The short answer: in a normal January, a working heat pump heats a typical 1,800-square-foot Orlando home for something like $15–$40. The same house on electric heat strips alone runs closer to $50–$120. A colder-than-usual January can double either figure. These are estimates for a typical house, not a quote. Insulation, duct leaks and thermostat habits all move them. But the ratio between them holds, and it comes down to one number.
The number that decides it: heat per kilowatt-hour
Electric resistance heat is always one-to-one. Heat strips, space heaters, baseboard heaters and electric furnaces all turn one kilowatt-hour of electricity into 3,412 BTU of heat. No more, no less. That also means every space heater is equally efficient. A $300 "infrared" heater and a $30 one both turn 1,500 watts into about 5,100 BTU an hour.
A heat pump moves heat instead of making it. At Orlando winter temperatures it delivers roughly two to three and a half units of heat for every unit of electricity it uses. It does better on a 55-degree night than a 35-degree one, but it never drops to one-to-one at the temperatures we see here.
What each one costs to run
| Heat source | Electricity | Heat output | Cost per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 W space heater | 1.5 kW | about 5,100 BTU | about 23¢ |
| 5 kW heat strips (plus blower) | about 5.5 kW | about 17,000 BTU | about 83¢ |
| 10 kW heat strips (plus blower) | about 10.5 kW | about 34,000 BTU | about $1.60 |
| 3-ton heat pump at 47°F | about 3 kW | about 35,000 BTU | about 45¢ |
Per 10,000 BTU of heat delivered, resistance heat costs about 44¢ and a working heat pump about 13–15¢. Strips cost about three times as much for the same warmth.
When a space heater actually wins
If your home has strips only (a straight-cool AC with a heat kit, no heat pump), a space heater can genuinely save money. Strips heat every room in the house. A 1,500-watt heater in the room you are actually sitting in, with the central heat set back to 62–64°F, often costs less than running the strips to hold 70°F everywhere.
If you have a working heat pump, the math flips. Per unit of heat, the space heater costs about three times as much. It only makes sense for one room the ducts do not reach well, like a converted garage, a back bedroom at the end of a long duct run, or an enclosed lanai.
Whichever you have, plug space heaters straight into the wall, keep three feet clear around them, and turn them off when you leave the room.
The expensive mistakes
Most of the shocking January bills we see trace back to one of three things:
- The thermostat left on Emergency Heat. That runs the house on strips alone, at three times the cost per unit of heat.
- Big overnight setbacks on a heat pump. The morning recovery runs on strips. See the best thermostat setting for a heat pump.
- An outdoor unit that quietly stopped running. The thermostat covers for it with aux heat and nobody notices until the bill arrives. See aux heat vs emergency heat.
Is it worth switching to a heat pump?
For heating alone, in Orlando, usually not. Moving from strips to a heat pump might save $50–$150 over a normal winter. That will never pay for replacing a straight-cool system that still works.
When you are replacing the system anyway, it is a different question. A heat pump typically costs a few hundred dollars more than the equivalent straight-cool unit. It keeps the heat strips as backup, and it cuts the heating bill by about two-thirds every winter for the next fifteen years. At that point we recommend it almost every time. Our guide to buying a new AC in Florida covers the rest of that decision, and our installation page covers what we install.
If your bill already looks like strips are doing work the heat pump should be doing, our $89 heating diagnostic will tell you why.
Written by
The Eco Air Orlando team — licensed Florida HVAC contractors, #CAC1814992. Everything here comes from work we actually do in Central Florida homes.