Gas vs Electric Heating Cost in Virginia
In Virginia, a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation costs an estimated $1,183.30 a year to heat with a 92% gas furnace, $3,474.23 with electric resistance heat and $1,240.80 with a heat pump. In Virginia, the heat pump and the gas furnace nearly tie: $18.46 vs $17.61 per MMBtu of heat.
State data
What Virginia pays
- Electricity
- 17.6¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Natural gas
- $1.62/thermEIA, residential natural gas price ($/Mcf ÷ 10.37) · EIA 2025 annual average (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Heating degree-days
- 4,000 °F-days (base 65 °F)NOAA CPC, 1991–2020 normals
- Climate zone
- 4 (IECC 2021)DOE/PNNL · heat pump seasonal COP used: 2.8
Virginia's residential rate of 17.6¢/kWh sits between 15¢ and 20¢/kWh, 3% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. At $1.62/therm, Virginia's gas price is the 18th-highest of the 51 on this site. Virginia logs 4,000 heating degree-days a year (NOAA normals), 11% 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 Virginia heat
- Main heating fuel
- Natural gas 36% · electricity 50% · propane 5% · fuel oil 4%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Main heating equipment
- Furnace 56% · central heat pump 27% · boiler 4%EIA RECS 2020, state tables · share of homes
- Homes using a secondary heater
- 56%EIA RECS 2020, state tables
- Household energy spend
- $2,023 a year, of which $537 on space heating (26%)EIA RECS 2020, state tables · average per household
- Share of home energy that is space heating
- 66% of natural gas use · 14% of electricity useEIA RECS 2020, state tables
Virginia heats with a little of everything, and electricity most of all. In the 2020 survey, 50% of homes (about 1,620,000) named electricity as their main heating fuel, against 34% for the country, the 11th-highest share of any state. Natural gas heats 36%, against 51% nationally, and the rest is split between propane, at 5%, and fuel oil, at 4%; Virginia is one of only 14 states where the survey reports an oil share at all.
Heat pumps are a large part of that electric share. 27% of homes (about 870,000) run a central heat pump, against 13% for the US, the 7th-highest share among the 33 states that report it. Furnaces are in 56% of homes and boilers in 4%. More homes than nationally also run a secondary heater: 56%, against 42%.
The spending is close to the national pattern. A household pays $537 a year for space heating, against $519 for the US, and that is 26% of a $2,023 energy bill, the same share as the US figure of 26%. Water heating takes $349, 17% of the bill, against 15% nationally. Heating uses 14% of the electricity homes here buy and 66% of their gas.
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 Virginia. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 17.6¢/kWh · Virginia · EIA, August 2026 · gas $1.62/therm (EIA 2025 annual) · 4,000 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: $3,474.23 a year · Gas furnace: $1,183.30 a year, for 67.2 MMBtu of heat.
- Yearly heating load
- 67.2 MMBtu
- Electric resistance, $ per MMBtu
- $51.70
- Gas furnace, $ per MMBtu
- $17.61
- Electric resistance, per year
- $3,474.23
- Gas furnace, per year
- $1,183.30
- Difference per year (Gas furnace − Electric resistance)
- −$2,290.93
- Seasonal heat pump COP used
- 2.8
- Prices used
- electricity 17.6¢/kWh · gas $1.62/therm · propane $3.10/gal · oil $3.70/gal
- Heat pump, per year (for reference)
- $1,240.80
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 Virginia
A 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation in Virginia needs about 67.2 MMBtu of heat a year (4,000 heating degree-days). At $1.62/therm in a 92% furnace, gas delivers that heat at $17.61 per MMBtu; resistance heat at 17.6¢/kWh costs $51.70, and a heat pump at seasonal COP 2.8 (zone 4) costs $18.46. The year comes to $1,183.30 on gas, $3,474.23 on resistance heat and $1,240.80 on a heat pump. The gap between the two cheapest options is only $57.49 a year in Virginia.
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 Virginia
The gas-versus-heat-pump question is close in Virginia. Electricity costs 17.6¢/kWh, 3% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh, and gas costs $1.62/therm, 9% above the US average of $1.48/therm. For the example house the estimate favors gas, but only by $57.49 a year, and the electricity rate at which the two tie is 16.8¢/kWh, next to a state average of 17.6¢/kWh. With the tie rate and the average this close, the answer for your house is set by your own bill, not by the state figures: a rate under the tie rate favors the heat pump, a rate above it favors gas.
The winter is ordinary. Virginia's 4,000 heating degree-days are 11% fewer than the US average of 4,500, and the calculator uses the climate-zone 4 seasonal COP of 2.8. That is a middle setting, which is why the result depends so much on price: neither the climate nor the rates push hard in one direction.
Two groups have a clearer answer. Homes on electric resistance pay the most of the three options, $3,474.23 a year for the example house, because resistance costs 2.9 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices; for them the useful comparison is resistance against heat pump. Homes on propane or oil are outside this calculator, and the heat pump vs propane or oil page prices those fuels with your own price per gallon.
The survey's $537 averages every home, apartments included, so it sits below the calculator's figure for one 2,000 sq ft house. Type the rate and gas price from your own bills into the calculator above, since the tie rate sits so close to the average. If the yearly gap is small either way, the heat pump payback page shows how long a difference that size takes to cover an equipment cost.
Questions
FAQ
Which is cheaper in Virginia, gas or electric heat?
Electric resistance heat is the most expensive of the three in Virginia: $3,474.23 a year for the 2,000 sq ft example, $2,290.93 more than gas. Between gas ($1,183.30) and a heat pump ($1,240.80), it's close: gas is cheaper by $57.49 a year at Virginia's averages. These are estimates at 17.6¢/kWh and $1.62/therm; your bill's prices can change the answer.
How much gas does a furnace use in Virginia?
About 730 therms a year for a 2,000 sq ft house with average insulation and a 92% furnace, at Virginia's 4,000 heating degree-days. That averages 61 therms a month over 12 months, but almost all of it is burned in the heating months. At $1.62/therm, the year costs an estimated $1,183.30.
Electric furnace vs gas furnace cost in Virginia?
An electric furnace is resistance heat: every kWh gives 3,412 BTU. At 17.6¢/kWh, that heat costs $51.70 per MMBtu in Virginia, against $17.61 from a 92% gas furnace at $1.62/therm, 2.9 times as much. For the 2,000 sq ft example that's $3,474.23 a year against $1,183.30.
Is a heat pump or a gas furnace cheaper to run in Virginia?
At average prices it is nearly a tie: the estimate favors gas by $57.49 a year for the example house. The heat pump wins below an electricity rate of 16.8¢/kWh and loses above it, and the state average is 17.6¢/kWh. Check the rate on your bill, including any winter or time-of-use rate, and type it into the calculator above with your gas price.
Why do so many homes in Virginia use a second heater?
The survey reports a secondary heater in 56% of homes, against 42% nationally, but it does not say why. If yours is an electric space heater, it runs on resistance, which costs 2.9 times as much as gas per unit of heat at these prices. The space heater vs central heat page shows when heating one room is cheaper than heating the house.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same calculator, same house, each state's own prices and winter:
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