Electric Heating in Texas: Heat Pump vs Resistance (and What It Costs)
By the TexasPowerCost Editorial Team — independent Texas electricity analysis · Last reviewed October 18, 2026 · how we analyze plans
Last updated: October 18, 2026 · 6 min read
If your Texas home heats with electricity, the single biggest factor in your winter bill is not your thermostat setting or even the weather — it is which type of electric heat sits behind the vents. Two houses on the same street, held at the same temperature, can pay very different amounts, because there are two ways to make heat from electricity and they are nowhere near equal in cost.
The short answer
Electric-resistance heat (baseboards, wall units, or a furnace's heat strips) turns electricity straight into heat at about 100% efficiency — simple, but the priciest common way to heat, because it takes so many kilowatt-hours. A heat pump instead moves heat from the outside air, delivering roughly 2-3 units of heat per unit of electricity in mild weather, so it runs far cheaper for most of a Texas winter. The catch: near or below freezing it falls back on that same resistance heat, which is why bills jump in a hard freeze.
Two Kinds of Electric Heat, Two Very Different Bills
People lump all electric heat together, but the two approaches could hardly be more different in what they cost to run. Here is the quick contrast before we get into why:
| Electric resistance | Heat pump | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Turns electricity directly into heat | Moves heat from outdoor air indoors |
| Rough efficiency | About 100% (1 unit in, 1 out) | Roughly 200-300% in mild weather |
| Running cost | Highest of the common options | Much lower most of the winter |
| In a hard freeze | Same steady high cost | Falls back on resistance heat; cost climbs |
How Resistance Heat Works (and Why It Is Pricey)
Electric-resistance heat is the straightforward one. Run current through a high-resistance element — the strips inside an electric furnace, the coils in a baseboard or wall heater — and it warms up, turning essentially all of that electricity into heat. That sounds like a perfect deal, and in a narrow sense it is: resistance heat is about 100 percent efficient. The catch is that making heat this way takes a large number of kilowatt-hours, and you pay for every one at your effective rate. At a common Texas energy charge of around 14 cents per kilowatt-hour for the energy portion, a home leaning on resistance heat through a cold month can run up serious usage. Among the common ways to heat a home, resistance is simply the most expensive to operate.
How a Heat Pump Works (and Why It Is Cheaper — Usually)
A heat pump plays a cleverer trick. Instead of creating heat, it moves heat that already exists in the outdoor air and pumps it inside — the same technology as your air conditioner, run in reverse. Because it is relocating heat rather than generating it, it can deliver roughly two to three units of heating for every unit of electricity it draws in mild weather. That is why, for most of a Texas winter, a heat pump is far cheaper to run than resistance heat for the same comfort: you are paying for a fraction of the kilowatt-hours. Most newer Texas homes are built with heat pumps for exactly this reason, and both the U.S. Department of Energy and ENERGY STAR point to them as an efficient way to heat with electricity.
The Freeze Problem: When a Heat Pump Falls Back on Resistance
Here is the wrinkle that catches Texans off guard. A heat pump's efficiency depends on there being heat in the outside air to move, and as the temperature falls toward freezing there is less of it and the pump has to work harder. Near or below freezing it can no longer keep the house warm on its own, so it calls on the electric-resistance strips built in as backup — the auxiliary heat. In effect, during a hard freeze your efficient heat pump temporarily becomes an expensive resistance heater. That is the single biggest reason a heat-pump home sees its bill jump during a Texas cold snap even though nothing about the thermostat or the rate changed. It is also why the two systems' costs converge exactly when the weather is at its worst.
Don't leave it on "emergency heat"
If your thermostat has an emergency or "em heat" mode, that setting runs the system on its resistance strips alone and bypasses the efficient heat pump entirely. It exists for when the heat pump breaks — not for a chilly evening. Leaving it on, or forcing a deep overnight setback that makes the system scramble to catch up, is a fast way to run up resistance-heat usage you did not need.
Why does my thermostat say "Aux Heat" or "EM Heat" — and is it costing me money?
