[Halbraun]

Heat pump…. The industry has advanced so far.. Carrier or Trane (about equal in cost/quality) but Carrier has quicker delivery right now. Get at least 18 SEER or above if you can.. gets you into quiet variable speed drives and lower electrical bills.. if your old unit was 15 years old, 40% savings is possible..

If you decide to go ahead with gas.. same advice applies.

[patfla06]

In our Tampa house, which we built, we had 2 gas furnaces.
I prefer a furnace over a heat pump.
We had 12 foot ceilings and don’t think the heat pump would
have done as good a job heating that house.

[DDToto41]

Originally Posted by JMEZARIC3

My Patio Villa is 20 years old and the AC/gas furnace will need to be replaced soon. Need opinions on a heat pump vs AC/gas furnace.Right now I am leaning with replacing the AC/gas furnace but a heat pump is an option. Which option is less expensive to install? Both options should have a 15 to 20 year lifespan but which option will have lower monthly operating costs ?

.

What is your gas bill and electric bill in January, now compare them to your bills from last August. That should give you the answer. your electric bill will be the same in January as it is in August since your air conditioner will be running all the time.

[DonH57]

Originally Posted by jrref

Here in Florida you don't really need a gas furnace since the heat pump type system will work down to 32 degrees. If it gets colder and if necessary your electric auxiliary heat will come on for short periods. I'm not an installer but my guess a gas heat system will probably be more expensive. I'm from NY and i was surprised that my heat pump system worked very well during the last hard freeze we had. My auxilary heat never came on but i did test it just in case.

Yep. Burn off the dust from Florida's spring, summer, and fall!

[nn0wheremann]

Originally Posted by JMEZARIC3

My Patio Villa is 20 years old and the AC/gas furnace will need to be replaced soon. Need opinions on a heat pump vs AC/gas furnace.Right now I am leaning with replacing the AC/gas furnace but a heat pump is an option. Which option is less expensive to install? Both options should have a 15 to 20 year lifespan but which option will have lower monthly operating costs ?

Gas heat is great, and a gas clothes dryer works much better than electric. Gas water heater & gas stove vs electric is a toss-up, especially with the sealed glass cooktop.

What you need to consider is the cost of nothing. Nothing is expensive. TECO gas charges a hook up fee and gas service charge of $27.08 per month. In February I was billed $72.53 for gas burned by the dryer water heater, and furnace, and $27.08 for nothing, the cost of being TECO’s customer regardless of gas used. In August, the gas cost $14.87, and the “nothing” cost about $27 too.

To save with your heat pump you would want to replace all your gas appliances, and cut off your gas service. In all but two or three months you pay TECO more for “nothing” than you pay for gas.