An electric furnace by itself does not have a heat pump. You can add a heat pump or air conditioner to an electric furnace. Adding a heat pump to an electric furnace can save money on heating your home.
The difference between a heat pump and an air conditioner is that a heat pump both heats and cools while an air conditioner only cools.
The simplest way to know whether or not you have a heat pump is to look at your thermostat. Look for a setting or switch that would be labeled “EM HT” or some other abbreviation for “emergency heat,” like “aux heat.”
If your thermostat has switches and that indicate “Heat” & “Cool” and no position for emergency heat, then the likelihood is that you have an air conditioner or a cool-only unit. That is if you even have an outdoor unit.
There are hundreds of brands and styles of thermostats, and it would be hard to show you all of them.
Having a heating and cooling thermostat on a heat-only system is possible.
I’ve even made some heat pump thermostats work for AC or an electric furnace in a pinch. So I just totally confused you. And a lot of that has to do with trying to write to many people in many different situations.
So unless you have one of these outside, you have an electric furnace only. A heating-only unit. This unit is a heat pump. You can’t tell the difference between it and an air conditioner by just a glance.
There are three quick and easy ways to tell whether a unit is a heat pump.
- Search for the model number on the internet.
- Look down inside for a reversing valve.
- Heat pumps have three service ports, and AC units have two.
Do You Need A Heat Pump With An Electric Furnace?
The numbers I’m about to give are arbitrary; use the thought process to determine your situation, as the cost for new heat pumps and utility costs vary.
This question concerns economics and your desire to have cooling in the summer. How reasonable are your electric bills? So many of my customers with just an electric furnace have electric bills in the dead of winter of $150 or less.
Their average electric bill in the summer is around $75, give or take. So, it costs about $75 to heat the home in winter. Utility companies have in the past advertised that adding a heat pump can save up to 50% in heating costs.
Let’s also agree that 50% is an arbitrary percentage. That savings varies. That would make the savings on electric bills for having a heat pump around $35 or so.
Let’s also say that winter is about five months long. Five months, the $35 equals $175 to heat this imaginary home for a year.
You are now assuming that it costs $4000 to add a heat pump. Four grand divided by $175 equals 22 years in payback. You will want air conditioning pretty bad to put out that $4000 of hard-to-come-by money.
If you don’t think I did my math right, comment below.
What’s Involved In Adding A Heat Pump?
If you own a manufactured home, there is a perfect chance you can use your existing electric furnace to add on a heat pump. This manufactured home has the original electric furnace with a brand-new heat pump installed.
The furnace door is off, and you can see the heat pump indoor coil with the white refrigeration line going up through the floor to the coil above the fan. That’s primarily what’s involved in adding a heat pump for a mobile home.
Add the coil to the furnace and run the refrigeration lines from the coil to an outdoor unit. Control wiring for the thermostat. Power wiring to the outdoor unit.
And be sure to check with your local building department regarding any required permits. You have to pay the piper.
With a stick-built home with an existing forced air electric furnace, replacing the furnace with a matching air handler (furnace) to the brand of heat pump you decide to purchase would be important.
Finding the right contractor is an arduous task. You can become very vulnerable to the ideas and skills of others. You can also become quite confused, especially if you have never had the experience of getting bids. No two contractors have the same ideas for completing a project.
If you want some really good ideas on what questions to ask when buying a new heating and air conditioning system, go here and read an article I wrote with 30 questions you could ask.
Let’s Sum It Up: Does An Electric Furnace Have A Heat Pump?
An electric furnace is a stand-alone heating appliance. It will move air if you turn on the fan. If you turn up the heat, it will make you warm.
If you have an electric furnace, you could also have a heat pump if you have an outdoor unit. But, that outdoor unit could be an air conditioner, you’ll have to check it out.
Numerous accessories can be added to an electric furnace. They include, but are not limited to:
- A heat pump
- An air conditioner
- Many types and grades of filters
- Humidifiers
- Digital programmable thermostats with or without WiFi
- UV Lights for sanitizing the air
I hope this has been informative. If you have questions, you can contact me.