"Aux Heat" means the heat pump has switched on its electric-resistance strips because the outdoor air is too cold to keep up, or because you asked for a big jump in temperature; it costs roughly two to three times more per hour of warmth. "EM Heat" runs the strips alone and bypasses the heat pump — use it only when the heat pump is broken.
Seeing the Aux indicator during a hard freeze is normal and usually unavoidable; seeing it on a 50°F morning means something is asking for more heat than the pump can deliver — most often a deep overnight setback that the system is scrambling to recover from, or a thermostat set to raise the temperature several degrees at once. The cheapest fix is behavioral: smaller setbacks and slower recoveries, which the winter thermostat guide covers. If the Aux light is on for hours on mild days, have the refrigerant charge and the outdoor unit checked. And if you have been running a space heater to avoid the strips, what a space heater costs to run in Texas shows that a heater beats strip heat in one room but loses to the heat pump everywhere else.
Which Do You Have, and How to Keep It Cheap
Because the cost gap is so large, it is worth knowing which system you actually have. The easiest tell is your thermostat: an emergency or auxiliary heat setting almost always means a heat pump, since resistance-only systems have no backup to switch to. If the outdoor unit that looks like an air conditioner hums along on a cold day making heat, that is a heat pump as well. Pure resistance heat — baseboards, wall units, or a furnace with heat strips — has none of that. Once you know, keeping it cheap is mostly about keeping a heat pump in its efficient range: leave it in normal heating mode, avoid deep thermostat swings that trigger the backup, and seal and insulate so the system runs less in the first place. For the settings side, see our guide on the best thermostat settings for a Texas winter, and for where heating fits among your other loads, what uses the most electricity in a Texas home. When a freeze does drive the bill up, it is the same winter usage spike playing out.
The cheaper your rate, the less a freeze stings ⚡
You cannot change the weather or your heat pump's backup heat, but you can make sure every kilowatt-hour it burns is priced as low as possible. Compare every plan in your ZIP at your real usage in under a minute.
Compare Plans Free →Common Questions
Is a heat pump cheaper than electric resistance heat?
In most Texas winter weather, yes, and often by a wide margin. A heat pump moves existing heat from the outdoor air instead of creating it, so it can deliver roughly two to three units of heat for every unit of electricity in mild conditions. Electric-resistance heat is about 100 percent efficient, meaning one unit of electricity makes one unit of heat — which sounds fine but takes far more kilowatt-hours for the same warmth. The heat pump wins on running cost most of the season; the gap only closes in a hard freeze, when the heat pump has to use its resistance backup anyway.
Why does my heat pump make my bill spike when it is cold?
A heat pump pulls heat from outside air, and the colder that air gets, the less heat there is to pull and the harder it works. Near and below freezing it can no longer keep up on its own, so it switches on its auxiliary or emergency electric-resistance heat as backup. That backup uses a lot more electricity, so a stretch of freezing weather can push your usage — and your bill — up sharply even though the thermostat setting never changed.
Why does my thermostat say 'Aux Heat' or 'EM Heat' — and is it costing me money?
Aux (auxiliary) heat means your heat pump has switched on its built-in electric-resistance strips because the outdoor air is too cold for it to keep up, or because you asked for a big temperature jump; it comes on automatically and costs roughly two to three times more for the same warmth. EM (emergency) heat is a mode you select that runs the strips alone and bypasses the heat pump entirely — use it only when the heat pump is broken. Seeing Aux Heat during a freeze is normal; seeing it on a mild day, or leaving EM Heat on, is money.
How do I know if I have a heat pump or resistance heat?
A few clues help. If your thermostat has an emergency heat setting or a light that reads aux or em heat, you almost certainly have a heat pump. If the outdoor unit that looks like an air conditioner runs in winter to make heat, that is a heat pump too. Pure resistance systems — electric baseboards, wall heaters, or a furnace with heat strips and no outdoor unit running in winter — do not have that backup mode. When in doubt, the model number on your outdoor unit or a quick look from an HVAC tech will settle it.
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