Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Delaware
In Delaware, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,293.60 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $4,235.45 with electric resistance heat and $1,512.66 with a heat pump. At these prices gas is the cheapest of the three, $219.06 a year under a heat pump.
State data
What Delaware pays
- Electricity
- 18.7¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.54/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 4,600 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 4 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.8
At 18.7¢/kWh, Delaware has the 19th-highest electricity rate among the 50 states and DC. Residential gas in Delaware is $1.54/therm, 4% above the US average of $1.48/therm. A winter of 4,600 heating degree-days means the 2,000 sq ft example in Delaware needs about 77.3 MMBtu of heat a year.
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 Delaware heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 41% · electricity 40% · propane 9% · fuel oil 8%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 62% · central heat pump 20% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 42%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,910 a year, of which $593 on space heating (31%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 75% of natural gas use · 15% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Delaware is split down the middle between its two main heating fuels. In the 2020 survey, 41% of homes heated mainly with natural gas and 40% with electricity, about 160,000 and about 150,000 households. The US mix leans much harder toward gas, 51% against 34% electric. The rest of the state uses delivered fuels in measurable numbers: propane for 9% of homes, the 10th-highest share of the 35 states that report it, and fuel oil for 8%.
The heat pump already has a foothold. 20% of homes, about 80,000, run a central heat pump as their main system, against 13% nationally, the 12th-highest share among the 33 states with a figure. Furnaces remain the most common equipment at 62%, and a secondary heater turns up in 42% of homes, the same as the national 42%.
Spending sits in the middle of the pack. Households pay $1,910 a year for energy, the 23rd-highest in the survey, of which $593 goes to space heating, 31% of the bill. That compares with $519 and 26% for the US. In gas homes, heating accounts for 75% of the gas burned.
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 Delaware. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 18.7¢/kWh · Delaware · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.54/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 4,600 heating degree-days · climate zone 4 (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: $4,235.45 a year · Gas furnace: $1,293.60 a year, for 77.3 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 77.3 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $54.81
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $16.74
- Electric resistance, per year
- $4,235.45
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,293.60
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$2,941.85
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.8
- Prices used
- electricity 18.7¢/kWh · gas $1.54/therm · propane $3.20/gal · oil $3.70/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $1,512.66
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 Delaware
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Delaware needs about 77.3 MMBtu of heat a year (4,600 heating degree-days). At $1.54/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $16.74 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 18.7¢/kWh costs $54.81, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.8 (zone 4) costs $19.57. The year comes to $1,293.60 on gas, $4,235.45 on resistance heat and $1,512.66 on a heat pump. Gas is the cheapest to run here, by $219.06 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 Delaware
Very little about Delaware is far from the national average, and that makes the gas-versus-heat-pump call a close one. Electricity costs 18.7¢/kWh, 3% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh; gas costs $1.54/therm, 4% above the US average of $1.48/therm; the winter brings 4,600 heating degree-days, 2% more than the US average of 4,500. In climate zone 4, with a seasonal COP of 2.8, the calculator puts gas ahead for the example house by $219.06 a year.
The tie point is the figure to watch: 16.0¢/kWh, against a state average of 18.7¢/kWh. Those two numbers are near each other, which means your own tariff decides the outcome more than the statewide average does. A home on a lower winter or heat-pump rate could land below the tie and see the heat pump come out ahead; a home whose gas bill carries a high per-therm price could see the same thing. Read both rates from your bills, including delivery charges, and enter them above.
For the 40% of homes already on electricity, the useful question is which kind. If the heat comes from baseboards or an electric furnace, resistance runs 3.3 times the cost of gas per unit of heat at these prices, $4,235.45 a year for the example house, against $1,512.66 for a heat pump. Homes on propane or oil should run the delivered-fuel calculator instead, since neither fuel is priced here.
The survey figure of $593 a year is lower than the calculator's estimate of $1,293.60 for gas, because it is an average across apartments, small homes and every fuel rather than one 2,000 sq ft house. Use it to sense-check your own bill, then use the heat pump vs furnace page if you are pricing new equipment over its lifetime.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Delaware, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Delaware: $4,235.45 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $2,941.85 more than gas. Between gas ($1,293.60) and a heat pump ($1,512.66), gas is cheaper here: $16.74 per MMBtu of heat against $19.57 for a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.8. These are estimates at 18.7¢/kWh and $1.54/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Delaware?
About 840 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Delaware's 4,600 heating degree-days. That averages 70 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.54/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,293.60.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Delaware?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 18.7¢/kWh, that heat costs $54.81 per MMBtu in Delaware, against $16.74 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.54/therm, 3.3 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $4,235.45 a year against $1,293.60.
How close is a heat pump to gas on running cost in Delaware?
At the statewide averages the estimate leans to gas, by $219.06 a year for the example house. The heat pump draws level at an electricity rate of 16.0¢/kWh, and the state average is 18.7¢/kWh, so a modest difference in your own rate can reverse the result. Check the price per kilowatt-hour on your bill before relying on either figure.
How common are heat pumps in Delaware homes?
More common than in most of the states the survey can measure. It found a central heat pump as the main heating system in 20% of homes, about 80,000, against 13% nationally. Electricity is the main heating fuel in 40% of homes. The heat pump payback calculator turns a yearly running-cost gap into years if you are deciding on a replacement.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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