Installing a heat pump could affect more than a home's carbon pollution and utility bills; it may also increase its resale value.
Real estate listings often omit any mention of a heat pump, but research has suggested that highlighting the upgrade can encourage buyers to pay more.
What happened?
According to Canary Media, a report from 257, the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative, and the National Association of Realtors found that homes with listings mentioning a ducted heat pump sold for 0.6% to 1% more than similar homes that did not.
Based on a median sales price of $399,000, that works out to roughly $2,300 to $3,900 more per sale.
Researchers looked at over 500,000 U.S. home sales involving ducted heat pumps in 2024 and 2025, using machine learning to compare properties with closely matched characteristics.
Scott Rosenberg, a co-founder and CEO of 257, called the resale bump "actually a meaningful piece of the investment that you made to get the heat pump in the first place."
Heat pumps are far more energy-efficient than traditional HVAC systems while providing both heating and cooling in a single system. That can mean lower long-term energy costs for homeowners, and shoppers can compare equipment and installer options through EnergySage's Heat Pump Marketplace.
For people who are not ready for a whole-home replacement, Merino offers efficient single-room HVAC systems at a much lower price point — plus, they can be installed in under an hour.
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Why does it matter?
The resale bump is notable because installing a ducted heat pump is still a major expense.
Canary Media reported that EnergySage puts the 2026 average cost of a ducted heat-pump system at about $15,400, while Angi says a comparable gas furnace plus central AC setup can run about half that.
The increase in home value and energy bill savings helps explain why heat pumps are increasingly seen as practical home upgrades, not only climate-conscious ones.
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