Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Utah
In Utah, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,020.05 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $3,735.54 with electric resistance heat and $1,494.22 with a heat pump. At these prices gas is the cheapest of the three, $474.16 a year under a heat pump.
State data
What Utah pays
- Electricity
- 13.3¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $0.98/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/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
At 13.3¢/kWh, electricity in Utah is under 15¢/kWh, 27% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. Utah's residential gas costs $0.98/therm, 34% below the US average of $1.48/therm. Utah 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 Utah heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 86% · electricity 13% · propane not reported · fuel oil not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 90% · central heat pump not reported · boiler not reportedEIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 48%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $1,647 a year, of which $461 on space heating (28%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 66% of natural gas use · 6% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
No state leans on natural gas for heat as heavily as Utah. In the 2020 survey, 86% of homes (about 890,000) named gas as their main heating fuel, the highest share of the 50 states that report it, against 51% for the country. Electricity heats 13%, the 6th-lowest electric share, against 34% nationally. Propane and fuel oil are too rare here for the survey to report a share at all.
The equipment is just as uniform. A furnace is the main heater in 90% of homes, the highest furnace share of the 50 states, against 60% nationally. Central heat pumps and boilers are too rare for the survey to report. Space heating is only 6% of an average household's electricity use, against 12% for the US, which fits a state where the furnace burns gas and electricity does other jobs.
The spending is lower than the winter would suggest. A household spends $1,647 a year on all energy, the 9th-lowest among the states, and $461 on space heating, against $519 nationally, even though Utah's 5,700 heating degree-days are 27% more than the US average of 4,500. Heating is 28% of the bill, against 26% for the US. The gas price on this page, $0.98/therm, the 6th-lowest in the country, is consistent with that: a state with a longer-than-average winter that pays little per therm.
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 Utah. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 13.3¢/kWh · Utah · EIA, August 2026 · gas $0.98/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: $3,735.54 a year · Gas furnace: $1,020.05 a year, for 95.8 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 95.8 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $39.01
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $10.65
- Electric resistance, per year
- $3,735.54
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,020.05
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$2,715.49
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.5
- Prices used
- electricity 13.3¢/kWh · gas $0.98/therm · propane $2.30/gal · oil $3.60/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $1,494.22
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 Utah
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Utah needs about 95.8 MMBtu of heat a year (5,700 heating degree-days). At $0.98/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $10.65 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 13.3¢/kWh costs $39.01, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.5 (zone 5) costs $15.60. The year comes to $1,020.05 on gas, $3,735.54 on resistance heat and $1,494.22 on a heat pump. A heat pump would need electricity near 9.1¢/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 Utah
Both fuels are cheap in Utah, but gas is cheaper still, and that settles the running-cost question at average prices. Electricity costs 13.3¢/kWh, 27% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh and the 3rd-lowest rate in the country; gas costs $0.98/therm, 34% below the US average of $1.48/therm. The estimate favors gas by $474.16 a year for the example house, and a heat pump would tie a 92% furnace only at an electricity rate of 9.1¢/kWh, against a state average of 13.3¢/kWh. Even a cheap overnight rate would have to come in under that tie rate to change the answer.
The winter adds to it. Climate zone 5 gives the heat pump a seasonal COP of 2.5 in the estimate, and with 5,700 heating degree-days there is a lot of heat to buy, so a gap per unit of heat grows into a real yearly sum.
For a state where nearly every home already has a furnace, the practical question comes at replacement time, and it is not only about heat. Air conditioning takes $208 a year, 12% of the bill, against 14% nationally. A heat pump replaces both a furnace and an air conditioner, so if your AC is due as well, the comparison is between two purchases and one. The heat pump vs furnace page prices the two over their life, and the furnace size page checks whether a replacement furnace is the right capacity.
For the small share on electric heat, resistance heat costs 3.7 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices; that is where a heat pump's efficiency counts most.
The survey's $461 a year averages every home, apartments included, so it sits below the calculator's figures for one 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation. Type the gas price per therm and the electricity rate from your own bills into the calculator above; use the all-in price per therm, delivery charges included.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Utah, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Utah: $3,735.54 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $2,715.49 more than gas. Between gas ($1,020.05) and a heat pump ($1,494.22), gas costs less to run in Utah, by an estimated $474.16 a year. These are estimates at 13.3¢/kWh and $0.98/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Utah?
About 1,041 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Utah'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 $0.98/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,020.05.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Utah?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 13.3¢/kWh, that heat costs $39.01 per MMBtu in Utah, against $10.65 from a 92% gas furnace at $0.98/therm, 3.7 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $3,735.54 a year against $1,020.05.
Gas is cheap in Utah. What would make a heat pump cheaper to run?
An electricity rate below about 9.1¢/kWh, against a state average of 13.3¢/kWh, or a gas price well above the state's $0.98/therm. At average prices the estimate favors gas by $474.16 a year for the example house. If your utility offers an off-peak or heat-pump rate, compare that rate with the tie point, not the average, and type it into the calculator above.
How does a household in Utah compare with the US on energy spending?
It spends less. The survey puts the average bill at $1,647 a year, against $1,884 nationally, with $461 on space heating against $519 and $221 on water heating against $287. In a gas home here, space heating uses 66% of the gas, so the furnace is the main gas cost. If you are weighing the water heater too, the heat pump water heater page prices that separately.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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