Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Ohio
In Ohio, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,394.77 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $5,439.12 with electric resistance heat and $2,175.65 with a heat pump. Gas heat costs $14.57 per MMBtu here, against $22.72 from a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.5.
State data
What Ohio pays
- Electricity
- 19.4¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.34/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 5,700 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 5 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.5
Ohio's residential rate of 19.4¢/kWh sits between 15¢ and 20¢/kWh, 7% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. At $1.34/therm, Ohio's gas price is the 32nd-highest of the 51 on this site. Ohio logs 5,700 heating degree-days a year (NOAA normals), 27% 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 Ohio heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 64% · electricity 23% · propane 7% · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 77% · central heat pump 5% · boiler 5%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 42%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,847 a year, of which $698 on space heating (37%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 78% of natural gas use · 16% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Ohio is gas-furnace country. In the 2020 survey, 64% of homes (about 3,000,000) named natural gas as their main heating fuel, against 51% for the country, and only 23% named electricity, against 34%. Propane covers a larger slice than in most places: 7% of homes, about 330,000 of them, the 14th-highest share of the 35 states where the survey reports it. Fuel oil is too rare here for a share to be reported.
The equipment follows the fuel. Furnaces heat 77% of homes, the 8th-highest share among the 50 states, while central heat pumps sit at 5%, against 13% nationally and the 7th-lowest of the 33 states that report them. Boilers account for 5%.
Heat is also a heavy line on the bill. An average household spends $1,847 a year on energy and $698 of it on space heating, the 14th-highest amount in the country. That is 37% of the total, against 26% for the US and the 6th-highest share of the 50 states. Gas use leans the same way: 78% of the gas a household burns goes to space heating, against 68% nationally, while air conditioning takes just 9% of the bill.
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 Ohio. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 19.4¢/kWh · Ohio · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.34/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 5,700 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: $5,439.12 a year · Gas furnace: $1,394.77 a year, for 95.8 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 95.8 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $56.80
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $14.57
- Electric resistance, per year
- $5,439.12
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,394.77
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$4,044.36
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.5
- Prices used
- electricity 19.4¢/kWh · gas $1.34/therm · propane $2.40/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $2,175.65
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 Ohio
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Ohio needs about 95.8 MMBtu of heat a year (5,700 heating degree-days). At $1.34/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $14.57 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 19.4¢/kWh costs $56.80, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.5 (zone 5) costs $22.72. The year comes to $1,394.77 on gas, $5,439.12 on resistance heat and $2,175.65 on a heat pump. A heat pump would need electricity near 12.4¢/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 Ohio
At current prices the gas-versus-heat-pump question in Ohio is not close. Gas costs $1.34/therm, 9% below the US average of $1.48/therm, and electricity costs 19.4¢/kWh, 7% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. Cheap gas and dear power is the pairing that favors a furnace, and a longer winter adds weight to it: 5,700 heating degree-days, 27% more than the US average of 4,500, with the estimate using the climate-zone 5 seasonal COP of 2.5. A heat pump would match gas only at an electricity rate of 12.4¢/kWh, against a state average of 19.4¢/kWh, and the example house comes out $780.88 a year in favor of gas.
For the large majority on a furnace, the estimate gives no running-cost reason to switch. The one thing that could change it is a tariff: if your utility offers a separate heat-pump or off-peak rate, type it into the calculator above and see how far it sits from the tie rate. A heat pump also cools, which is worth pricing on its own; the heat pump vs furnace page puts the equipment and the summer side into the comparison.
The numbers point the other way for the homes that do not burn gas. Electric resistance heat costs 3.9 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices, so for a house on baseboards or an electric furnace the useful comparison is resistance against a heat pump, not gas against a heat pump. Propane homes, about 330,000 of them, are outside this page's two fuels: the propane vs electric calculator prices that choice.
The survey's $698 a year sits below the calculator's figures because it averages every home in the state, apartments and small houses included, across all fuels, while the calculator prices one 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation. With heat at 37% of the bill, the cheaper levers are worth a look before new equipment: a thermostat setback and attic insulation both work on that slice.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Ohio, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Ohio: $5,439.12 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $4,044.36 more than gas. Between gas ($1,394.77) and a heat pump ($2,175.65), gas costs less to run in Ohio, by an estimated $780.88 a year. These are estimates at 19.4¢/kWh and $1.34/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Ohio?
About 1,041 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Ohio's 5,700 heating degree-days. That averages 87 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.34/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,394.77.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Ohio?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 19.4¢/kWh, that heat costs $56.80 per MMBtu in Ohio, against $14.57 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.34/therm, 3.9 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $5,439.12 a year against $1,394.77.
Should I replace my gas furnace with a heat pump in Ohio?
On running cost the estimate says not at today's prices: gas is cheaper for the example house by $780.88 a year. A heat pump would tie with gas only at 12.4¢/kWh, against the state average of 19.4¢/kWh. Reasons to look anyway are cooling, an aging air conditioner or a special electric rate; put your own rate and gas price into the calculator above, and the heat pump payback page will turn any gap into years.
Why does heating take such a large share of energy bills in Ohio?
The survey's figures point to winter and to gas. Ohio has 5,700 heating degree-days, 27% more than the US average of 4,500, and space heating takes 37% of the average household's energy spending, the 6th-highest share of the 50 states. Of the gas a household uses, 78% goes to heat, against 68% for the US, while cooling takes only 9% of the bill.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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