Illinois Heating

Heat pump vs furnace in Clinton County, Illinois

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For homes in Clinton County

Which costs less to run in Clinton County?

A gray outdoor air conditioner condenser unit on a concrete pad beside a dark blue horizontal lap-sided wall at night, with a wall-mounted disconnect box and conduit above it.

Heat pump

To heat your home here$2.12per 100,000 Btu

A beige sheet-metal furnace with louvered vent panels stands on a concrete basement floor against a dark blue painted wall, with sheet-metal ductwork and a copper pipe above and behind it.

Furnace

To heat your home here$1.33per 100,000 Btu

At Illinois's gas and electricity prices, a gas furnace makes the same heat as a heat pump for at least 37% less.

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

Where does a heat pump shine?

  • Covers a long cooling season

    Cooling runs May through September here, close to five months of the year. A heat pump handles that whole stretch with the same system, so you're not just getting heat out of it.

    A glass of iced tea on a round wooden table on a covered porch with wicker seating, blue and white cushions, potted plants, a ceiling fan, and green trees beyond the railing.

  • Steady, even comfort

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

    A navy armchair with a light blue throw and cushion holds an open book, beside a lit table lamp, mug and potted plant on a wooden side table, with a golden-coated dog sleeping on a patterned rug and bookshelves at left.

  • 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 light blue sectional sofa, linen and navy pillows, a wooden coffee table with potted plants, a large window with a beige roman shade overlooking green trees and flowering shrubs, a navy built-in bookshelf, a blue ceramic table lamp, and a woven chair in the foreground.

Where does a furnace shine?

  • Runs on the gas most homes here already use

    Just over half the occupied homes in Clinton County already heat with utility gas. If your house is hooked up to a gas line, a furnace uses the fuel already running to your home.

    A row of houses with covered porches, columns and railings along a snow-covered front yard and sidewalk, with a gas meter on a stone foundation and a person walking in the distance.

  • Fast, strong heat on demand

    The air coming from the vents feels genuinely hot. That's welcome on a freezing morning.

    An entryway with a windowed door showing snow outside, sheer curtain, winter boots on tile, a jute runner, and a wooden bench with a blue blanket, pillow, and mug beneath hanging coats and a bag.

  • Pairs with any central AC

    A furnace's blower and ducts carry cooled air too. Adding central AC uses the same system.

    A metal floor vent set into a hardwood floor beside a white sheer curtain, white trim and blue wall, with a potted plant in a woven basket at right in sunlight.

Can a heat pump keep up with winter here

The heat runs seven months a year here, October through April, and the overnight low averages 25°F across December, January and February. Nights at or below freezing happen about 100 times a year, roughly half the nights the heat is running. Nights at 0°F or below are rare, about 2 a year.

A standard heat pump puts out less than its rated heat once it drops below 40°F outside, and below about 35°F it often needs backup heat to keep the house warm. Clinton County's average winter night, 25°F, is below both marks. So is every single one of those 100 nights at or below freezing. A standard heat pump here would be leaning on backup heat on about half the nights of the heating season, not just on the rare cold snap.

A heat pump built to the ENERGY STAR Cold Climate spec is tested differently. It has to still make 1.75 units of heat for every unit of electricity at 5°F, and hold onto 70 percent of its warm-weather capacity at that same temperature, checked by an outside tester, not the manufacturer. A two-winter field test of prototype cold-climate heat pumps in occupied homes found 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 one are not the same purchase in a county built like this one.

Snow-covered dark steps with white railings lead to a navy front door on a light blue clapboard house, with a snow shovel leaning beside the door.

What it costs to run, and what already heats your neighbors' homes

A gas furnace makes the same heat for less money here. At Illinois's average fuel prices, a furnace runs $1.33 per 100,000 Btu against $2.12 for a heat pump built to the federal minimum, and that heat pump figure has nothing added for the backup heat it will often need on the cold nights described above. With the heat running seven months a year in this county, that gap is not a rounding error.

Gas is also what most homes around you already run on. Utility gas heats 52.4 percent of homes here, propane another 17.4 percent. Electric heat covers about one in four, 26.6 percent. If the house already has a gas line and a furnace, another furnace uses what is already there. A heat pump is a new kind of system for most houses in this county, and the cheaper running cost is not on its side.

Cooling is where the heat pump's case gets stronger. This county runs cooling five months a year, including about 35 days a year at 90°F or above, and a heat pump handles both heating and cooling in one machine. A furnace only heats. For those five months it has nothing to do, and the air conditioning has to come from somewhere else. If one system doing both jobs matters more than running cost, a cold-climate heat pump is built for a winter like this one. If running cost and an existing gas line matter more, a furnace paired with its own central AC is the plainer choice here.

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

A row of two-story wood-sided houses in dark blue and light blue with covered porches, flanked by brick houses, with snow on the roofs, icicles along the eaves, and a plowed snowbank along the street.

Common questions about heat pumps and furnaces

  • Can a heat pump heat a house through an Illinois winter?

    It can, but a standard heat pump struggles on the coldest nights here. Below about 40°F its heat output drops under its rating, and below about 35°F it often needs backup heat, and the average overnight low from December through February is 25°F. About 100 nights a year here fall at or below freezing, so backup heat matters for roughly half the nights the heat runs.

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

    Most homes here will want it. The average winter low of 25°F sits below both the 40°F mark where a heat pump's output falls short of its rating and the 35°F mark where it often needs help, and about 100 nights a year here are at or below freezing. Only about 2 nights a year drop to 0°F or below, so backup heat is needed often but rarely has to carry the full load alone.

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

    Yes, and here that usually means the furnace carries the coldest nights while the heat pump handles the rest. Overnight lows average 25°F in December through February, below the point where a standard heat pump's output and efficiency both fall off, so pairing it with the furnace already in the house covers that gap.

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

    No, a furnace costs less to run here. Gas runs $1.33 per 100,000 Btu of heat against $2.12 for a heat pump, both at Illinois's average fuel prices and each machine built to the federal minimum. Utility gas already heats a little over half the homes in Clinton County, so most of your neighbors are paying the gas rate, not the electric one.

A hand in a navy sleeve adjusts a round wall-mounted thermostat on a gray-blue wall, with a living room and an open tool bag of screwdrivers visible through a white doorway.

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