAR Cold Climate rating needs less help, since it's tested to hold most of its capacity down to 5°F, but Berks County does see about one night a year at 0°F or below where even that has limits.

  • Can I keep my furnace and add a heat pump?

    Yes, and in Berks County that pairing has a real job to do. A heat pump built to the federal minimum loses ground below 40°F and often needs backup heat below about 35°F, and the overnight low here averages 23°F across December, January and February. The furnace already in your house can serve as that backup, firing on the coldest nights while the heat pump handles the rest.

  • Is a heat pump cheaper to run than a furnace in Berks County?

    No, a gas furnace costs less to run here. At Pennsylvania's prices a gas furnace makes 100,000 Btu of heat for $1.64, against $2.37 for a heat pump built to the federal minimum. A heat pump does beat an oil furnace, which runs $3.03 for the same heat, so where you land depends on what you're comparing it to.

A man in a blue shirt and cap kneels in a basement, working on a furnace with attached ductwork and white PVC vent pipes, with an open tool bag on the floor beside him and a water heater in the background.

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