Is a heat pump a good choice in Florida?

Even though it’s known for warm and humid weather, most homeowners in Florida still need home heating for at least part of the winter. Not only do some parts of Florida get downright chilly in December and January, but climate change means that rare cold snaps are becoming less rare.

According to a survey by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), households in Florida that use electricity for heating spend an average of $177 on electricity to heat their homes. Meanwhile, Floridians spend an average of $492 on electricity for air conditioning. This means that even though heating is a smaller expense than A/C, it’s a still significant portion of total HVAC costs.¹

Even if you live in a southern city like Miami that may need heating for only a few days a year, installing heating may be required by law, such as for rental properties.

With Florida’s low electricity prices and a need for both heating and A/C, a heat pump is an ideal upgrade for many Florida homeowners that need to replace an existing A/C or heating system or install a new system. In addition, the latest Florida building code dictates that electric resistance heating cannot be the primary heating system in Climate Zone 2 (which is most of Florida)².

If you’re new to heat pumps, this article will explain the basics and why they are particularly well-suited to Florida homes.

What is a heat pump?

If you don’t know what a heat pump is, you’re not alone! While heat pumps are quickly becoming more popular, they’re still new to many homeowners. The simplest explanation is that a heat pump is both an air conditioner and electric heating system in the same package.

In air conditioning mode, a heat pump works exactly the same as any A/C: it absorbs heat from an indoor evaporator coil, and uses refrigerant to transport that heat to an outdoor condenser coil and expel it to the outdoor air. (While there are also geothermal heat pumps that exchange heat with the ground, air source heat pumps are more popular by far.)

What makes a heat pump different is that it can also work in reverse. In heating mode, the refrigerant flow is reversed, and the heat pump takes heat from outdoors and moves it inside. It might be surprising that this system works even in freezing temperatures, but as an experiment try touching the coils of your refrigerator (which are located on the rear or bottom of the appliance). That heat you feel is coming from the cold space inside.

Just like with air conditioning systems, the two main types of residential heat pumps are central ducted and ductless mini splits. In fact, heat pumps can look identical to air conditioners. Both types have pros and cons, so be sure to read my article on the top to learn more.

How are homes in Florida heated?

According to the EIA, electricity is by far the most popular choice for home heating in Florida. Only 5% of Florida homes use natural gas furnaces. This is far different from the rest of the United States, where 51% of homes use natural gas as the primary heating fuel.³

In Florida homes, this means that most home heating systems will be based on electric resistance. This is heat generated using heating coils, which is the same process you’ll find in a toaster, hair dryer, or electric space heater.

Many Florida homes will use either electric furnaces, which use large electric resistance coils and a blower motor to distribute warm air, or a set of baseboard heaters located throughout the home.

Electric resistance has the advantage of low upfront cost: you can buy a space heater for about $35, and it will do a perfectly good job of keeping a room warm as long as it’s not too cold outside.

What is the advantage of a heat pump in Florida?

Electric resistance heat is cheap when it comes to equipment costs, but expensive for fuel costs. That’s the advantage of a heat pump: when the outdoor temperature is 32°F, the typical home heat pump will generate 250-350% more heat than electric resistance while using the same amount of electricity. When the outdoor temperature is milder than that, as Florida winters often are, the efficiency will be better, and can exceed 450% efficiency compared to electric resistance.

The heating efficiency of a heat pump is measured as HSPF, and is listed in the manufacturer’s specifications and the yellow Energy Guide label that you’ll find attached to the product. You can read my guide to heat pump terminology to learn more about HSPF, COP and other heat pump-related acronyms.

How does the fuel cost of an electric furnace compare to a heat pump?

If you want to compare the operating cost of a heat pump to electric resistance heating (such as an electric furnace or electric baseboard heaters), the math is fairly straightforward. With a modern heat pump, you will likely use less than one third of the electricity compared to less efficient electric heating.

This is because in the typically mild winter temperatures that Florida experiences, you can estimate an efficiency improvement of about 350-400% over electric resistance. Heat pumps are less efficient at heating as the outdoor temperature gets colder, but even in arctic conditions they will still be more efficient than electric resistance. In fact, cold climate heat pumps must meet a federal standard that that will be at least 175% efficient at temperatures as cold as 5°F!

How does the fuel cost of a natural gas furnace compare to a heat pump?

When it comes to comparing the operating cost of a gas furnace to a heat pump, the calculation is more complicated because it requires several variables: the cost of gas and electricity, the efficiency of the furnace, and the efficiency of the heat pump at the typical winter temperatures in your area are the main factors that influence whether a gas furnace or heat pump will be cheaper to operate.

