Calculate your home heating cost of following fuels: gas, oil, propane & electricity, using a Hot Air Furnace, Boiler (standard & condensing), Air Source & Geothermal Heat Pump.
Our calculator provides the most updated local energy costs in your state, which are pre populated in the price fields. However, your actual cost may be different, depending on your supplier.
Calculate Heating Costs & Energy Savings in Virginia
Cheapest Heating Fuel:
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Heating costs updated on September 15, 2023.
RESULTS: You will get a full season (6 months, from mid-October through mid-April) cost of heating your home, cheapest fuel for your heating system type, as well as estimated prices for replacing / installing a new heating system.
To get an accurate cost estimate, set your house square footage, adjust local prices for Heating Oil, Natural Gas, Propane, and Electricity, choose your heating equipment type, home insulation grade & efficiency rating of your heating system.
¹ Results for electric strip (baseboard) heating are calculator based on your home's Heat Load, excluding any flue gas, duct & radiator loses, which are present in hydronic and forced air heating systems (boilers, furnaces, Geothermal Heat Pumps), since nominal efficiency of electric resistance heating is 100%, and is calculated at 3412 BTUs / 1 kW.
² Results for Heat Pump presume a 2.9 COP Ductless Heat Pump system, which is typical for multi-zone Hyper Heat systems from Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Daikin, LG, and other top tier manufacturers, and is calculated at 9895 BTUS / 1 kW.
What is COP? COP or Coefficient of Performance is a fancy acronym for a multiplier of efficiency of a HEAT PUMP system VS Resistive Electric Baseboard heating.
Example: Resistive Electric Heater produces 3412 BTUs of Heat for 1 kW (1000 Watts) of power usage. A heating system with 3.0 COP will provide 3 times the heat output for each 1 kW of electricity that it uses. In our case 3412 * 3 = 10236 BTUs per 1 kW.
Bottom line - a 3 COP heat pump is 3 times as efficient as Electric Baseboards or a space heater!
Here is how much different residential Heating Fuels Cost in your state (Virginia) as well as US Average. Breakdown of Heating Energy Costs, by fuel type: Natural Gas, #2 Fuel Oil (heating oil), Propane, and Electricity.
| Gas | Oil | Propane | Electricity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Avg: | $1.94 / Therm | $4.54 / Gal | $2.67 / Gal | $0.161 / kWh |
| Virginia: | $2.14 / Therm | $4.42 / Gal | $3.33 / Gal | $0.152 / kWh |
Learn how to get "Almost Free" heating and cooling when you combine High Efficiency Ductless Heat Pumps (with -15°F Low Temp Heating) and large enough Solar PV array, which is financed with fixed rate loan - your energy savings will in most cases be higher than the loan payment!
Prices above are as follows:
Natural Gas - $/Therm
Heating Oil and Propane - $/Gallon
Electricity - $/kWh.
For natural gas priced in CCF or MCF, see below.
* We use a Geolocation to identify your state. However, it's not always accurate. Therefore, you may need to adjust your local prices to correct values (see table at the bottom).
Additionally, prices provided for your state are AVERAGE for your whole state, and may differ greatly from one part of the state to another. We included local prices for your convenience. However, for accuracy purposes, it is ideal for end user to correct these prices to what local suppliers actually charge!
To get your accurate rate, refer to you Electric, and Gas (or Oil/Propane) bill.
How to use Heating Fuel Cost Calculator
US Energy Costs table by State:
Here is the price table of Heating Fuels such as Natural Gas, Fuel Oil, Propane and Electricity, for each state, including Washington DC, AL and HI, as well as US average.
Natural Gas prices are in THERMS, which is an equivalent of about 100,000 BTUs, but can easily be converted to 100/1000 Cu. Ft. See how to do it below the price table.
NOTE for MA Residents: We have adjusted Massachusetts electric rate from $0.246 to $0.305 / kWh (20% increase), which went into effect on Jan 1, 2022, per EverSource rates page.
