Heating cost calculator
What the same amount of heat costs with a heat pump, a gas, propane or oil furnace, or electric baseboard heat, at your state's current fuel prices. At today's prices a heat pump is cheaper to run than a new gas furnace in 10 of 51 states.
Prices: EIA. Propane and heating oil: week of October 26, 2026. Natural gas: 12 months to Jul 2026. Electricity: 12-month average, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026. Checked 2026-10-29.
Pennsylvania, 49 million Btu of heat a year
Natural gas furnace: $789/yr
| System | Price | Cost a year |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas furnace | $1.54/therm | $789 |
| Heat pump | 20.90¢/kWh | $1,303 |
| Propane furnace | $3.21/gal | $1,796 |
| Heating oil furnace | $6.05/gal | $2,498 |
| Electric furnace or baseboard | 20.90¢/kWh | $2,978 |
At 20.90¢ per kWh, the gas furnace is cheaper to run than the heat pump. The heat pump would win below 12.66¢ per kWh.
Prices: electricity 12-month average, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026; natural gas 12 months to Jul 2026; propane and heating oil week of October 26, 2026 (EIA). Running costs only: not the price of the equipment, and not fixed monthly charges for a gas connection or tank rental.
Cheapest way to heat a home in each state
| State | Heat pump | Gas | Cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $514 | $455 | Natural gas |
| Alaska | $2,795 | $1,112 | Natural gas |
| Arizona | $271 | $280 | Heat pump |
| Arkansas | $655 | $867 | Heat pump |
| California | $625 | $338 | Natural gas |
| Colorado | $949 | $528 | Natural gas |
| Connecticut | $1,473 | $709 | Natural gas |
| Delaware | $802 | $645 | Natural gas |
| District of Columbia | $770 | $442 | Natural gas |
| Florida | $143 | $187 | Heat pump |
| Georgia | $609 | $706 | Heat pump |
| Hawaii | $1,142 | $1,218 | Heat pump |
| Idaho | $711 | $353 | Natural gas |
| Illinois | $1,378 | $683 | Natural gas |
| Indiana | $1,100 | $625 | Natural gas |
| Iowa | $876 | $568 | Natural gas |
| Kansas | $839 | $654 | Natural gas |
| Kentucky | $656 | $608 | Natural gas |
| Louisiana | $297 | $312 | Heat pump |
| Maine | $1,589 | $878 | Natural gas |
| Maryland | $1,018 | $656 | Natural gas |
| Massachusetts | $1,617 | $1,112 | Natural gas |
| Michigan | $1,679 | $722 | Natural gas |
| Minnesota | $1,138 | $624 | Natural gas |
| Mississippi | $559 | $520 | Natural gas |
| Missouri | $858 | $832 | Natural gas |
| Montana | $925 | $483 | Natural gas |
| Nebraska | $715 | $574 | Natural gas |
| Nevada | $374 | $244 | Natural gas |
| New Hampshire | $1,295 | $775 | Natural gas |
| New Jersey | $1,556 | $774 | Natural gas |
| New Mexico | $641 | $364 | Natural gas |
| New York | $1,437 | $747 | Natural gas |
| North Carolina | $579 | $619 | Heat pump |
| North Dakota | $946 | $607 | Natural gas |
| Ohio | $1,251 | $779 | Natural gas |
| Oklahoma | $636 | $682 | Heat pump |
| Oregon | $735 | $650 | Natural gas |
| Pennsylvania | $1,303 | $789 | Natural gas |
| Rhode Island | $2,070 | $1,150 | Natural gas |
| South Carolina | $502 | $462 | Natural gas |
| South Dakota | $836 | $491 | Natural gas |
| Tennessee | $654 | $506 | Natural gas |
| Texas | $410 | $461 | Heat pump |
| Utah | $669 | $443 | Natural gas |
| Vermont | $1,231 | $746 | Natural gas |
| Virginia | $801 | $684 | Natural gas |
| Washington | $720 | $727 | Heat pump |
| West Virginia | $1,025 | $762 | Natural gas |
| Wisconsin | $1,223 | $610 | Natural gas |
| Wyoming | $971 | $710 | Natural gas |
Propane and heating oil prices come from the state where EIA surveys it, otherwise from the region. * U.S. average: EIA has no price for the state or its region, so that fuel is not counted as the cheapest. Homes in warm states need little heat, so every option is cheap there.
When is a heat pump cheaper than gas?
It depends on the ratio of your electricity price to your gas price. At the U.S. average gas price of $1.58 per therm, a heat pump with an HSPF2 of 7.8 beats a 95% gas furnace when electricity costs less than about 12.95¢ per kWh. A more efficient heat pump raises that line; a cheaper gas price lowers it.
- Cold climates. HSPF2 is measured for a moderate climate. In the coldest weather a heat pump gives fewer units of heat per kWh, and some homes need backup heat, so in the northern states real costs can be higher than shown. Cold-climate models hold their efficiency better.
- Fixed charges. Dropping gas entirely also saves the monthly gas customer charge, which this comparison leaves out.
- Equipment cost. This compares running costs only. Installation, rebates and tax credits change the payback.
How the comparison works
We start from the heat a house needs, in million Btu (MMBtu). For the typical home we use EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey (2020): the gas burned for space heating by the average gas-heated home in your state, times 85% for the efficiency of its furnace. Each system then needs that heat divided by its efficiency, and the fuel is priced at your state's price. Heat content: 3,412 Btu per kWh, 103,600 Btu per 100 cubic feet of gas (1.036 therms), 91,452 Btu per gallon of propane and 138,500 per gallon of heating oil (EIA). A heat pump's seasonal efficiency is its HSPF2 divided by 3.412.