To help homeowners answer this question, I created the Electric Dwelling furnace vs heat pump calculator. It uses the average climate data and fuel costs for any zip code in the United States to give you a rough estimate of the operating costs and environmental footprint of a gas, propane, or heating oil furnace compared to a heat pump.

It only takes a few inputs, so you can get an answer in a few seconds. Here’s a calculation I ran for Orlando, Florida:

As you can see, with the parameters I used, a heat pump will cost less to operate than a gas furnace. However, you should run the calculator yourself because the numbers will differ depending on your utility costs and the efficiency of the equipment you’re comparing.

Ditch your existing heating equipment

One of the main benefits of a heat pump is that it’s a 2-in-1 piece of equipment: it functions as both a heating and cooling system. This means that you don’t need a separate furnace for your heating needs. If you currently have a central A/C and a gas or electric furnace, and either piece of equipment is nearing its end of life, it could very likely make sense to replace both with a heat pump.

Having a single piece of equipment for both heating and cooling means lower equipment expenses. While a heat pump is typically a little more expensive than a central air conditioner, a heat pump will almost always be cheaper than the combined expense of a central air conditioner and furnace. If this means switching away from gas, it also means eliminating the yearly tuneups that are recommended for furnaces.

Heat pumps are also for cooling

Don’t forget that a heat pump is also an air conditioner! Another advantage of heat pumps is that if you are upgrading from an older air conditioner, a new heat pump will probably be more efficient – and maybe significantly so.

New heat pumps have SEER2 ratings as high as 22. If you have an air conditioner that’s a couple of decades old, as many Floridians do, this would be a big efficiency upgrade. An older air conditioner may have had a SEER rating around 14 when it was new, but that efficiency would have declined as the equipment aged. With better efficiency of a new heat pump, you’ll spend less electricity during the cooling season.

Finally, new heat pumps are available in advanced models that are two-speed or multi-stage. These heat pumps have a lot of advantages: they are more efficient, are quieter, and keep your home more comfortable. On the flip side, they cost more too. You can read my article on two-speed and multi-stage heat pumps to learn more about their pros and cons.

Dehumidification is an important part of keeping indoor air comfortable

Since we’re focused on Florida, it’s worth calling out one of the advantages of heat pumps that can operate at more than one speed, which is that they are better for dehumidification.

You’ll know that Florida summers routinely have humidity higher than 80%, even in the evening when you’re trying to sleep. Because of this, dehumidification (also known as latent heat in HVAC terms) is as important to comfort as having lower temperatures.

Air conditioners need time to dehumidify the air. A standard air conditioner or heat pump has one speed, which means it could potentially cool the air in your home quickly and then shut off without having removed very much humidity from the air. However, two-speed and multi-stage heat pumps can operate at a lower output, which means they can run for a long time, quietly providing cool air but also removing more humidity in the process.

Financial incentives for heat pumps are available

While heat pumps usually cost a little more than an air conditioner, current financial incentives mean that they could actually end up costing less than an air conditioner.

For example, a tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act can be worth 30% of the installed cost of a heat pump, up to a total of $2,000. While the IRA also offers a tax credit for efficient air conditioners, the credit is worth only $600.

The federal tax credit is officially known as the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (EEHIC). You can read my article to learn more about eligibility and how to apply.

In addition, most states are also rolling out income-qualified rebates for heat pumps that can be worth up to $8,000 in some cases. These are known as the Home Energy Rebates, and unlike the federal tax credit, these are rebates that are available upfront, meaning that the rebate is applied to the invoice price of your heat pump. You don’t have to wait for tax time to apply for and receive a rebate.

However, these rebates are under threat from the Trump administration, which is apparently intent on rolling back support for renewable energy and energy efficiency. This is very much up in the air, so stay on top of the news for latest developments. I’ll also do my best to update information here.

Bottom line: Heat pumps are a great choice for Floridians

Regardless of the state of available incentives, a heat pump is a great choice for Florida homes for a few reasons. One is that many Florida homes already use electricity for heating, so switching to a heat pump will allow you to heat your home with much better efficiency. Second, a new heat pump will likely have more advanced features and be more efficient than an older existing central air conditioner you have.

Finally, a heat pump lets you heat and cool your home with a single appliance, which reduces the upfront investment and maintenance costs that would be needed if you had a separate furnace and central air conditioner instead.

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