Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Maryland
In Maryland, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,310.40 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $4,846.99 with electric resistance heat and $1,731.07 with a heat pump. At these prices gas is the cheapest of the three, $420.67 a year under a heat pump.
State data
What Maryland pays
- Electricity
- 21.4¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.56/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 4,600 °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 21.4¢/kWh, Maryland has the 15th-highest residential electricity rate among the 50 states and DC. At $1.56/therm, Maryland's gas price is the 24th-highest of the 51 on this site. Maryland logs 4,600 heating degree-days a year (NOAA normals), 2% more 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 Maryland heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 49% · electricity 41% · propane not reported · fuel oil 7%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 64% · central heat pump 19% · boiler 7%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 52%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,924 a year, of which $630 on space heating (32%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 71% of natural gas use · 18% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Maryland is split between gas and electric heat, with a tail of oil. In the 2020 survey, 49% of homes (about 1,120,000) named natural gas as their main heating fuel and 41% (about 930,000) named electricity, against 51% and 34% for the country. Fuel oil still heats 7% of homes, about 160,000 of them; that is the 11th-highest share of the 14 states where the survey can report oil at all, against 4% nationally. Propane is too rare here to report.
The equipment leans toward ducted systems. A furnace is the main heater in 64% of homes, against 60% nationally, and a central heat pump in 19%, about 430,000 homes, the 14th-highest share of the 33 states that report it and above the US figure of 13%. Boilers account for 7%. Because the share heating with electricity (41%) is larger than the heat-pump share (19%), a sizable group of electric homes heats with something other than a central heat pump: an electric furnace, baseboards or a ductless unit.
Heat takes a larger slice of the bill here than it does nationally. A household spends $630 a year on space heating, the 17th-highest among the states, which is 32% of a $1,924 energy bill, against $519 and 26% nationally. In a gas home, space heating takes 71% of the gas used.
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 Maryland. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 21.4¢/kWh · Maryland · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.56/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 4,600 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: $4,846.99 a year · Gas furnace: $1,310.40 a year, for 77.3 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 77.3 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $62.72
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $16.96
- Electric resistance, per year
- $4,846.99
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,310.40
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$3,536.59
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.8
- Prices used
- electricity 21.4¢/kWh · gas $1.56/therm · propane $3.30/gal · oil $3.70/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $1,731.07
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 Maryland
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Maryland needs about 77.3 MMBtu of heat a year (4,600 heating degree-days). At $1.56/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $16.96 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 21.4¢/kWh costs $62.72, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.8 (zone 4) costs $22.40. The year comes to $1,310.40 on gas, $4,846.99 on resistance heat and $1,731.07 on a heat pump. A heat pump would need electricity near 16.2¢/kWh to match gas here.
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 Maryland
At average prices the estimate favors gas in Maryland, and the electricity rate is the reason. Power costs 21.4¢/kWh, 18% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh and the 15th-highest rate among the states, while gas costs $1.56/therm, 5% above the US average of $1.48/therm. Gas a little above average does not offset electricity well above it. The heat pump would match a 92% furnace at 16.2¢/kWh, against a state average of 21.4¢/kWh; for the example house the gap is $420.67 a year in favor of gas.
That makes the tariff the thing to check. If your utility offers an off-peak, heat-pump or time-of-use rate, compare it with the tie rate of 16.2¢/kWh, not with the average. A rate under the tie point turns the answer; one near the average does not.
The winter is not what decides it. Maryland's 4,600 heating degree-days are 2% more than the US average of 4,500, and the estimate uses the climate-zone 4 seasonal COP of 2.8, an ordinary heating season by US standards. Where the heat pump wins clearly is against resistance heat. At these prices resistance heat costs 3.7 times as much as gas per unit of heat, and a heat pump delivers the same heat for a fraction of the kilowatt-hours. For the electric homes that are not on a heat pump, that is the comparison worth running first.
Oil homes need a different page. The calculator above prices gas, resistance and a heat pump; for the 7% of homes on fuel oil, the heat pump vs propane or oil page takes your delivered price per gallon.
The survey's $630 a year averages apartments, small houses and every fuel, so it sits below the calculator's figures for one 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation. Treat it as a reality check. Then type the rate and gas price from your own bill into the calculator above, and if you are weighing the equipment itself, the heat pump vs furnace page compares the two over their life.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Maryland, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Maryland: $4,846.99 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $3,536.59 more than gas. Between gas ($1,310.40) and a heat pump ($1,731.07), gas costs less to run in Maryland, by an estimated $420.67 a year. These are estimates at 21.4¢/kWh and $1.56/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Maryland?
About 840 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Maryland's 4,600 heating degree-days. That averages 70 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.56/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,310.40.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Maryland?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 21.4¢/kWh, that heat costs $62.72 per MMBtu in Maryland, against $16.96 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.56/therm, 3.7 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $4,846.99 a year against $1,310.40.
I heat with oil in Maryland. Does this page apply to me?
Only in part. This calculator prices natural gas, resistance heat and a heat pump; oil is not one of its fuels. Oil heats 7% of Maryland homes, about 160,000, against 4% nationally. To compare an oil boiler or furnace with a heat pump, use the heat pump vs propane or oil page with your delivered price per gallon and your electricity rate, 21.4¢/kWh on average here.
What electricity rate would make a heat pump match gas in Maryland?
About 16.2¢/kWh at the state's average gas price of $1.56/therm, against an average electricity rate of 21.4¢/kWh. At average prices the estimate favors gas by $420.67 a year for the example house. The tie rate moves with the gas price: if you pay more per therm than the average, the rate a heat pump needs to match it rises too. Type both prices from your bills into the calculator above.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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