Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Florida
In Florida, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $314.45 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $516.65 with electric resistance heat and $151.96 with a heat pump. Here the heat pump line comes in lowest: $12.92 per MMBtu of heat against $26.74 for gas.
State data
What Florida pays
- Electricity
- 15.0¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $2.46/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 700 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 2 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 3.4
Florida's rate of 15.0¢/kWh is the 15th-lowest among the 50 states and DC; every electric option on this page is priced from it. Natural gas is $2.46/therm in Florida, 66% above the US average of $1.48/therm, so a 92% furnace's heat costs $26.74 per MMBtu. With 700 heating degree-days (NOAA), the 2,000 sq ft example in Florida needs 11.8 MMBtu of heat a year, less than at 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 Florida heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 5% · electricity 66% · propane not reported · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 33% · central heat pump 31% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 19%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,654 a year, of which $186 on space heating (8%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 20% of natural gas use · 7% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Florida is the most electric-heated state in the country. The 2020 survey found electricity as the main heating fuel in 66% of homes, about 5,300,000 of them, the highest share among the 51, against 34% nationally. Gas heats only 5%, the lowest share of any state that reports one, and the survey gives no share at all for propane or fuel oil.
The equipment says the same thing. 31% of homes, about 2,500,000, heat with a central heat pump, the 5th-highest share in the survey against 13% for the US. Another 33% use a furnace, and with so few homes on gas, most of those furnaces have to be electric. Only 19% of homes keep a secondary heater, against 42% nationally.
Heat is a minor item on a Florida energy bill. Households spend $186 a year on it, the 2nd-lowest amount among the states and DC, and that is 8% of a $1,654 bill, the lowest share. Cooling costs far more: $492 a year, 28% of the bill, against 14% for the US. Even water heating, at $272, outspends space heating.
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 Florida. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 15.0¢/kWh · Florida · EIA, August 2026 · gas $2.46/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 700 heating degree-days · climate zone 2 (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: $516.65 a year · Gas furnace: $314.45 a year, for 11.8 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 11.8 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $43.93
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $26.74
- Electric resistance, per year
- $516.65
- Gas furnace, per year
- $314.45
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$202.20
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 3.4
- Prices used
- electricity 15.0¢/kWh · gas $2.46/therm · propane $3.20/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $151.96
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 Florida
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Florida needs about 11.8 MMBtu of heat a year (700 heating degree-days). At $2.46/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $26.74 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 15.0¢/kWh costs $43.93, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 3.4 (zone 2) costs $12.92. The year comes to $314.45 on gas, $516.65 on resistance heat and $151.96 on a heat pump. The heat pump is the cheapest to run here, by $162.50 a year over 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 Florida
For the few Florida homes choosing between gas and electric heat, the prices point clearly one way. Gas costs $2.46/therm, 66% above the US average of $1.48/therm and the 2nd-highest price in the country, while electricity costs 15.0¢/kWh, 17% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. A mild climate lifts the heat pump further: climate zone 2 gets a seasonal COP of 3.4. The calculator therefore favors a heat pump, and the heat pump would keep that lead up to an electricity rate of 31.0¢/kWh, against a state average of 15.0¢/kWh.
The dollars are small because the season is. With just 700 heating degree-days, 84% fewer than the US average of 4,500, the example house needs just 11.8 MMBtu of heat a year. Gas, at $314.45, and a heat pump, at $151.96, are both modest sums, and so the gap between them, $162.50, will rarely justify a change of equipment on heating alone.
The comparison more Florida homes face is between two electric options. Resistance heat, from an electric furnace or strip heaters, costs $516.65 a year for the example house against $151.96 for a heat pump. Per unit of heat, resistance runs 1.6 times the cost of gas here, so a home still on strip heat is paying the most of any option on the page.
The survey's $186 averages every home, and it is worth setting beside the calculator's $151.96 for a heat pump and $516.65 for resistance in one 2,000 sq ft house: homes here heat with a mix of the two. Since cooling is the bigger line on the bill, the real decision about a new system is mostly about air conditioning; the heating figure is the smaller side of it. With water heating outspending space heating, the heat pump water heater calculator is worth running alongside this one. The electric bill estimator puts the whole bill in one place.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Florida, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Florida: $516.65 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $202.20 more than gas. Between gas ($314.45) and a heat pump ($151.96), the heat pump is cheaper here: its heat costs $12.92 per MMBtu, gas $26.74. These are estimates at 15.0¢/kWh and $2.46/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Florida?
About 128 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Florida's 700 heating degree-days. That averages 11 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $2.46/therm, the year costs an estimated $314.45.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Florida?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 15.0¢/kWh, that heat costs $43.93 per MMBtu in Florida, against $26.74 from a 92% gas furnace at $2.46/therm, 1.6 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $516.65 a year against $314.45.
What does a Florida home on strip heat pay next to a heat pump?
For the example house, resistance heat comes to $516.65 a year and a heat pump to $151.96, at the average rate of 15.0¢/kWh. Per unit of heat, the heat pump is the cheapest option on the page and resistance the dearest. With only 700 heating degree-days, though, both are small sums next to the cooling bill, so the heat pump payback page is the place to test whether a switch earns back its cost.
How much does heating cost compared with cooling in Florida?
Far less. The survey's average household spends $186 a year on space heating, 8% of its energy bill, and $492 on air conditioning, 28%. Cooling, not heating, is the larger expense here. Electricity carries both, so the rate on your bill, 15.0¢/kWh on average, drives the total.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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