Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Arkansas
In Arkansas, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,086.89 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $2,264.16 with electric resistance heat and $730.37 with a heat pump. At these prices a heat pump is the cheapest of the three, $356.51 a year under gas.
State data
What Arkansas pays
- Electricity
- 14.4¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.86/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 3,200 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 3 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 3.1
Arkansas pays 14.4¢/kWh for electricity, 21% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh and the 9th-lowest of the 51 rates on this site. Arkansas pays $1.86/therm for natural gas, which puts furnace heat at $20.22 per MMBtu. Arkansas is in IECC climate zone 3, with 3,200 heating degree-days a year; the heat pump line uses a seasonal COP of 3.1.
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 Arkansas heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 43% · electricity 46% · propane 4% · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 60% · central heat pump 19% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 48%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,926 a year, of which $564 on space heating (28%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 73% of natural gas use · 17% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Electricity edges out gas as the main heating fuel in Arkansas. In the 2020 survey, 46% of homes (about 520,000) heated mainly with electricity and 43% (about 490,000) with natural gas, against 34% and 51% nationally, which puts Arkansas the 13th-highest of the 51 states for electric heat. Propane covers 4%, about 50,000 homes, the same as the US share of 4%.
On equipment, 60% of homes run a furnace, matching the national 60%, and 19%, about 220,000, run a central heat pump, against 13% for the US, the 14th-highest of the 33 states that report it. Set beside the electric fuel share, that means many electric-heated homes here use something other than a central heat pump. 48% of homes also run a secondary heater.
What households spend is close to the national pattern. The survey puts the energy bill at $1,926 a year, $564 of it for space heating, 28% of the total against 26% for the US. Cooling takes $332, 16% of the bill against 14% nationally, so heat and air conditioning together carry a large share of it. Space heating also takes 17% of household electricity use, against 12% for the US, a sign of how much of the state heats with power.
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 Arkansas. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 14.4¢/kWh · Arkansas · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.86/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 3,200 heating degree-days · climate zone 3 (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: $2,264.16 a year · Gas furnace: $1,086.89 a year, for 53.8 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 53.8 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $42.12
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $20.22
- Electric resistance, per year
- $2,264.16
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,086.89
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$1,177.27
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 3.1
- Prices used
- electricity 14.4¢/kWh · gas $1.86/therm · propane $2.60/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $730.37
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 Arkansas
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Arkansas needs about 53.8 MMBtu of heat a year (3,200 heating degree-days). At $1.86/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $20.22 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 14.4¢/kWh costs $42.12, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 3.1 (zone 3) costs $13.59. The year comes to $1,086.89 on gas, $2,264.16 on resistance heat and $730.37 on a heat pump. At seasonal COP 3.1, the heat pump turns 14.4¢/kWh electricity into heat that costs less than $1.86/therm gas.
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 Arkansas
Arkansas has one of the clearest price setups for a heat pump. Electricity costs 14.4¢/kWh, 21% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh and the 9th-lowest rate among the states, while gas costs $1.86/therm, 26% above the US average of $1.48/therm and the 8th-highest gas price. Cheap power and expensive gas is the combination that favors a heat pump, and a mild winter, 3,200 heating degree-days or 29% fewer than the US average of 4,500, lets it run at a seasonal COP of 3.1 in climate zone 3. For the example house the estimate comes out cheaper with a heat pump.
The tie rate leaves a lot of room. A heat pump matches a 92% furnace at an electricity rate of 21.4¢/kWh, against a state average of 14.4¢/kWh, so your own rate would have to sit far above the average before gas came out ahead on running cost. What can still change the answer is a gas price well below $1.86/therm on your bill.
The larger question in Arkansas may be the homes already heating with electricity but not with a heat pump. Resistance heat costs 2.1 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices, and a heat pump on the same rate delivers that heat for a fraction of the kilowatt-hours. For a house on an electric furnace or baseboards, the comparison worth running is resistance versus heat pump, and the heat pump payback page turns the yearly gap into years.
Because the winter is short, the yearly dollars at stake are moderate. A heat pump also replaces the air conditioner, and cooling is a large line on the bill here, so the full comparison covers both seasons.
The survey's $564 is an average over every home and fuel, apartments included; the calculator prices one 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation, so the two will not match. Type your own rate and gas price into the calculator above, and see heat pump vs furnace for the lifetime comparison.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Arkansas, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Arkansas: $2,264.16 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $1,177.27 more than gas. Between gas ($1,086.89) and a heat pump ($730.37), the heat pump comes out $356.51 a year ahead on running cost; purchase and installation are not counted (see the payback calculator). These are estimates at 14.4¢/kWh and $1.86/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Arkansas?
About 584 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Arkansas's 3,200 heating degree-days. That averages 49 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.86/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,086.89.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Arkansas?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 14.4¢/kWh, that heat costs $42.12 per MMBtu in Arkansas, against $20.22 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.86/therm, 2.1 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $2,264.16 a year against $1,086.89.
Is electric heat expensive in Arkansas?
It depends on the equipment. Electric resistance heat, an electric furnace or baseboards, costs 2.1 times what a gas furnace pays per unit of heat at 14.4¢/kWh and $1.86/therm. A heat pump on the same rate moves heat rather than making it, so it runs far cheaper than resistance; between a heat pump and gas, the estimate for the example house favors a heat pump at current prices. With 46% of homes on electric heat, which kind you have matters more than the rate.
I heat with propane in Arkansas. What should I compare?
Propane heats about 50,000 homes here, 4%, and the calculator above does not price it. Propane is sold by the gallon, so the comparison is your price per gallon against the state's electricity rate of 14.4¢/kWh on a heat pump with a seasonal COP of 3.1. The heat pump vs propane or oil calculator takes your propane price and gives the yearly figures.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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