Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Louisiana
In Louisiana, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $552.21 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $1,140.65 with electric resistance heat and $335.48 with a heat pump. At these prices a heat pump is the cheapest of the three, $216.72 a year under gas.
State data
What Louisiana pays
- Electricity
- 12.9¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.68/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 1,800 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 2 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 3.4
Louisiana pays 12.9¢/kWh for electricity, 29% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh and the 2nd-lowest of the 51 rates on this site. Louisiana pays $1.68/therm for natural gas, which puts furnace heat at $18.26 per MMBtu. Heating need in Louisiana is low by US standards: 1,800 degree-days against 4,500, climate zone 2.
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 Louisiana heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 33% · electricity 62% · propane not reported · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 57% · central heat pump 21% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 43%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,704 a year, of which $244 on space heating (14%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 43% of natural gas use · 10% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Louisiana is one of the most electric-heated states in the country. In the 2020 survey, 62% of homes (about 1,070,000) named electricity as their main heating fuel, the 4th-highest share of the 51 states, against 34% nationally. Natural gas heats 33% (about 570,000), against 51% for the US. Propane and fuel oil are too rare here for the survey to report a share.
Furnaces are still the most common equipment at 57%, and 21% of homes, about 360,000, run a central heat pump, against 13% nationally and the 11th-highest of the 33 states that report it. Next to the electric fuel share, that leaves many electric-heated homes on something other than a central heat pump, an electric furnace among them.
The spending figures show how little winter weighs here. Households spend $1,704 a year on energy, and only $244 of it on space heating, the 4th-lowest among the states. That is 14% of the bill, against 26% nationally, the 3rd-lowest share in the country. Water heating, at $275, costs a household more than space heating does, and air conditioning, at $452 or 25% of the bill, costs more than either, against $299 for the US. Space heating takes just 43% of household gas use, against 68% nationally. In Louisiana, heat is the smallest of the three big home energy loads.
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 Louisiana. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 12.9¢/kWh · Louisiana · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.68/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 1,800 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: $1,140.65 a year · Gas furnace: $552.21 a year, for 30.2 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 30.2 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $37.72
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $18.26
- Electric resistance, per year
- $1,140.65
- Gas furnace, per year
- $552.21
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$588.44
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 3.4
- Prices used
- electricity 12.9¢/kWh · gas $1.68/therm · propane $2.80/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $335.48
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 Louisiana
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Louisiana needs about 30.2 MMBtu of heat a year (1,800 heating degree-days). At $1.68/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $18.26 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 12.9¢/kWh costs $37.72, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 3.4 (zone 2) costs $11.09. The year comes to $552.21 on gas, $1,140.65 on resistance heat and $335.48 on a heat pump. At seasonal COP 3.4, the heat pump turns 12.9¢/kWh electricity into heat that costs less than $1.68/therm 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 Louisiana
On price, Louisiana favors electric heat. Its rate of 12.9¢/kWh is the 2nd-lowest among the states, 29% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh, while gas costs $1.68/therm, 14% above the US average of $1.48/therm. The winter is short, 1,800 heating degree-days or 60% fewer than the US average of 4,500, and in climate zone 2 a heat pump runs at a seasonal COP of 3.4. For the example house the cheaper option is a heat pump, and the tie rate of 21.2¢/kWh sits far above the state average of 12.9¢/kWh.
The dollars involved are small, though, because so little heat is needed. That changes what is worth deciding. For a gas-heated home, the heating saving alone is a modest sum; the stronger reason to look at a heat pump here is that it replaces the air conditioner too, and cooling is the biggest of the three loads on a Louisiana bill.
For the many homes already on electric heat, the choice is between resistance heat and a heat pump. Resistance costs 2.1 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices, while a heat pump at a COP of 3.4 turns each kilowatt-hour into 3.4 units of heat. In a mild climate that is close to the best case for a heat pump.
Water heating deserves its own look. It costs the average household more than space heating here, and an electric tank heater is resistance heat as well. The heat pump water heater calculator compares the two with your own rate.
The survey's $244 averages every home and fuel, apartments included; the calculator prices one 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation, so expect the two to differ. Type your own rate and gas price into the calculator above, and use the electric bill estimator to see how cooling and heating split on your bill.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Louisiana, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Louisiana: $1,140.65 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $588.44 more than gas. Between gas ($552.21) and a heat pump ($335.48), the heat pump comes out $216.72 a year ahead on running cost; purchase and installation are not counted (see the payback calculator). These are estimates at 12.9¢/kWh and $1.68/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Louisiana?
About 329 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Louisiana's 1,800 heating degree-days. That averages 27 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.68/therm, the year costs an estimated $552.21.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Louisiana?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 12.9¢/kWh, that heat costs $37.72 per MMBtu in Louisiana, against $18.26 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.68/therm, 2.1 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $1,140.65 a year against $552.21.
Why is heating such a small part of my Louisiana energy bill?
Because the winter is short: 1,800 heating degree-days, 60% fewer than the US average of 4,500, the 48th-highest in the country. The survey puts space heating at $244 a year, 14% of the bill, against $452 for air conditioning and $275 for water heating. If your bill runs high, cooling and hot water are the likelier places to look.
Is a heat pump better than an electric furnace in Louisiana?
On running cost, yes, by a wide margin. An electric furnace is resistance heat, which at 12.9¢/kWh costs 2.1 times what a gas furnace pays per unit of heat. A heat pump at the zone 2 seasonal COP of 3.4 delivers the same heat from a fraction of the kilowatt-hours, and it cools in summer as well. The heat pump vs furnace page compares the two over their life.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
Related