What is the best through-the-wall air conditioner with heat?
A through-the-wall unit with heat sits in a sleeve in an exterior wall and warms the room in winter. Two things decide the choice: the sleeve it has to fit, and how it heats, which sets what that warmth costs. Many heat with an electric coil; a few are heat pumps. These are the in-stock through-the-wall units with heat we list, one per brand range, each with its sleeve, its supply and what an hour at its rated heat costs.
The short answer
Of the 12 through-the-wall air conditioners with heat we list in stock, 6 heat with an electric coil, 2 are heat pumps and 4 do not state enough to tell. The most efficient is the Friedrich 28,000 BTU Kuhl Window AC w/ Heat Pump, rated 21,000 BTU of heat on 2,211 watts, about 2.8 times the heat per watt of an electric coil, so an hour at its rated heat costs about $0.41, in stock at Sylvane for $2,629.
Prices last refreshed Sep 26, 2026Independent, nobody pays for placement.
fits a window, or a Friedrich Kuhl sleeve of its size · heat pump, 21,000 BTU of heat at about 2.8x the heat per watt of a coil · about $0.41 an hour at rated heat · 208/230 V
All 12 through-the-wall air conditioners with heat we list with a current in-stock offer. Match the plug to the outlet you have: a NEMA 5-15P plug fits a standard household outlet, while 208/230 V units need a 230-volt outlet with the matching plug.
All in-stock through-the-wall air conditioners with heat: heat source, heating output, power at rated heat, hourly cost, supply and price
Hourly costs: At the rated heating output and the US average electricity price of 18.44¢/kWh (U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A (residential average, May 2026)). A thermostat cycles the heat, so most hours cost less. A heat pump's output and advantage shrink as it gets colder outside, and one with an electric back-up heater draws far more while that runs.
How we chose
We include through-the-wall and window-or-wall units with heat that have a current in-stock offer and whose maker publishes the sleeve they fit, one pick per brand range; PTACs, which use a different 42-inch sleeve, are compared on the sleeve page. We call a unit an electric coil or a heat pump only from its own evidence: its retailer's rated heating output over the heating draw stated beside it (a coil delivers about one watt of heat per watt), the retailer's heater type and the listing's title, and never when they disagree; a heat pump also needs the heater type or the title to say so. A heating draw identical to the cooling draw is treated as a copied figure, and a heat figure a unit's own supply cannot deliver as coil heat is not shown unless a heat pump is proven. Proven heat pumps rank first; every other unit follows by its live price. Hourly costs use the US average electricity price. Nobody can pay for placement.
Is a window air conditioner with heat a heat pump?
Usually not. Many window and through-the-wall units sold "with heat" warm the room with an electric coil, as a space heater does: each watt of electricity becomes about one watt of heat (3,412 BTU per kilowatt-hour). A heat pump instead moves heat in from outdoors and, at its rating point, delivers about two and a half to three and a half times as much heat per watt, though its output falls as it gets colder outside and some models switch to a back-up coil in freezing weather. You can check a listing yourself: divide its rated heating output in BTU by its heating wattage, then by 3.412. A result near 1 is a coil; a result well above it, about 2 to 3.5 at the rating point, is a heat pump. compare.ac names a coil or a heat pump only from a unit's own evidence (those figures, the retailer's heater type and the listing's title), never when they disagree, and calls a unit a heat pump only when its heater type or title says so too, because some listings copy the cooling wattage into the heating figure.
What does it cost to run the heat on a window or wall air conditioner?
Multiply its heating wattage by your electricity price. At the US average residential price of 18.44¢ per kWh (EIA, May 2026), every 1,000 watts costs about 18¢ an hour at full heat. A 3,450-watt coil, common on 230-volt units whose listings rate it at about 10,600 to 11,000 BTU of heat, costs about 64¢ an hour; a 115-volt unit's coil of about 1,200 watts costs about 22¢ but delivers only around 3,500 to 4,200 BTU. A heat pump delivering the same heat draws a fraction of the power. The thermostat cycles the heat on and off, so a real hour usually costs less than the full-heat figure.
Do I need a 230-volt outlet for an air conditioner with heat?
For more than a little coil heat, yes. The electrical code limits a plug-in room air conditioner to 80% of its circuit's rating, or 50% when the circuit also feeds lights or other outlets. On a standard 15-amp, 120-volt circuit (NEMA 5-15 outlet) that 80% is 1,440 watts, only about 4,900 BTU of coil heat, which is why 115-volt units with coil heat deliver roughly 3,500 to 4,200 BTU. Coil heat of 10,000 BTU or more needs a 208/230-volt circuit with a matching outlet (NEMA 6-15, 6-20 or 6-30, set by the unit's current draw). A heat pump moves several times more heat per watt, so a 115-volt heat pump can deliver well beyond that on a standard outlet. Match the plug on the listing to the outlet in your wall: compare.ac shows each unit's voltage and plug where its retailer states them for that exact model.
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