Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Kansas
In Kansas, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,253.43 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $3,656.22 with electric resistance heat and $1,305.79 with a heat pump. Between gas and a heat pump, Kansas is a close call: the cheaper one, gas, wins by $52.37 a year at average prices.
State data
What Kansas pays
- Electricity
- 15.5¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.43/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 4,800 °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 15.5¢/kWh, Kansas has the 34th-highest electricity rate among the 50 states and DC. Residential gas in Kansas is $1.43/therm, 3% below the US average of $1.48/therm. A winter of 4,800 heating degree-days means the 2,000 sq ft example in Kansas needs about 80.6 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
Heating in Kansas homes
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 71% · electricity 21% · propane 6% · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 86% · central heat pump 6% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 46%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,984 a year, of which $536 on space heating (27%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 76% of natural gas use · 10% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
The great majority of Kansas houses heat with a furnace. The 2020 survey put the furnace share at 86%, the 2nd-highest of the 50 states, against 60% for the US. Central heat pumps were the main system in just 6% of homes, about 70,000, the 8th-lowest heat pump share, against the national 13%.
Gas feeds most of those furnaces. 71% of the state's 1.13 million homes name it as their main fuel, the 7th-highest gas share, while 21% heat mainly with electricity and 6% with propane. The survey reports no oil share for Kansas.
The spending side has a twist. A Kansas household's energy bill came to $1,984, the 18th-highest of any state, and $536 of it, 27%, was space heating. Air conditioning took $344, or 16% of the bill, a bigger slice than the US figure of 14%. In a state that spends this much on both heating and cooling, a system that does both is worth pricing on both counts.
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 Kansas. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 15.5¢/kWh · Kansas · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.43/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 4,800 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: $3,656.22 a year · Gas furnace: $1,253.43 a year, for 80.6 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 80.6 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $45.34
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $15.54
- Electric resistance, per year
- $3,656.22
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,253.43
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$2,402.79
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.8
- Prices used
- electricity 15.5¢/kWh · gas $1.43/therm · propane $2.10/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $1,305.79
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 Kansas
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Kansas needs about 80.6 MMBtu of heat a year (4,800 heating degree-days). At $1.43/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $15.54 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 15.5¢/kWh costs $45.34, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.8 (zone 4) costs $16.19. The year comes to $1,253.43 on gas, $3,656.22 on resistance heat and $1,305.79 on a heat pump. That is a near-tie: gas comes out ahead by $52.37 a year, and a price change of about 10% on either side could reverse it.
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 Kansas
In Kansas the line between gas and a heat pump runs very close. Gas at $1.43/therm is 3% below the US average of $1.48/therm, electricity at 15.5¢/kWh is 15% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh, and the season is ordinary at 4,800 heating degree-days, 7% more than the US average of 4,500. In the example house the furnace edges out the heat pump, $1,253.43 against $1,305.79, a margin of $52.37 a year. The electricity rate where the two meet is 14.8¢/kWh, against a state average of 15.5¢/kWh.
A margin that thin belongs to your bills, not to the average. A rate a little below the state figure can push the answer to the heat pump; a higher rate pushes it further toward gas. The calculator uses a seasonal COP of 2.8 for climate zone 4; a more efficient unit raises that and lowers the heat pump's cost.
Cooling is where the comparison gets wider than this page. Because a central heat pump replaces the air conditioner as well as the furnace, the yearly heating gap of $52.37 is only half the decision for a Kansas home already spending $344 a year on air conditioning. The calculators on this site price heat, so the cooling half is yours to add from your summer bills; heat pump size sizes a unit for both seasons, and heat pump payback turns a quote and the yearly heating gap into years.
Resistance heat is a separate case. Electric baseboards or an electric furnace cost 2.9 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices, $3,656.22 a year for the example house, so the homes heated by electricity, about 240,000, have the most to gain from a heat pump. The survey's $536 is an all-home average; enter your own rate and gas price above for a number that fits your house.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Kansas, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Kansas: $3,656.22 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $2,402.79 more than gas. Between gas ($1,253.43) and a heat pump ($1,305.79), the two are within about 10% per unit of heat ($16.19 vs $15.54 per MMBtu), so your own rates decide. These are estimates at 15.5¢/kWh and $1.43/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Kansas?
About 877 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Kansas's 4,800 heating degree-days. That averages 73 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.43/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,253.43.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Kansas?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 15.5¢/kWh, that heat costs $45.34 per MMBtu in Kansas, against $15.54 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.43/therm, 2.9 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $3,656.22 a year against $1,253.43.
Is a Kansas winter too cold for a heat pump?
Not by the numbers on this page. Kansas has 4,800 heating degree-days, 7% more than the US average of 4,500, and sits in climate zone 4, where the calculator credits a heat pump with a seasonal COP of 2.8. At that efficiency it lands within $52.37 a year of a gas furnace in the example house. The coldest nights lower its output, so ask the installer how the unit is sized for them.
I'm replacing my air conditioner in Kansas. Should I look at a heat pump instead?
It is worth pricing. A heat pump cools like an air conditioner and also heats, and at 15.5¢/kWh against $1.43/therm gas the heating cost lands close to a furnace's. Get quotes for both setups, then put the heat pump quote into the heat pump payback calculator. The heating figures on this page alone will not tell you which system is the better buy, since they leave out the cooling you get either way.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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