Derek ColeGM, Simmons One Hour Heating & Air · AI HVAC Answers

Gas Furnace vs. Heat Pump | What is the difference? | HVAC Home Comfort

12 Oct 2022 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

2:12

In this short Q&A, Derek Cole explains the fundamental differences between gas furnaces and heat pumps. He notes that most furnaces are gas‑powered, while heat pumps run solely on electricity, with electric furnaces being rare except in mobile homes where they are paired with an outdoor AC unit. For mobile homes, a common setup uses an outdoor heat pump with the indoor electric furnace as a backup heat source. Cole discusses efficiency trade‑offs: heat pumps are most efficient in milder temperatures (roughly 45‑60 °F), but when outdoor temperatures drop below about 40‑48 °F, gas heating becomes more cost‑effective because electric heat‑pump backup (resistance heating) is expensive. He recommends dual‑fuel systems—either packaged or split—that combine a heat pump with a gas furnace, automatically switching between them to use the most efficient source at any given temperature, thereby delivering the best performance across climates.

Chapters

What is the difference between a heat furnace and a heat pump?
Gas furnace and heat pump. Now, you do have some electric furnaces. I haven't seen those in many houses outside of mobile homes, and in mobile homes you have the electric furnace in the closet area, and then you have an AC outside. That is not efficient. So what we do in that situation is we actually put a heat pump outside keep the electric furnace inside as a backup heat source. So when you talk about furnace, you usually talk about gas. So the difference is gas versus electricity. So when you have a gas furnace, you have natural gas, LP gas operating that furnace. Heat pump is strictly electric. There is no gas involved in it unless you get a dual fuel system. Now we get the phone calls quite a bit of, hey, the gas is going really skyrocket, I want to change out my gas, I want to go straight electric. And the answer to that is dual fuel. You can do it in a package or split, and basically it is more efficient in this climate, or any climate really. Once you drop below 40 degrees It's more efficient to heat with gas than electricity, and the reason being is that electricity, you have to use the backup heat source when it gets really cold outside. Using that backup heat source works, but it is quite expensive. Um, so the best way to have it is heat pump until it gets to about 45, 48 degrees, switch over to gas, using the best of both worlds. And you're getting the most out of each system. Because you get to 50, 60 degrees, if you want to turn the heat on, electricity is the way to go because it's very simple for it to operate in those temperatures, whereas gas is not as efficient as electricity in that situation. So furnace, you're talking about gas, and heat pump, you're talking about electricity.