Propane vs Electric Heat Cost
Enter your heated square footage and insulation, pick your state, and compare a year of propane heat with a year of electric resistance heat, and with a heat pump.
Propane vs electric heat
B03Scenario A
Sets the electricity rate. Pick US average if you're not sure.
From EIA for US average. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 18.3¢/kWh · US average · EIA, July 2026 · propane $2.60/gal (2025–26 ref.) · 4,500 heating degree-days · climate zone 4 (data as of 2026-09-28) ·
On the furnace label: 0.80 older, 0.90–0.98 condensing.
Propane furnace costs less per year by
Electric resistance: $4,056.96 a year · Propane furnace: $2,527.29 a year, for 75.6 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 75.6 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $53.66
- Propane furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $33.43
- Electric resistance, per year
- $4,056.96
- Propane furnace, per year
- $2,527.29
- Difference per year (Propane furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$1,529.67
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.8
- Prices used
- electricity 18.3¢/kWh · gas $1.48/therm · propane $2.60/gal · oil $3.70/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $1,448.92
Cost by month, in season only
The yearly cost spread across the months using a typical heating degree-day pattern from NOAA 1991–2020 normals. Months outside the season show $0.
Estimate. Formula and sources are under “How it works”. Change any input; the result updates as you type.
2026 note: The federal 25C and 25D tax credits ended for installations after Dec 31, 2025. Our numbers use 2026 rules. State rebates, HEAR/HOMES programs and utility programs may still apply.
Formula
How it works
- Annual heating load (MMBtu) = square feet × insulation factor × heating degree-days × 24 ÷ 1,000,000
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu = price per kWh × 293.07. Resistance heat turns every kWh into 3,412 BTU, so it is 100% efficient, but 293.07 kWh of electricity is a lot to buy for one MMBtu.
- Propane, $ per MMBtu = price per gallon ÷ 0.0915 ÷ AFUE
- Heat pump, $ per MMBtu = price per kWh × 293.07 ÷ seasonal COP (shown as a third line)
- Cost per year = annual load × $ per MMBtu; difference = propane cost − resistance cost
Baseboard heaters, electric wall heaters and electric furnaces are all resistance heat and cost the same per unit of heat. A heat pump uses the same electricity 2 to 3.6 times over, depending on your climate zone, which is why it usually changes the answer.
Sources: EIA Electric Power Monthly table 5.6.A; EIA Heating Oil and Propane Update (propane, winter average); NOAA CPC heating degree-day normals 1991–2020; ACCA Manual J (simplified envelope factors); NEEP cold-climate heat pump data.
Worked example
A worked example
A well-insulated 1,800 sq ft house in Georgia needs about 30.2 MMBtu of heat a year. Electric resistance at 16.3¢/kWh delivers it at $47.68 per MMBtu; an 85% propane furnace at $2.90 a gallon at $37.29. That's $1,441.98 a year for resistance heat and $1,127.56 for propane, so propane is cheaper by an estimated $314.42 a year. A heat pump at seasonal COP 3.1 would cost about $465.16 for the same house (see the Heat Pump vs Gas Furnace example).
Reference
By state, at the default inputs
Propane furnace costs less per year by, with this page's default inputs and each state's prices (EIA, July 2026, data as of 2026-09-28).
| US average | $1,529.67 | 18.3¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $470.81 | 16.4¢/kWh |
| Alaska | $6,851.05 | 28.8¢/kWh |
| Arizona | $152.96 | 15.4¢/kWh |
| Arkansas | $460.67 | 14.3¢/kWh |
| California | $2,247.15 | 33.6¢/kWh |
| Colorado | $1,911.76 | 17.0¢/kWh |
| Connecticut | $2,389.38 | 24.2¢/kWh |
| Delaware | $1,005.99 | 18.5¢/kWh |
| District of Columbia | $2,219.55 | 25.2¢/kWh |
| Florida | $34.18 | 15.0¢/kWh |
| Georgia | $489.10 | 16.3¢/kWh |
| Hawaii | $0.00 | 48.0¢/kWh |
| Idaho | $1,039.47 | 13.7¢/kWh |
| Illinois | $3,054.97 | 19.2¢/kWh |
| Indiana | $1,916.94 | 16.7¢/kWh |
| Iowa | $2,380.51 | 16.0¢/kWh |
| Kansas | $1,431.59 | 15.3¢/kWh |
| Kentucky | $615.81 | 13.8¢/kWh |
| Louisiana | $38.67 | 12.7¢/kWh |
| Maine | $6,374.19 | 32.4¢/kWh |
| Maryland | $1,570.25 | 21.4¢/kWh |
| Massachusetts | $4,197.10 | 30.5¢/kWh |
| Michigan | $4,354.14 | 23.1¢/kWh |
| Minnesota | $3,417.50 | 17.4¢/kWh |
| Mississippi | $305.21 | 14.5¢/kWh |
| Missouri | $1,659.25 | 16.1¢/kWh |
| Montana | $1,833.57 | 15.0¢/kWh |
| Nebraska | $1,528.20 | 13.8¢/kWh |
| Nevada | $57.76 | 12.8¢/kWh |
| New Hampshire | $4,042.03 | 26.6¢/kWh |
| New Jersey | $2,637.40 | 25.2¢/kWh |
| New Mexico | $922.48 | 16.1¢/kWh |
| New York | $3,939.04 | 29.9¢/kWh |
| North Carolina | $334.64 | 15.2¢/kWh |
| North Dakota | $2,248.80 | 13.4¢/kWh |
| Ohio | $2,503.78 | 19.4¢/kWh |
| Oklahoma | $885.32 | 14.3¢/kWh |
| Oregon | $834.94 | 16.0¢/kWh |
| Pennsylvania | $2,239.02 | 21.7¢/kWh |
| Rhode Island | $3,507.29 | 28.3¢/kWh |
| South Carolina | $295.59 | 15.5¢/kWh |
| South Dakota | $2,563.16 | 15.4¢/kWh |
| Tennessee | $252.83 | 13.7¢/kWh |
| Texas | $483.76 | 15.9¢/kWh |
| Utah | $850.35 | 13.1¢/kWh |
| Vermont | $3,141.65 | 23.8¢/kWh |
| Virginia | $778.01 | 17.5¢/kWh |
| Washington | $573.45 | 14.7¢/kWh |
| West Virginia | $618.97 | 15.8¢/kWh |
| Wisconsin | $3,587.96 | 19.1¢/kWh |
| Wyoming | $1,555.77 | 14.4¢/kWh |
Questions
FAQ
Is electric heat cheaper than propane?
Resistance heat usually isn't. At the US-average prices (18.3¢/kWh, propane $2.60), a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $4,056.96 a year on resistance heat and $2,527.29 on propane. A heat pump brings the electric option down to $1,448.92.
How many gallons of propane to heat a house per winter?
Annual load ÷ 0.0915 ÷ AFUE. A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation needs about 972 gallons at the US-average winter (4,500 heating degree-days) and about 1,339 gallons in Illinois (6,200), with an 85% furnace.
Electric baseboard vs propane furnace?
Per MMBtu, baseboard costs your rate × 293.07: $53.66 at 18.3¢/kWh. Propane at $2.60 in an 85% furnace is $33.43. Baseboard only wins where electricity is cheap and propane expensive, or when you heat one or two rooms and leave the rest cold.
Where does resistance heat come closest?
Where the kWh is cheap. In the Massachusetts example (30.5¢/kWh), resistance costs $89.36 per MMBtu against $46.29 for propane; in Georgia (16.3¢/kWh) the gap is only $47.68 vs $37.29.
Related