Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Georgia
In Georgia, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,007.27 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $2,192.08 with electric resistance heat and $707.12 with a heat pump. In Georgia, the heat pump beats the gas furnace on running cost by an estimated $300.15 a year.
State data
What Georgia pays
- Electricity
- 15.9¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.97/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 2,800 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 3 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 3.1
Georgia's residential rate of 15.9¢/kWh sits between 15¢ and 20¢/kWh, 12% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. At $1.97/therm, Georgia's gas price is the 6th-highest of the 51 on this site. Georgia's heating need is light: 2,800 heating degree-days a year, 38% fewer 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 Georgia heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 47% · electricity 46% · propane 5% · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 60% · central heat pump 27% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 50%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $2,180 a year, of which $512 on space heating (23%)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
Georgia heats with gas and electricity in nearly equal measure. In the 2020 survey, 47% of homes (about 1,820,000) named natural gas as their main heating fuel and 46% (about 1,780,000) named electricity, against 51% and 34% nationally, which makes Georgia the 13th-highest of the 51 states for electric heating. Propane heats 5%, about 190,000 homes, close to the US share of 4%.
The equipment is where Georgia stands out. 27% of homes, about 1,050,000, run a central heat pump, against 13% for the US, the 7th-highest of the 33 states that report it. Furnaces are at 60%, the same as the national 60%.
Heat is a smaller part of the bill than in most states. Households spend $2,180 a year on all energy, the 10th-highest of the 51 states, but only $512 of it on space heating, 23% of the bill against 26% nationally, the 8th-lowest share in the country. Air conditioning takes $390, or 17%, against $299 and 14% for the US. In Georgia, cooling is a large line on the bill next to 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 Georgia. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 15.9¢/kWh · Georgia · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.97/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 2,800 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: $2,192.08 a year · Gas furnace: $1,007.27 a year, for 47.0 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 47.0 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $46.60
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $21.41
- Electric resistance, per year
- $2,192.08
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,007.27
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$1,184.81
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 3.1
- Prices used
- electricity 15.9¢/kWh · gas $1.97/therm · propane $2.90/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $707.12
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 Georgia
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Georgia needs about 47.0 MMBtu of heat a year (2,800 heating degree-days). At $1.97/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $21.41 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 15.9¢/kWh costs $46.60, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 3.1 (zone 3) costs $15.03. The year comes to $1,007.27 on gas, $2,192.08 on resistance heat and $707.12 on a heat pump. That puts the heat pump $300.15 a year below the gas furnace in Georgia, running cost only.
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 Georgia
The prices here line up for a heat pump. Electricity costs 15.9¢/kWh, 12% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh, while gas costs $1.97/therm, 33% above the US average of $1.48/therm and the 6th-highest gas price among the states. Add a mild winter, 2,800 heating degree-days or 38% fewer than the US average of 4,500, and a climate-zone 3 seasonal COP of 3.1, and the example house comes out cheaper with a heat pump.
The margin is comfortable. A heat pump and a 92% furnace tie at an electricity rate of 22.6¢/kWh, against a state average of 15.9¢/kWh, a wide gap. What can narrow it is your own gas price: a bill well below $1.97/therm shrinks the heat pump's lead.
Because the winter is short, the yearly heating gap is modest in dollars even when the heat pump wins. For many households here the stronger point is that the same heat pump also does the cooling, and cooling is a large line on a Georgia bill too. A furnace with a separate air conditioner and a heat pump do the same two jobs; the running-cost comparison above covers only the heating half.
Resistance heat is still the expensive option: at these prices it costs 2.2 times as much as gas per unit of heat, which matters for homes with an electric furnace or baseboards.
The survey's $512 a year sits under the calculator's estimate because it averages every home and fuel, apartments included, while the calculator prices one 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation. Type your own rate and gas price into the calculator above. Heat pump vs furnace compares the systems over their life, and heat pump payback turns a yearly gap into years.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Georgia, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Georgia: $2,192.08 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $1,184.81 more than gas. Between gas ($1,007.27) and a heat pump ($707.12), the heat pump costs less to run in Georgia, by an estimated $300.15 a year. These are estimates at 15.9¢/kWh and $1.97/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Georgia?
About 511 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Georgia's 2,800 heating degree-days. That averages 43 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.97/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,007.27.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Georgia?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 15.9¢/kWh, that heat costs $46.60 per MMBtu in Georgia, against $21.41 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.97/therm, 2.2 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $2,192.08 a year against $1,007.27.
Does a heat pump keep up with a Georgia winter?
The page's numbers point that way. Georgia has 2,800 heating degree-days, 38% fewer than the US average of 4,500, and sits in climate zone 3, where the estimate uses a seasonal COP of 3.1: each kilowatt-hour delivers 3.1 units of heat averaged over the winter. Cold snaps push it lower, which is why sizing matters as much as the seasonal average. The heat pump size calculator estimates the capacity a Georgia house needs.
How much of a Georgia energy bill goes to heating, and how much to cooling?
Less goes to heat than in most states, and more to cooling. The survey puts space heating at $512 a year and air conditioning at $390, against $519 and $299 nationally. With only 2,800 heating degree-days, winter here is short, so heating takes 23% of the energy bill and cooling 17%. The electric bill estimator breaks a month down by appliance if you want to see where yours goes.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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