Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in North Dakota
In North Dakota, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,512.00 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $5,898.22 with electric resistance heat and $2,949.11 with a heat pump. In North Dakota, the gas furnace beats the heat pump on running cost by an estimated $1,437.11 a year.
State data
What North Dakota pays
- Electricity
- 13.3¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $0.92/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 9,000 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 7 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.0
North Dakota's rate of 13.3¢/kWh is the 3rd-lowest among the 50 states and DC; every electric option on this page is priced from it. Gas is $0.92/therm in North Dakota, 38% below the US average of $1.48/therm and the 3rd-lowest of the 51. At 9,000 heating degree-days and climate zone 7, North Dakota's heat pump line uses a seasonal COP of 2.0, among the lowest in this model.
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
Four fuels and a long season in North Dakota
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 46% · electricity 34% · propane 15% · fuel oil 4%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 64% · central heat pump not reported · boiler 12%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 47%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,648 a year, of which $665 on space heating (40%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 81% of natural gas use · 25% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
North Dakota is one of only 14 states with a published fuel-oil share in the 2020 survey, and it has a propane figure as well, so its homes spread across all four heating fuels. Natural gas leads with 46% of homes, a little under the US figure of 51%. Electricity follows at 34%, level with the country's 34%. Then comes propane: 15% of households, about 50,000, the 2nd-highest propane share among the 35 states that report one, where the US sits at 4%. Fuel oil covers another 4%.
Whatever the fuel, the heater is usually a furnace. Furnaces run in 64% of homes (US: 60%) and boilers in 12%, against 8% nationally. Central heat pumps were too few in the sample for the survey to print a figure here, and 47% of households keep a second heat source running.
The money shows how much the winter weighs. A household's whole energy bill is $1,648 a year, the 10th-lowest of the 51 states, yet space heating alone takes $665 of it. At 40% of the bill, that is the 2nd-highest heating share in the country, next to 26% for the US, while cooling claims just 5%. Heat accounts for 25% of the electricity an average household uses (US: 12%) and 81% of the gas in homes connected to it.
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 North Dakota. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 13.3¢/kWh · North Dakota · EIA, August 2026 · gas $0.92/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 9,000 heating degree-days · climate zone 7 (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: $5,898.22 a year · Gas furnace: $1,512.00 a year, for 151.2 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 151.2 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $39.01
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $10.00
- Electric resistance, per year
- $5,898.22
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,512.00
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$4,386.22
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.0
- Prices used
- electricity 13.3¢/kWh · gas $0.92/therm · propane $1.90/gal · oil $3.50/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $2,949.11
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 North Dakota
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in North Dakota needs about 151.2 MMBtu of heat a year (9,000 heating degree-days). At $0.92/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $10.00 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 13.3¢/kWh costs $39.01, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.0 (zone 7) costs $19.50. The year comes to $1,512.00 on gas, $5,898.22 on resistance heat and $2,949.11 on a heat pump. Gas is the cheapest to run here, by $1,437.11 a year over a heat pump.
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
Why the furnace keeps its lead in North Dakota
Both of North Dakota's energy prices are low, so the question turns on the climate. Gas sells for $0.92/therm, 38% below the US average of $1.48/therm and the 3rd-lowest price of any state; electricity costs 13.3¢/kWh, the 3rd-lowest rate. Cheap power would normally help a heat pump, but 9,000 heating degree-days, 2.0 times the national figure and the 2nd-highest total in the country, put the home in climate zone 7, where the calculator credits a heat pump with a seasonal COP of only 2.0. Each kilowatt-hour buys less heat, and the house needs a great deal of it. For the example house the estimate lands on gas, ahead by $1,437.11 a year. Electricity would have to fall to 6.8¢/kWh for the two to cost the same; the average today is 13.3¢/kWh.
Homes that are not on gas face another choice entirely. For the 34% heating with electricity, the useful comparison is baseboards or an electric furnace against a heat pump: $5,898.22 a year versus $2,949.11 for the example house. A kilowatt-hour through a resistance element delivers heat at 3.9 times the cost of the same heat from gas here, so that is where a heat pump's efficiency counts for most. Propane and oil households should price their delivered fuel on the heat pump vs propane or oil page instead of this one.
Expect your own bill to land well above the survey's $665. That average mixes apartments and small homes with large ones, across all four fuels; the calculator models one 2,000 sq ft house through a full North Dakota season. When heat is 40% of the energy budget, the thermostat setback and attic insulation estimates belong in the same sitting as the equipment question. Put your rate and your gas price into the calculator above before reading anything into the gap.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in North Dakota, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in North Dakota: $5,898.22 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $4,386.22 more than gas. Between gas ($1,512.00) and a heat pump ($2,949.11), gas is cheaper here: $10.00 per MMBtu of heat against $19.50 for a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.0. These are estimates at 13.3¢/kWh and $0.92/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in North Dakota?
About 1,643 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at North Dakota's 9,000 heating degree-days. That averages 137 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $0.92/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,512.00.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in North Dakota?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 13.3¢/kWh, that heat costs $39.01 per MMBtu in North Dakota, against $10.00 from a 92% gas furnace at $0.92/therm, 3.9 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $5,898.22 a year against $1,512.00.
Would a cold-climate heat pump beat my gas furnace in North Dakota?
On operating cost at average prices, the estimate says no. It favors gas by $1,437.11 a year for the example house, and the heat pump only ties at an electricity rate of 6.8¢/kWh, while the state averages 13.3¢/kWh. The seasonal COP of 2.0 used for zone 7 already blends the coldest weeks with the milder ones. A discounted heating tariff is the one input that could shift this, so look for one on your utility's rate sheet.
Why does heating eat 40% of a North Dakota energy bill?
A long heating season meets a small total. The state logs 9,000 heating degree-days, 100% more than the US average of 4,500, while air conditioning takes 5% of spending and the full bill of $1,648 is the 10th-lowest among the states. Space heating comes to $665 a year, about $55 a month if spread evenly, though in practice it lands in the winter months.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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