Natural gas boiler
- Gas consumption—
- Annual energy cost—
- Annual maintenance—
- Annual CO₂—
Industrial process heat
Heat pump
vs. gas boiler.
Screen process hot water, wash water, drying, food processing, pasteurization, boiler feedwater, waste-heat recovery, refrigeration heat recovery, low-temperature steam replacement, and other low- to medium-temperature loads.
Estimated annual savings
—
Energy, demand, and maintenance included
Simple payback—
IRR—
NPV—
CO₂ reduction—
Industrial heat pump
- Electric consumption—
- Estimated peak demand—
- Electric energy cost—
- Demand charges—
- Annual maintenance—
- Annual CO₂—
Net capital—
Thermal load—
Load factor—
Heat pump COP—
Economic break-even
Test the energy-price ratio.
These thresholds isolate the energy-price pivot while holding performance, demand, capital, and maintenance assumptions constant.
Electricity must remain below—
Gas must remain above—
10-year heat pump TCO——
15-year heat pump TCO——
20-year heat pump TCO——
This is a screening model. COP must come from vendor performance at the required source and sink temperatures; demand assumes the annual thermal load is spread across entered operating hours. The IEA Heat Pump Monitor 2026 identifies energy prices, high load factors, and simultaneous heating and cooling as central to industrial heat-pump economics.
Future case study
Simultaneous heating + cooling
A food-processing facility can reject refrigeration heat outdoors while burning natural gas to make hot water. Heat recovery changes the boundary: one electric input can support useful cooling and useful heating.
Refrigeration load
→Heat currently rejected outdoors
Recovered process heat
Upgraded for wash water or process duty
Conventional refrigeration electricity$420,000
Conventional boiler gas$310,000
Conventional total$730,000
Heat-recovery heat pump electricity$460,000
Gas avoided$280,000
Cooling benefitIncluded
Illustrative annual benefit$270,000