| Gas | #2 Fuel Oil | Propane | Electricity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $2.51/therm | $4.21/gal | $3.41/gal | $0.146/kWh |
| Alaska | $1.29/therm | $5.15/gal | $3.63/gal | $0.247/kWh |
| Arizona | $2.47/therm | $4.81/gal | $2.52/gal | $0.143/kWh |
| Arkansas | $1.89/therm | $4.21/gal | $2.51/gal | $0.124/kWh |
| California | $1.61/therm | $5.97/gal | $4.00/gal | $0.312/kWh |
| Colorado | $1.37/therm | $4.81/gal | $2.49/gal | $0.147/kWh |
| Connecticut | $2.30/therm | $4.48/gal | $3.79/gal | $0.318/kWh |
| Delaware | $2.52/therm | $4.42/gal | $3.45/gal | $0.160/kWh |
| District of Columbia | $1.91/therm | $4.42/gal | $3.23/gal | $0.165/kWh |
| Florida | $2.70/therm | $4.42/gal | $4.66/gal | $0.154/kWh |
| Georgia | $3.11/therm | $4.42/gal | $3.03/gal | $0.146/kWh |
| Hawaii | $5.31/therm | $5.97/gal | $4.00/gal | $0.417/kWh |
| Idaho | $1.43/therm | $4.81/gal | $2.71/gal | $0.118/kWh |
| Illinois | $1.84/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.05/gal | $0.151/kWh |
| Indiana | $2.17/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.60/gal | $0.147/kWh |
| Iowa | $1.67/therm | $4.43/gal | $1.93/gal | $0.150/kWh |
| Kansas | $2.65/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.04/gal | $0.135/kWh |
| Kentucky | $2.51/therm | $4.21/gal | $2.54/gal | $0.125/kWh |
| Louisiana | $1.89/therm | $4.21/gal | $2.93/gal | $0.112/kWh |
| Maine | $1.86/therm | $4.48/gal | $3.28/gal | $0.276/kWh |
| Maryland | $2.03/therm | $4.42/gal | $3.39/gal | $0.170/kWh |
| Massachusetts | $1.76/therm | $4.48/gal | $3.51/gal | $0.271/kWh |
| Michigan | $1.49/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.47/gal | $0.193/kWh |
| Minnesota | $1.77/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.20/gal | $0.155/kWh |
| Mississippi | $2.19/therm | $4.21/gal | $3.09/gal | $0.135/kWh |
| Missouri | $2.62/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.31/gal | $0.143/kWh |
| Montana | $1.08/therm | $4.81/gal | $2.42/gal | $0.132/kWh |
| Nebraska | $1.83/therm | $4.43/gal | $1.85/gal | $0.121/kWh |
| Nevada | $1.97/therm | $4.81/gal | $2.52/gal | $0.174/kWh |
| New Hampshire | $1.81/therm | $4.48/gal | $3.72/gal | $0.298/kWh |
| New Jersey | $1.48/therm | $4.65/gal | $3.25/gal | $0.182/kWh |
| New Mexico | $1.24/therm | $4.81/gal | $2.52/gal | $0.139/kWh |
| New York | $1.90/therm | $4.65/gal | $3.36/gal | $0.253/kWh |
| North Carolina | $2.50/therm | $4.42/gal | $3.28/gal | $0.129/kWh |
| North Dakota | $1.84/therm | $4.43/gal | $1.95/gal | $0.123/kWh |
| Ohio | $3.08/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.70/gal | $0.164/kWh |
| Oklahoma | $2.36/therm | $4.21/gal | $2.60/gal | $0.126/kWh |
| Oregon | $2.00/therm | $5.15/gal | $3.63/gal | $0.131/kWh |
| Pennsylvania | $2.06/therm | $4.65/gal | $2.92/gal | $0.184/kWh |
| Rhode Island | $2.30/therm | $4.48/gal | $3.58/gal | $0.260/kWh |
| South Carolina | $2.30/therm | $4.42/gal | $3.34/gal | $0.142/kWh |
| South Dakota | $1.36/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.15/gal | $0.132/kWh |
| Tennessee | $1.16/therm | $4.21/gal | $3.23/gal | $0.124/kWh |
| Texas | $2.44/therm | $4.21/gal | $2.91/gal | $0.142/kWh |
| Utah | $1.54/therm | $4.81/gal | $2.64/gal | $0.115/kWh |
| Vermont | $2.13/therm | $4.48/gal | $3.44/gal | $0.210/kWh |
| Virginia | $2.14/therm | $4.42/gal | $3.33/gal | $0.152/kWh |
| Washington | $1.92/therm | $5.15/gal | $3.63/gal | $0.112/kWh |
| West Virginia | $2.04/therm | $4.42/gal | $3.34/gal | $0.145/kWh |
| Wisconsin | $1.40/therm | $4.43/gal | $2.16/gal | $0.171/kWh |
| Wyoming | $1.84/therm | $4.81/gal | $2.52/gal | $0.126/kWh |
| US Average | $1.94/therm | $4.54/gal | $2.67/gal | $0.161/kWh |
Notes:
** NOTE: If your gas company charges you in units other than therms here are local VA and US average costs for natural gas in other common delevery units:
COMMON Gas measurement units:
CCF = 100 Cubic Ft.
