Miimu

Is a Heat Pump Worth It? Do the Math With AI

By: Miimu Staff Last updated on October 27, 2026

The heat pump question usually comes up when the furnace hits 15, and many of the answers online come from someone selling one. This project put it to Claude for an 1,800-square-foot house in a cold winter climate, asked for a source behind every number, then asked ChatGPT the same thing.


What came back is four pieces, saved in one bundle with the government, lab and testing pages the answers lean on. Claude's verdict: worth it as a planned replacement when the old AC goes, not as a rip-out to save money.

View Bundle
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THE RESEARCH BEHIND THIS GUIDEKeep this bundle. Every link and note, yours to edit.The bundle above holds all the research: 28 links in 4 sub-bundles, each with a note on why it's there. Import a free copy, then add your own finds, cut what you don't need and keep it where you'll find it again.
1Tap import, right above this box2Create a free account3The bundle lands in your account

The Prompt That Started It

One request with the house described up front. Asking for a source link behind every number is the line that turns the answer into something you can check.

I have an 1,800 sq ft house in a cold winter climate with a 15-year-old gas furnace and central AC. Is a heat pump worth it for me? Make each of these as its own separate artifact so I can save them one by one: 1) a short verdict with installed cost ranges and the incentives available now, with a source link for every number; 2) an interactive calculator comparing yearly running cost against gas, where I can change my rates; 3) a one-page explainer on how a cold-climate model handles below-zero days; 4) a checklist of questions to ask three installers. Make reasonable assumptions instead of asking me questions.

The first miimu in the bundle links to the full chat, shared from Claude. The ChatGPT chat sits right beside it, so the two answers can be read side by side.

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What Came Back

Four separate pages, each with its own link, so each one saves into the bundle as its own miimu.

The verdict, with sourcesThe verdict, with sourcesA planned replacement, ideally a cold-climate heat pump with the old furnace kept as backup, which it priced at about $14,000 to $18,000 installed on existing ducts. Using its own estimate of 2026 national average rates, it found running costs a wash: about $870 a year for gas against $894 for the heat pump.The running-cost calculatorThe running-cost calculatorType in the rates from your own bills and it shows what each system costs a year, with the electricity price at which the heat pump starts to win.Below-zero days, explainedBelow-zero days, explainedWhat a cold-climate model does on the coldest nights, why defrost cycles matter and when backup heat turns on.The installer checklistThe installer checklistOne set of questions in a table to fill in as each quote comes in, so the choice comes down to the load calculation and the cold-weather plan.

Make It Yours

1
Import the bundle. Tap import on the bundle above and register free. A copy of the bundle lands in your account, with links to both chats and every page.
2
Put in your house. Change the square footage and the climate in the prompt, and your own rates in the calculator.
3
Ask both AIs. Run the prompt in Claude and in ChatGPT and open every cited source. Trust a figure only when its source backs it up.
4
Take the checklist to three quotes. Fill in the table as each installer answers, then compare them on equal terms.

More real AI projects, each with a bundle you can import, are on Miimu's AI page.

Before you go

View Bundle
​Keep this bundle: 28 links, 4 sub-bundles, free.
1Tap import ↑2Choose Register3It's in your account