The life expectancy of a heat pump depends in large part upon how you use it. Because there is no combustion taking place in a heat pump, they wear and tear more like an air conditioner than a furnace. But they rarely last as long as an air conditioner because most homeowners will be using them for cooling and heating, potentially doubling how many hours they run in a year. For that reason, heat pumps can be expected to last between 10 and 20 years, with 15 as an average. Adjust lower if it’s being used as your primary source of heating and cooling year-round; adjust up if you only use it as a supplement for other systems.