Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Alaska
In Alaska, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $2,282.61 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $14,480.89 with electric resistance heat and $7,240.45 with a heat pump. Alaska's $1.25/therm gas against 29.4¢/kWh electricity keeps the gas furnace ahead of a heat pump by $4,957.84 a year.
State data
What Alaska pays
- Electricity
- 29.4¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.25/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 10,000 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 7 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.0
Alaska's electricity rate, 29.4¢/kWh, is 62% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh, and the 5th-highest of the 51 on this site. Residential gas in Alaska is $1.25/therm, 16% below the US average of $1.48/therm. At 10,000 heating degree-days and climate zone 7, Alaska's heat pump line uses a seasonal COP of 2.0, among the lowest in this model.
Prices are statewide averages. Type the rate and gas price from your own bill into the calculator above to replace them.
How homes here heat
How homes in Alaska heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 57% · electricity 13% · propane not reported · fuel oil 24%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 37% · central heat pump not reported · boiler 36%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 51%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $3,018 a year, of which $1,254 on space heating (40%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 74% of natural gas use · 10% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
No state has a longer heating season. Alaska logs 10,000 heating degree-days, the highest figure in the country, and its households spend more on space heating than anyone else: $1,254 a year in the 2020 survey, against $519 nationally, the highest among the 51 states and DC. That is 40% of a total energy bill of $3,018, itself the highest in the survey. Spread across the year, heat alone runs about $105 a month.
Natural gas is the main fuel for 57% of homes (about 150,000), near the US share of 51%. The real difference is fuel oil: 24% of homes burn it, against 4% for the country, the 6th-highest share of the 14 states where the survey can measure oil at all. Electricity is the main heat in just 13% of homes, the 6th-lowest share. The survey does not report a propane share for Alaska.
The equipment is split almost evenly between furnaces, 37% of homes, and boilers, 36%, a boiler share far above the national 8%; the furnace share is the 2nd-lowest among the 50 that report one. Central heat pumps are too uncommon here for the survey to give a share. 51% of homes also keep a second heater, and space heating accounts for 74% of the gas those homes use.
EIA RECS 2020, state tables: shares of all occupied homes in the state and average spending per household in the survey year. "Not reported" means EIA's sample was too small to publish a figure.
Gas vs electric heat
B04Scenario A
Sets the electricity rate. Pick US average if you're not sure.
From EIA for Alaska. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 29.4¢/kWh · Alaska · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.25/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 10,000 heating degree-days · climate zone 7 (data as of 2026-10-25) ·
On the furnace label: 0.80 older, 0.90–0.98 condensing.
Gas furnace costs less per year by
Electric resistance: $14,480.89 a year · Gas furnace: $2,282.61 a year, for 168.0 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 168.0 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $86.20
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $13.59
- Electric resistance, per year
- $14,480.89
- Gas furnace, per year
- $2,282.61
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$12,198.28
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.0
- Prices used
- electricity 29.4¢/kWh · gas $1.25/therm · propane $3.40/gal · oil $4.20/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $7,240.45
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.
Worked example
Worked example: 2,000 sq ft in Alaska
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Alaska needs about 168.0 MMBtu of heat a year (10,000 heating degree-days). At $1.25/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $13.59 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 29.4¢/kWh costs $86.20, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.0 (zone 7) costs $43.10. The year comes to $2,282.61 on gas, $14,480.89 on resistance heat and $7,240.45 on a heat pump. Gas is the cheapest to run here, by $4,957.84 a year over a heat pump.
Load = sq ft × 0.35 × heating degree-days × 24 ÷ 1,000,000. Gas $/MMBtu = $/therm ÷ 0.1 ÷ 0.92. Resistance $/MMBtu = $/kWh × 293.07. Heat pump = resistance ÷ COP.
What the numbers say
What the numbers say in Alaska
On running cost, the calculator's answer for Alaska is unambiguous: gas, by $4,957.84 a year for the example house. Two prices pull in the same direction. Gas costs $1.25/therm, 16% below the US average of $1.48/therm, while electricity costs 29.4¢/kWh, 62% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh and the 5th-highest rate among the states. Add the cold, and the house needs 168.0 MMBtu of heat a year, so every cent of difference per unit is multiplied by a very large load.
The cold also lowers what a heat pump can deliver. In climate zone 7 the estimate uses a seasonal COP of 2.0. To tie with a 92% furnace at that efficiency, electricity would have to fall to 9.3¢/kWh, and the state average is 29.4¢/kWh. Unless your utility sells power far below the average, a heat pump in a gas home here earns its place through cooling or comfort, not through a lower heating bill.
Plain electric heat is the costly outlier. Baseboards or an electric boiler pay 6.3 times what gas pays per unit of heat at these rates, which puts the example house at $14,480.89 a year. If that is your setup, the gap between resistance and a heat pump, $14,480.89 against $7,240.45, matters more than the gas comparison.
The 24% of homes on oil need a different comparison altogether, since this calculator prices gas and electricity but not oil. The oil and propane page takes your delivered price per gallon. For everyone, the survey's $1,254 is a statewide average over apartments, cabins and houses of every size; the calculator models one 2,000 sq ft house, so set its size and your own rates before you trust the figure. With a load this large, the attic insulation calculator is worth a look before any equipment change.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Alaska, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Alaska: $14,480.89 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $12,198.28 more than gas. Between gas ($2,282.61) and a heat pump ($7,240.45), gas is cheaper here: $13.59 per MMBtu of heat against $43.10 for a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.0. These are estimates at 29.4¢/kWh and $1.25/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Alaska?
About 1,826 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Alaska's 10,000 heating degree-days. That averages 152 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.25/therm, the year costs an estimated $2,282.61.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Alaska?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 29.4¢/kWh, that heat costs $86.20 per MMBtu in Alaska, against $13.59 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.25/therm, 6.3 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $14,480.89 a year against $2,282.61.
Can a heat pump compete with gas through a winter in Alaska?
Not at the average rate. With a seasonal COP of 2.0 in climate zone 7, a heat pump matches a 92% gas furnace only when electricity costs 9.3¢/kWh or less, while homes here pay 29.4¢/kWh on average. If your utility offers a much lower heating rate, put it into the calculator above; otherwise gas stays the cheaper fuel to run.
Why does heat take such a big share of the energy bill in Alaska?
Because the season is the longest in the country. Space heating takes 40% of household energy spending here, the 2nd-highest share, against 26% nationally. The survey average of $1,254 a year includes small homes and apartments, so a detached house will usually run above it. The thermostat setback calculator shows what lowering the setpoint is worth.
Compare
States in climate zone 7
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
Related