Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Connecticut
In Connecticut, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,715.79 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $6,999.57 with electric resistance heat and $2,799.83 with a heat pump. Gas heat costs $17.61 per MMBtu here, against $28.73 from a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.5.
State data
What Connecticut pays
- Electricity
- 24.5¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.62/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 5,800 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 5 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.5
Connecticut is in the over-20¢ band on this site: 24.5¢ a kWh, 35% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. At $1.62/therm, Connecticut's gas price is the 18th-highest of the 51 on this site. Connecticut logs 5,800 heating degree-days a year (NOAA normals), 29% more than the US average of 4,500.
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 Connecticut heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 36% · electricity 19% · propane 4% · fuel oil 39%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 61% · central heat pump not reported · boiler 23%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 50%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $2,808 a year, of which $963 on space heating (34%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 67% of natural gas use · 11% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Ask what a Connecticut home burns for heat and the most common answer is fuel oil, not gas. The 2020 survey puts oil at 39% of homes (about 540,000) and natural gas at 36% (about 500,000). Nationally the order is reversed, with gas at 51% and oil at 4%; Connecticut has the 4th-highest oil share of the 14 states where it is measurable. Electricity heats 19% of homes and propane 4%.
Most homes still move heat with a furnace, 61%, about the national rate of 60%, while 23% use a boiler, well above the US 8%. The survey has no reliable count of central heat pumps for the state. Half of all homes, 50%, also run a secondary heater.
The bills are among the heaviest anywhere. A household spends $2,808 a year on energy, the 2nd-highest in the country, and $963 of that on space heating, the 3rd-highest. Heat is 34% of the bill, against 26% nationally, or roughly $80 a month averaged over twelve months.
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 Connecticut. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 24.5¢/kWh · Connecticut · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.62/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 5,800 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: $6,999.57 a year · Gas furnace: $1,715.79 a year, for 97.4 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 97.4 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $71.83
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $17.61
- Electric resistance, per year
- $6,999.57
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,715.79
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$5,283.78
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.5
- Prices used
- electricity 24.5¢/kWh · gas $1.62/therm · propane $3.60/gal · oil $3.80/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $2,799.83
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 Connecticut
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Connecticut needs about 97.4 MMBtu of heat a year (5,800 heating degree-days). At $1.62/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $17.61 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 24.5¢/kWh costs $71.83, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.5 (zone 5) costs $28.73. The year comes to $1,715.79 on gas, $6,999.57 on resistance heat and $2,799.83 on a heat pump. A heat pump would need electricity near 15.0¢/kWh to match gas here.
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 Connecticut
Electricity is what tilts the gas comparison in Connecticut. At 24.5¢/kWh, 35% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh, the state has the 11th-highest residential rate, while gas at $1.62/therm is 9% above the US average of $1.48/therm. With 5,800 heating degree-days, 29% more than the US average of 4,500, the example house needs 97.4 MMBtu of heat a year, and in climate zone 5 the estimate gives the heat pump a seasonal COP of 2.5. Put together, the calculator favors gas by $1,084.04 a year. The rate at which the heat pump would draw even is 15.0¢/kWh, against a state average of 24.5¢/kWh, so a home already on gas has a wide margin to close.
That result speaks only to the 36% of homes on gas, though. For the 39% of homes that burn oil and the 4% on propane, the relevant choice is a heat pump against a delivered fuel, which this calculator does not price. Run that case on the delivered-fuel comparison with the per-gallon price from your last tank fill, since that price moves on its own schedule and can change the answer from one winter to the next.
Homes heated by electric baseboards sit at the expensive end of everything here. Resistance heat at these prices costs 4.1 times as much as gas per unit of heat, $6,999.57 a year for the example house, against $2,799.83 from a heat pump on the same electricity.
The survey's $963 lands below the calculator's $1,715.79 for gas because it averages condos and small houses with large ones and mixes every fuel. Treat it as a floor. Then enter your own rate and the size of your home in the calculator above. A boiler home also faces a different installation from a ducted one, which the heat pump sizing calculator helps scope.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Connecticut, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Connecticut: $6,999.57 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $5,283.78 more than gas. Between gas ($1,715.79) and a heat pump ($2,799.83), gas costs less to run in Connecticut, by an estimated $1,084.04 a year. These are estimates at 24.5¢/kWh and $1.62/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Connecticut?
About 1,059 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Connecticut's 5,800 heating degree-days. That averages 88 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.62/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,715.79.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Connecticut?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 24.5¢/kWh, that heat costs $71.83 per MMBtu in Connecticut, against $17.61 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.62/therm, 4.1 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $6,999.57 a year against $1,715.79.
Does it make sense to replace an oil boiler with a heat pump in Connecticut?
This page cannot say, because it compares gas, resistance and a heat pump, not oil. Oil heats 39% of homes here, the 4th-highest share in the survey. Take your price per gallon and your electricity rate, 24.5¢/kWh on average in Connecticut, to the oil and propane calculator, which runs that exact comparison.
Why are heating bills in Connecticut so much higher than the national average?
Two things stack up: a winter with 5,800 heating degree-days, the 16th-highest total among the states, and electricity at 24.5¢/kWh with gas at $1.62/therm, against US averages of 18.2¢/kWh and $1.48/therm. The survey's $963 a year for space heating is the 3rd-highest in the country, against a national $519. The attic insulation and thermostat setback calculators show where the load can shrink.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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