The household
A single-family ranch home in Atlanta, GA, roughly 1,800 square feet, sized for a 3-ton system. The home was built with electric-resistance heat — baseboard or furnace strips — paired with a 14.3 SEER2 AC condenser, a common combination in homes built without gas service. Georgia Power's residential rate runs about 15.84¢/kWh.
The systems
The comparison is a 3-ton standard ducted heat pump (15.2 SEER2 / 8.1 HSPF2, installed around $6,050) against replacing the electric-resistance furnace and AC in kind (installed around $5,600). Atlanta's mild 2,768 heating degree days mean the heat pump only needs electric-resistance backup for about 15% of its heating load — the rest is carried far more efficiently by the compressor, at an estimated seasonal COP of 2.48.
The 10-year math
The heat pump's slightly higher upfront cost is trivial next to the operating-cost gap: resistance heating literally cannot beat a machine that moves 2-3 units of heat per unit of electricity it consumes.
| Cost category | Standard Heat Pump | Electric Resistance |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment + install | $6,050 | $5,600 |
| Heating energy (10 yr) | $12,153 | $24,673 |
| Cooling energy (10 yr) | $8,477 | $9,011 |
| Maintenance (10 yr) | $1,750 | $1,500 |
| 10-year total | $28,430 | $40,783 |
Electric-resistance heat has a coefficient of performance of exactly 1.0 — one unit of heat per unit of electricity, always. A heat pump in Atlanta's mild climate delivers closer to 2.5. That gap alone is worth more than $12,000 over a decade.
The verdict
The heat pump saves an estimated $12,353 over 10 years, driven almost entirely by the heating-energy line: $12,153 for the heat pump versus $24,673 for electric resistance, over a decade. This is the textbook case for a heat pump retrofit — any home currently heated by electric-resistance equipment (furnace strips or baseboard) in a climate with a moderate winter is very likely to see a result like this one.
What could change this
Little would change this verdict — it's structurally lopsided. The only scenarios that narrow the gap are a much colder-than-typical winter (increasing backup-heat reliance) or a steep rise in Georgia Power's residential rate, since both sides of this comparison run on electricity. Federal or utility heat pump rebates, where available, would only widen the heat pump's advantage further — see the Incentives page for current Georgia programs.
Run it with your own numbers
These figures use representative home sizing and each state's EIA-reported energy prices as of August 2026 — see the methodology page for the full model. To see how your actual square footage, equipment, and utility rate change the outcome, run the Heat Pump vs. Traditional HVAC calculator with your own ZIP code.