Dual-Fuel Heat Pumps — The Colorado Answer
A heat pump for most of the year, your gas furnace for the coldest nights, and a changeover point set from your actual utility rates. For most Denver homes that already have gas, this is the system that makes the most sense.
Two Heat Sources, One Thermostat, One Decision Rule
A dual-fuel system pairs a heat pump outdoor unit with a gas furnace as the indoor unit. The control watches outdoor temperature and runs whichever source is cheaper to operate at that moment. You do not manage it — you set a temperature and the system picks.
The temperature where it hands off is called the changeover point (or balance point), and setting it correctly is the entire game. Set it too high and you burn gas on mild days when the heat pump was cheaper. Set it too low and you lean on the heat pump in conditions where gas would have cost less. Most of the “my heat pump is expensive” complaints in Colorado are actually a changeover point nobody bothered to calculate.
We take your actual Xcel electric rate and your actual gas rate, the manufacturer’s published capacity and efficiency curve for the specific unit we are installing, and we solve for the outdoor temperature where the cost per delivered BTU crosses. Then we set the control to that number and show you the math. If your rates change materially, the number can be changed.
Three Reasons This Suits Colorado Specifically
Our cold is short and sharp
Denver has a handful of genuinely brutal nights and a very long mild shoulder season. A dual-fuel system optimises for exactly that shape — cheap efficient heat for the many mild hours, full-output gas for the few extreme ones.
You already own the furnace
If your furnace is serviceable, keeping it as the backup costs you nothing extra and removes the need for large electric resistance backup — which is what drives the scary January bills people hear about.
Your panel probably handles it
Electric backup heat is the biggest electrical load in an all-electric conversion. Using gas as backup instead often means no panel upgrade at all — which can remove several thousand dollars from the project.
Where Dual-Fuel Is the Wrong Choice
We install a lot of these, but they are not universally right and we would rather say so.
You are trying to get off gas
If the goal is removing combustion from the house entirely — for indoor air quality, for emissions, or to drop the gas meter — dual-fuel does not get you there. It keeps a gas appliance and a flue. An all-electric cold-climate system with properly sized backup is the right build.
Your furnace is at end of life anyway
Dual-fuel makes sense when the furnace has real life left. Pairing a new heat pump with a 22-year-old furnace means you are back doing half this job again in two years.
You have no gas service
Obvious, but worth stating — running new gas service to enable dual-fuel almost never pencils out against simply building the all-electric system correctly.
Two systems to maintain
You keep the annual combustion inspection and the flue. That is a real ongoing difference from an all-electric system, even if it is a small one.
Choose all-electric if
- Removing gas is an explicit goal
- The furnace is near end of life
- No gas service at the property
- You are income-qualified and HEAR covers a panel upgrade
Choose dual-fuel if
- The furnace has 8+ years left
- You want the lowest operating cost
- You want to avoid a panel upgrade
- You want full heating output on the coldest nights, no compromise
Dual-Fuel Questions
Does dual-fuel still qualify for the Colorado credit and Xcel rebates?
Can I use my existing furnace?
What temperature does it switch over at?
Will I hear it switch over?
Find Out If Dual-Fuel Fits Your House
We will look at your furnace, your rates, and your load, and tell you whether hybrid or all-electric is the better build for you.