Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Texas
In Texas, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $682.96 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $1,566.75 with electric resistance heat and $460.81 with a heat pump. In Texas, the heat pump beats the gas furnace on running cost by an estimated $222.15 a year.
State data
What Texas pays
- Electricity
- 15.9¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.87/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 2,000 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 2 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 3.4
Texas's residential rate of 15.9¢/kWh sits between 15¢ and 20¢/kWh, 12% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. At $1.87/therm, Texas's gas price is the 7th-highest of the 51 on this site. Texas's heating need is light: 2,000 heating degree-days a year, 56% fewer 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 Texas heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 42% · electricity 51% · propane 2% · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 61% · central heat pump 19% · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 36%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,800 a year, of which $310 on space heating (16%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 54% of natural gas use · 11% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Electricity heats a majority of Texas homes. In the 2020 survey 51% of homes, about 5,200,000, named electricity as their main heating fuel, the 9th-highest share of the 51 states, against 34% nationally. Natural gas heats 42% (about 4,300,000), against 51% for the US. Propane is a sliver at 2%, the lowest share among the 35 states where the survey reports it, and fuel oil is too rare to report.
Heat pumps are more common here than in most of the country: 19% of homes, about 1,950,000, against 13% nationally, the 14th-highest share of the 33 states that report it. Furnaces are 61%, close to the US figure of 60%. Even so, the electric share is far larger than the heat pump share, so many electric-heated homes run something other than a heat pump.
What stands out is how little heat costs next to everything else. An average household spends $1,800 a year on energy and $310 of it on space heating, the 7th-lowest amount among the states. That is 16% of the bill, against 26% for the US and the 5th-lowest share of the 50 states. Air conditioning costs more than heat: $460, or 24% of the bill against 14% nationally. Even gas is less about heat here: 54% of household gas goes to space heating, against 68% for the US.
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 Texas. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 15.9¢/kWh · Texas · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.87/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 2,000 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: $1,566.75 a year · Gas furnace: $682.96 a year, for 33.6 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 33.6 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $46.63
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $20.33
- Electric resistance, per year
- $1,566.75
- Gas furnace, per year
- $682.96
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$883.80
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 3.4
- Prices used
- electricity 15.9¢/kWh · gas $1.87/therm · propane $2.50/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $460.81
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 Texas
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Texas needs about 33.6 MMBtu of heat a year (2,000 heating degree-days). At $1.87/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $20.33 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 15.9¢/kWh costs $46.63, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 3.4 (zone 2) costs $13.71. The year comes to $682.96 on gas, $1,566.75 on resistance heat and $460.81 on a heat pump. That puts the heat pump $222.15 a year below the gas furnace in Texas, running cost only.
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 Texas
Two numbers set Texas apart: a short heating season and expensive gas. Its 2,000 heating degree-days are 56% fewer than the US average of 4,500, the 47th-highest among the states, and climate zone 2 lets the estimate use a seasonal COP of 3.4, the efficiency of mild weather. Gas costs $1.87/therm, 26% above the US average of $1.48/therm and the 7th-highest price in the country, while electricity costs 15.9¢/kWh, 12% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. The price pair and the high COP both point to the heat pump. The rate at which gas would catch up is 23.6¢/kWh, against a state average of 15.9¢/kWh, a wide margin that leaves room for a plan priced above the average.
The dollars, though, are small. With a mild winter the example house's yearly gap is $222.15 in favor of a heat pump, and the survey's average household spends $310 a year on heat in total. When the heating gap is that size, the installation price decides the payback; the heat pump payback page puts your quote against it.
The stronger argument in Texas is the line the survey shows is larger than heat: cooling. A heat pump is also the air conditioner, so for a home due to replace its AC the comparison is a heat pump against an AC plus a furnace, not a heat pump against a furnace alone. The heat pump vs furnace page sets that up, and heat pump size gives a capacity to price.
For the electric-heated homes without a heat pump, resistance heat costs 2.3 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices, and a heat pump delivers the same heat for a fraction of the kilowatt-hours. Even in a short season that is the comparison worth running first.
The survey's $310 sits below the calculator's figures because it averages every home, apartments included, across all fuels, while the calculator prices one 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation. Type the rate and gas price from your own bills into the calculator above to replace the averages.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Texas, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Texas: $1,566.75 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $883.80 more than gas. Between gas ($682.96) and a heat pump ($460.81), the heat pump costs less to run in Texas, by an estimated $222.15 a year. These are estimates at 15.9¢/kWh and $1.87/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Texas?
About 365 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Texas's 2,000 heating degree-days. That averages 30 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.87/therm, the year costs an estimated $682.96.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Texas?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 15.9¢/kWh, that heat costs $46.63 per MMBtu in Texas, against $20.33 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.87/therm, 2.3 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $1,566.75 a year against $682.96.
Does a heat pump keep up with a Texas winter?
The estimate assumes a seasonal COP of 3.4, the figure it uses for climate zone 2; a seasonal COP averages the whole heating season, cold snaps included. With 2,000 heating degree-days the season is short. If your system has electric backup strips, those run at resistance cost, 2.3 times what gas pays per unit of heat at 15.9¢/kWh and $1.87/therm, during the hours they are on.
Why is my summer electric bill in Texas bigger than my winter heating bill?
That is the typical pattern in the survey. An average household spends $460 a year on air conditioning and $310 on space heating, and heating takes 11% of the electricity a household uses, against 12% nationally. To see what cooling or any appliance adds to your bill at your own rate, use the electric bill estimator.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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