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What size heat pump do I need?

Answer a few questions about your home. See what size heat pump it needs, and which models deliver that in the cold.

Do you know your home's heat loss?

Your house

A five-digit US ZIP code, or the first three characters of a Canadian postal code.

Square feet. Include a heated basement. Leave out an unheated one.

This sets the starting point for the house condition below.

Set from your answers. Change it if you know your house better.

Have last winter's heating bills? Add a second estimate from fuel use

Optional. The floor-area estimate above stands on its own.

Add up twelve bills, or read the annual total off one.

Set from the equipment. Change it if the nameplate AFUE says otherwise.

Not for a house already heated by a heat pump, or one with a wood stove or other second heat source that carries much of the winter.

The Btu/h per square foot this calculator uses

Btu/h per square foot at the design temperature

Design heating load per square foot in real North American houses, by climate band and house condition, from independent datasets of measured homes. The methodology lists every one of them.

This table is in Btu/h per square foot, the unit the studies publish. The answer above follows the units switch.

Btu/h per square foot, by climate band and house condition
Climate band Drafty, little insulation Typical Tight, well insulated
Milddesign temperature 20°F or warmer 24–42 16–26 10–18
Colddesign temperature 0 to 19°F 28–52 18–30 12–22
Very colddesign temperature below 0°F 32–58 22–38 16–28

The cooling rate is read by climate zone, and the answer shows the rates for yours. The methodology lists every zone.

  • This is a range, not a room-by-room load calculation (Manual J in the US, CSA F280 in Canada). Your contractor does that.
  • Your house's condition moves the answer most. You can change it.
  • The answer names the weather station it uses and how far away it is.

How the calculation works, and its limits: methodology. Where its data comes from, and the notice each license requires: disclosures.

https://heatpumplist.com/size-calculator · updated Oct 26, 2026