Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Oregon
In Oregon, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,352.40 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $3,605.80 with electric resistance heat and $1,287.78 with a heat pump. Between gas and a heat pump, Oregon is a close call: the cheaper one, a heat pump, wins by $64.62 a year at average prices.
State data
What Oregon pays
- Electricity
- 15.9¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.61/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/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 15.9¢/kWh, Oregon has the 29th-highest electricity rate among the 50 states and DC. Residential gas in Oregon is $1.61/therm, 9% above the US average of $1.48/therm. A winter of 4,600 heating degree-days means the 2,000 sq ft example in Oregon needs about 77.3 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
How homes in Oregon heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 41% · electricity 45% · propane not reported · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 50% · central heat pump 13% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 53%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,642 a year, of which $480 on space heating (28%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 69% of natural gas use · 19% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Oregon is one of the states where electric heat is already the norm rather than the exception. In the 2020 survey, 45% of homes (about 740,000) named electricity as their main heating fuel and 41% named natural gas, against 34% and 51% for the country as a whole. That puts Oregon the 15th-highest of the 51 states for electric heating. Propane and fuel oil are too rare here for the survey to report a share.
The equipment tells the second half of the story. 50% of homes run a furnace, which can burn gas or run on electric resistance, and 13% run a central heat pump, against 13% nationally and the 18th-highest of the 33 states that report it. So most of the electric-heated homes use something other than a central heat pump. A majority, 53%, also run a secondary heater, which is where a space heater or a wood stove shows up on the bill.
What a household here spends is modest: $1,642 a year on all energy, $480 of it on space heating, or 28% of the bill, against $519 and 26% nationally. Water heating takes $366, 22% of the bill, a larger slice than the US figure of 15%.
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 Oregon. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 15.9¢/kWh · Oregon · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.61/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: $3,605.80 a year · Gas furnace: $1,352.40 a year, for 77.3 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 77.3 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $46.66
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $17.50
- Electric resistance, per year
- $3,605.80
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,352.40
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$2,253.40
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.8
- Prices used
- electricity 15.9¢/kWh · gas $1.61/therm · propane $2.80/gal · oil $3.80/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $1,287.78
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 Oregon
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Oregon needs about 77.3 MMBtu of heat a year (4,600 heating degree-days). At $1.61/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $17.50 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 15.9¢/kWh costs $46.66, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.8 (zone 4) costs $16.66. The year comes to $1,352.40 on gas, $3,605.80 on resistance heat and $1,287.78 on a heat pump. That is a near-tie: a heat pump comes out ahead by $64.62 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 Oregon
The gas-versus-heat-pump question is close in Oregon, and the prices show why. Electricity costs 15.9¢/kWh, 12% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh, while gas costs $1.61/therm, 9% above the US average of $1.48/therm. Cheaper-than-average power and dearer-than-average gas is the combination that favors a heat pump, and the example house confirms it by a narrow margin: $1,287.78 a year on a heat pump against $1,352.40 on a 92% furnace, a gap of $64.62. The electricity rate at which the two tie is 16.7¢/kWh, against a state average of 15.9¢/kWh. A tariff above the tie rate tips the answer back to gas; an overnight or heat-pump rate below the average widens the heat pump's lead.
Winter is not the deciding factor here. Oregon's 4,600 heating degree-days are 2% more than the US average of 4,500, an ordinary heating season by US standards, and the estimate uses the climate-zone 4 seasonal COP of 2.8. What stands out is how much of the state already heats with electricity. For a home on baseboards or an electric furnace, the comparison that matters is not gas versus heat pump but resistance versus heat pump: $3,605.80 against $1,287.78 for the example house, because a heat pump delivers the same heat for a fraction of the kilowatt-hours. Resistance heat costs 2.7 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices.
The survey's $480 a year sits well under the calculator's figures because it averages apartments, small houses and homes that barely run their heat across every fuel; the calculator prices one 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation. Use the survey number as a reality check, not as a target.
Before deciding, type the rate and the gas price from your own bill into the calculator above. If you are weighing the equipment itself, the heat pump vs furnace page compares the two over their life, and the heat pump payback page turns a yearly gap into years.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Oregon, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Oregon: $3,605.80 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $2,253.40 more than gas. Between gas ($1,352.40) and a heat pump ($1,287.78), the two are within about 10% per unit of heat ($16.66 vs $17.50 per MMBtu), so your own rates decide. These are estimates at 15.9¢/kWh and $1.61/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Oregon?
About 840 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Oregon'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 $1.61/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,352.40.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Oregon?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 15.9¢/kWh, that heat costs $46.66 per MMBtu in Oregon, against $17.50 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.61/therm, 2.7 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $3,605.80 a year against $1,352.40.
Is a heat pump worth it in Oregon if I already heat with gas?
On running cost alone the estimate says yes, by $64.62 a year for the example house, which is a small margin that your own prices can erase. The heat pump wins only while your electricity rate stays under about 16.7¢/kWh. Check the rate on your bill first; a heat pump also gives you cooling in summer, which a furnace does not, and that is a separate calculation.
Why is my electric heating bill in Oregon higher than the survey's $480 a year?
The survey average covers every home in the state, including apartments and homes heated with gas, so it is low for a house on resistance heat. At 15.9¢/kWh, resistance heat costs 2.7 times what a gas furnace pays per unit of heat; the example house comes to $3,605.80 a year. Space heating also takes only 19% of an average household's electricity here, which is why the statewide figure looks small.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
Related