MCF = 1000 Cubic Ft.
Price per CCF (in VA): $2.22
Price per MCF (in VA): $22.21
Price per CCF (US Average): $2.22
Price per MCF (US Average): $22.21
One therm is almost the same as 1 CCF. However, "almost the same" is the key here!
The heat content of Therm is 99976 BTUs, while 1 CCF has 103675.112 BTUs, and 1 MCF has 1036751.12 BTUs.
Why Are THERMS, CCF & MCF Important?
Our Heating Cost Calculator uses THERMS to estimate the cost of heating with natural gas. However, since every gas company uses their own units of calculating your cost of gas, it is important that you provide the correct unit cost, to get an accurate estimate.
Basically, there are approximately 3.7% more BTUs in 1 CCF vs 1 Therm, which means that you will need 3.7% fewer CCFs to produce same heat as if you calculated in therms.
Bottom line:
- If your gas company is charging you CCF you should divide your Cost/CCF by 1.037, and adjust the GAS Price divide your in the calculator.
- If your gas company is charging you MCF you should divide your Cost/MCF by 10.37, and adjust the GAS Price divide your in the calculator.
- If you currently do not use Natural Gas, then you don’t need to do anything.
Propane vs Natural Gas Cost
Generally, heating with propane is significantly more expensive that using natural gas. The only time you would use propane is if you don’t have access to natural gas in your house.
At current US average price of $1.48 per therm (100,000 BTUs) of natural gas and propane costing $2.71 cents per gallon (91,500 BTUs), its about two times more expensive to heat with propane than with natural gas.
Prices will differ depending on your state, but the typical cost difference is 1.5 to 2 times more for heating with propane compared to gas.
Also, with natural gas you have a much wider selection of heating equipment that generally will cost 10-15% less.
If you have a choice always go with natural gas for home heating fuel.
Propane vs Oil
The current average US price of propane is $2.96 per 100,000 BTUs, and heating oil is $3.05 per 100,000 BTU’s.
While the prices are almost the same, oil heating equipment requires expensive annual maintenance and tune ups which will increase your overall operating cost by $200-300 a year minimum.
At the same time propane heating equipment will not need regular maintenance more than 4-5 years.
Also, propane heating equipment is about 10% more efficient than oil heating equipment, so you will be using less fuel to heat your home.
How do I do a calculation for Pittsburgh Pennsylvania while I am in Massachusetts
Kenneth,
If you scroll down or go to this link for energy prices by state table, select your state. It will populate the page with energy prices for PA (or other states). You can’t specifically do Pittsburgh, as we don’t have city-level data… Only state level, but it should be close enough.
Leo
Great article. : You say that this calculator is for calculating the home heating cost- First I have a question
My result for a 2000sf home in NY was this
Electric (Heat Pump) ² 11,804 kWh $2,774.
Does this mean if my annual electric consumption is 6000kwh with a oil or gas furnace (that provides my heat) ; if I install a heat pump for my heating, ( and eliminate my furnace) than my new annual electric consumption will be 6000+11804=17804kwh. ???
There should be a lot more people putting out this type of info but most of it is about Solar only, or about how much the heat pump can save WITHOUT ever giving a real comparison. One of the comments from James was also great and maybe your article or a future one would include this type of analysis for the layman. Thank you very much.
Giovanni,
Each fuel / heating system combo is calculated independently of each other. So the 11,804 kWh estimate for a Heat Pump, assumes that it is the only heating system you will use. Also, I don’t see how oil or gas furnace would add 6000 kWhs. When I was still using my furnace back in Dec 2020 through Feb 2021, my electric use to run the blower motor was between 55-62 kWh per month. I don’t have any prior data, but it sounds about right. My blower motor runs at about 525 Watts for what looks like 4 hours per day total.
So your results for a more modern furnace should be even lowers… I’d say no more than 50 kWh / mo or about 300 kWh for the heating season. I exclude cooling here. Power consumption on an Oil furnace will be higher, because you also need to run Oil burner (which has a blower fan), but still nowhere near 6000 kWh… maybe 500 kWh total for the season.
