Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Iowa
In Iowa, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,247.95 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $5,628.00 with electric resistance heat and $2,251.20 with a heat pump. In Iowa, the gas furnace beats the heat pump on running cost by an estimated $1,003.25 a year.
State data
What Iowa pays
- Electricity
- 17.1¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.02/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 6,700 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 5 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.5
Electricity in Iowa costs 17.1¢/kWh, 6% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. At $1.02/therm, Iowa is in the lowest gas band on this site ($1.10/therm or less): $11.09 per MMBtu of furnace heat. In climate zone 5, with 6,700 heating degree-days, the heat pump line for Iowa uses a seasonal COP of 2.5, lower than in warmer zones.
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 Iowa keeps warm
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 71% · electricity 16% · propane 13% · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 83% · central heat pump 4% · boiler 7%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 43%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,854 a year, of which $598 on space heating (32%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 79% of natural gas use · 15% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Iowa is furnace country. Of its 1.28 million homes, 83% rely on a furnace as the main heating system, the 3rd-highest share among the 50 states that report one, while central heat pumps sit at 4%, the 6th-lowest share, against 13% across the US. Boilers account for another 7%.
What those furnaces burn is mostly natural gas: 71% of homes, or about 910,000, the 7th-highest gas share in the country. The less familiar number is propane. 13% of households, about 170,000, heat with it, the 6th-highest propane share of the 35 states that report it and well above the US 4%. Electricity is the main fuel in only 16% of homes, under the national 34%.
Heat takes a large share of an Iowa energy bill. Households spent $598 a year on it, 32% of their $1,854 total and the 20th-highest heating spend of any state. Water heating, by contrast, took only 11% of the bill, against 15% nationally. Of the gas these homes use, 79% goes to 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 Iowa. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 17.1¢/kWh · Iowa · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.02/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 6,700 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: $5,628.00 a year · Gas furnace: $1,247.95 a year, for 112.6 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 112.6 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $50.00
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $11.09
- Electric resistance, per year
- $5,628.00
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,247.95
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$4,380.05
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.5
- Prices used
- electricity 17.1¢/kWh · gas $1.02/therm · propane $2.00/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $2,251.20
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 Iowa
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Iowa needs about 112.6 MMBtu of heat a year (6,700 heating degree-days). At $1.02/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $11.09 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 17.1¢/kWh costs $50.00, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.5 (zone 5) costs $20.00. The year comes to $1,247.95 on gas, $5,628.00 on resistance heat and $2,251.20 on a heat pump. At seasonal COP 2.5, the heat pump's heat still costs more than $1.02/therm gas in Iowa.
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 Iowa
Two numbers decide the gas question here: a long winter and low-priced gas. Iowa records 6,700 heating degree-days, 49% more than the US average of 4,500 and the 11th-highest total, so the example house needs 112.6 MMBtu of heat a year. Gas costs $1.02/therm, the 7th-lowest price, 31% below the US average of $1.48/therm. Electricity at 17.1¢/kWh sits 6% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. With those prices, the 92% furnace comes out ahead of a heat pump by $1,003.25 a year in the calculator, and the heat pump would need power at 9.5¢/kWh to break even, against a state average of 17.1¢/kWh.
The climate-zone 5 seasonal COP of 2.5 reflects how much of the season runs cold. A heat pump that also replaces an air conditioner changes the math on the cooling side, which this calculator does not price. If you want to know how long a higher installed cost would take to pay back at your rates, the heat pump payback calculator takes the quote and your current fuel.
The propane households face a different question. They are not paying $1.02/therm for heat, so the furnace-versus-heat-pump gap above is not theirs. The heat pump vs propane and oil calculator compares a heat pump with a propane furnace at the gallon price you actually pay, and that comparison can come out very differently from the gas one.
The statewide spending figure, $598, averages every home and fuel, from apartments to farmhouses. The calculator models one 2,000 sq ft house, so treat the survey as a sense of scale and your bills as the real test. Type in the price per therm and the per-kWh rate from them above, and see whether your numbers land on the same side as the state averages.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Iowa, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Iowa: $5,628.00 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $4,380.05 more than gas. Between gas ($1,247.95) and a heat pump ($2,251.20), gas comes out $1,003.25 a year ahead; a heat pump would match it at about 9.5¢/kWh. These are estimates at 17.1¢/kWh and $1.02/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Iowa?
About 1,223 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Iowa's 6,700 heating degree-days. That averages 102 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.02/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,247.95.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Iowa?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 17.1¢/kWh, that heat costs $50.00 per MMBtu in Iowa, against $11.09 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.02/therm, 4.5 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $5,628.00 a year against $1,247.95.
Does a heat pump make sense in an Iowa winter?
On fuel cost against gas, the estimate favors gas: $1,247.95 a year for the furnace against $2,251.20 for the heat pump in the example house. The heat pump only catches up at an electric rate near 9.5¢/kWh. That does not settle every case: homes on propane or electric resistance face a different comparison, and your own rates may differ from the state averages.
Is propane heat in Iowa cheaper than gas or a heat pump?
This page cannot price it, because propane is not one of its fuels, yet 13% of Iowa homes depend on it, the 6th-highest share among the states. What decides it is your delivered price per gallon against 17.1¢/kWh electricity at a seasonal COP of 2.5. The propane vs electric calculator takes both and shows the heat pump figure alongside.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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