Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Colorado
In Colorado, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,183.30 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $5,072.50 with electric resistance heat and $2,029.00 with a heat pump. In Colorado, the gas furnace beats the heat pump on running cost by an estimated $845.69 a year.
State data
What Colorado pays
- Electricity
- 17.2¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.08/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 6,000 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 5 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.5
At 17.2¢/kWh, Colorado has the 22nd-highest electricity rate among the 50 states and DC. Gas is $1.08/therm in Colorado, 27% below the US average of $1.48/therm and the 11th-lowest of the 51. At 6,000 heating degree-days, Colorado is in the 6,000-plus band on this site; the 2,000 sq ft example needs 100.8 MMBtu of heat.
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 Colorado heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 76% · electricity 16% · propane 4% · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 77% · central heat pump not reported · boiler 9%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 52%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,342 a year, of which $406 on space heating (30%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 72% of natural gas use · 8% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Natural gas is close to universal in Colorado homes. The 2020 survey counts 76% of them, about 1,720,000, on gas heat, the 4th-highest share of the 50 states that report it, where the national mix stops at 51%. Electric heat covers 16% of homes, well short of 34% across the country; propane covers 4%, and the survey gives no oil figure for the state.
Hardware follows fuel. 77% of homes have a furnace, the 8th-highest share in the country, where the US figure is 60%, and boilers serve 9%. Central heat pumps are scarce enough that Colorado gets no reported share for them at all. Supplementary heaters are another matter: 52% of households keep one, against 42% nationally.
What stands out is how little all of this costs. A typical Colorado household spends $1,342 a year on energy of every kind, the 2nd-lowest among the 51 states, and $406 of that on space heat, where the US household spends $519. Heating takes 30% of the energy budget, next to 26% nationally. Gas use is mostly heat, 72% of it, while the power meter barely notices winter: just 8% of household electricity warms rooms, against 12% for the country.
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 Colorado. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 17.2¢/kWh · Colorado · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.08/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 6,000 heating degree-days · climate zone 5 (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: $5,072.50 a year · Gas furnace: $1,183.30 a year, for 100.8 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 100.8 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $50.32
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $11.74
- Electric resistance, per year
- $5,072.50
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,183.30
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$3,889.19
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.5
- Prices used
- electricity 17.2¢/kWh · gas $1.08/therm · propane $2.40/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $2,029.00
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 Colorado
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Colorado needs about 100.8 MMBtu of heat a year (6,000 heating degree-days). At $1.08/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $11.74 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 17.2¢/kWh costs $50.32, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.5 (zone 5) costs $20.13. The year comes to $1,183.30 on gas, $5,072.50 on resistance heat and $2,029.00 on a heat pump. Gas is the cheapest to run here, by $845.69 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 Colorado
Both Colorado prices sit under the national averages, and gas sits further under. Electricity is 17.2¢/kWh, 5% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh; gas is $1.08/therm, 27% below the US average of $1.48/therm, the 11th-lowest among the states. Cheap power does not settle the question by itself; the ratio between the two prices does. For a heat pump to break even with a 92% furnace here, your kilowatt-hour would have to cost 10.0¢/kWh, and the state average is 17.2¢/kWh. On the example house that leaves gas cheaper by $845.69 a year.
The season is long: 6,000 heating degree-days, 33% more than the US average of 4,500 and the 15th-highest in the country. The estimate rates a heat pump in climate zone 5 at a seasonal COP of 2.5. Every extra degree-day is bought at the per-unit price where gas leads, so a longer winter stretches the dollar gap rather than closing it.
For the gas-heated majority, then, the estimate offers no fuel-bill case for retiring the furnace. Where a heat pump does make sense in Colorado, the reason lies outside this page: summer cooling, or a discounted electric tariff. If you have such a tariff, enter it in the calculator above and hold it up against 10.0¢/kWh. A furnace near the end of its life deserves two checks: sizing on furnace size and lifetime cost on heat pump vs furnace.
The 16% of homes on electric heat are asking something else. At these prices resistance heat runs 4.3 times the cost of gas for the same warmth, so in a house with baseboards or an electric furnace the upgrade worth pricing is resistance to heat pump. Propane households, 4% of the state, get their own comparison at propane vs electric.
Don't expect the survey's $406 to match the calculator. RECS spreads its figure over every Colorado dwelling on every fuel, apartments included, while the calculator models a single 2,000 sq ft house of average insulation. Read the difference as context, and let your gas and electric bills give the answer.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Colorado, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Colorado: $5,072.50 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $3,889.19 more than gas. Between gas ($1,183.30) and a heat pump ($2,029.00), gas is cheaper here: $11.74 per MMBtu of heat against $20.13 for a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.5. These are estimates at 17.2¢/kWh and $1.08/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Colorado?
About 1,096 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Colorado's 6,000 heating degree-days. That averages 91 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.08/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,183.30.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Colorado?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 17.2¢/kWh, that heat costs $50.32 per MMBtu in Colorado, against $11.74 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.08/therm, 4.3 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $5,072.50 a year against $1,183.30.
Is a cold-climate heat pump cheaper to run than gas in Colorado?
Not on this estimate. For zone 5 the calculator assumes a seasonal COP of 2.5, and with that efficiency the heat pump catches gas only when power costs 10.0¢/kWh; the Colorado average is 17.2¢/kWh. A unit that outperforms that seasonal figure, or a cheaper electric rate, shrinks the gap, but with gas at $1.08/therm the target is demanding. Weigh the equipment itself on heat pump vs furnace.
How many Colorado homes heat with something other than gas?
Fewer than in most states. Electric heat serves 16% of homes, about 360,000, and propane 4%, about 90,000. The gas column of the calculator means little for them. With power at 17.2¢/kWh, baseboard or electric-furnace heat costs 4.3 times gas for each unit delivered, so the useful comparison is that setup against a heat pump. Propane users have a separate calculator.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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