What I do want to mention – I would not recommend Heat Pump in Cold Climates UNLESS you have solar! Here is why. While the calculator says your electric cost is $0.2279 per kWh, i don’t think it is true. This is data from US DOE, and includes ALL towns and cities in NY, including towns upstate, which get cheap electricity from Quebec Hydro, and population there is much smaller that in cities and towns closer to NYC, which buy power from ConEd and similar utilities. Now those folk near the city are paying closer to $0.35 or more. I was “paying” $0.42 per kWh over this past winter. Now my provider (Eversource) “lowered” the price to $0.33 for the summer… but knowing them it’s going back up in the winter, and my guess above $0.45/kWh
Now at $0.35/kWh which is what the realistic cost of electricity in NY is, you would be paying an estimated $4,131 (not $2,774) for heating of your 2000 sq. ft. home. When electricity will be $0.50/kWh, you would be paying about $5,900 per year just to heat your home…
Also keep in mind, these calculation assumes top of the line Cold Climate ductless heat pumps. Any and all Central Heat pumps such as Lennox SL25XPV (top of the line, that will cost about $50,000 to install) will only heat down to 35-38°F, and then switch to GAS (dual fuel)… so it’s not a real Heat Pump, because you need heating when it’s -10°F outside … not +35F
Also consider this: NY (and many other states) is pushing switch to electricity everywhere – cars, home heating, cooling, etc., and once everyone is hooked on the “electric niddle”, Con Ed can raise the price to almost any level. Don’t be surprised to pay $1 per kWh if 5 years.
So where I’m going with this – UNLESS you have Solar, heat pumps are not a good idea in COLD CLIMATES. I have 14.5 kW of solar panels, so I only pay about $300-600 per year for all my heating and cooling and electricity. And I get about $1000 in SRECs per year. But without solar, I would be paying closer to $1000-1500 per month (I like it warm, and keep my home at 78-79°F).
BTW, since you are in Solar Sales, maybe you want to publish a blog article on our site about the topic. If so, just respond here, and we can take it from there.
Cheeres.
Let me help everyone out. 1 CCF of gas delivered in NY state is 1$. 1 CCF=102,000 BTU’s or 30KW. The average boiler is rated at about 100,00 btu/hr or 30KWh. In New York, the average electric price delivered is .21 cents. 30 x .21= $6.30 per 100,000 btu/hr. Now, electric is 99% efficient and gas is 85% efficient. That’s a 14% difference in efficiency. $6.30 x .86= a final cost per 100k btu’s for electric $5.42. That will be an increase of 5.2 times your current gas bill to heat your house or cook your food. NO THANK YOU
James,
One thing you are missing – High efficiency cold climate heat pumps have COP from 2.1 upto 3.5+ (very few models, and they are pretty expensive, but they do exist).
That means for each KW you get 2.1 to 3.5+ BTU output. Does it still make sense to heat with Air Source heat pump? For most people, the answer is no! But, in my case, I have 15.4 KW of solar panels, and heat my whole house with heat pumps. I have one electric bill in the winter, around $100-500 … that’s for the whole year of heating, cooling, lights, etc.
So for folks with large solar, OR if your electric rates are low (below $0.13/kWh) or you live in warmer climate AND your rates are low, heat pumps are great.
Now since you are in NY state, i for a longest time wanted to either write a blog post or make a video, on how ridiculous your state’s politics are in regards to banning GAS heating and appliances, and why homeowners ever agreed to that nonsense.
Basically most electricity in US is made from coal or GAS, but let’s concentrate on gas for now. Average efficiency of a Gas power plant is between 45% and 57%. Basically half of the energy is WASTED to boil water and turn it into steam, to spin the turbine generator, to make electricity.
Then you have 5% transmission losses (according to US DOE). Then you cook with resistance heat (another 50-66% loss) … So you wast about 3 times more energy to archive the same effect, and STILL BURN GAS ….
With heating it’s a little better, but almost nobody will have a an ultra high COP heat pump (over 2 COP in -5°F) … therefore average COP is between 1.5 and 2. So you are still net negative on heating with a heat pump in NY state.
Now why are they doing it? Follow the money, and my gut feeling tells me utility companies are primary beneficiaries of this nonsense.
Wooh … not very scientific, but close enough.
this don’t tell you shit. How much is a BTU per electric at $0.141 per kilowatt compared to gas @ $2.65 therm per BTU?
Gary,
Great question – it is actually pretty simple. Electricity has 3412 BTUs per kWh, and Gas about 99976 per Therm.
To make numbers less confusing, I will give price per 1000 BTUs.
Electricity: $0.04132473
Natural Gas: $0.02650874
Now on at first glance, it looks like electricity is 56% more expensive, but, the 3412 is how many BTUs you get from a space heater or electric baseboards. Modern ductless heat pumps have average efficiency (COP) between 2.5 and 4+ …
What this means is you get 2.5x to 4x more BTUs per kWh from a heat pump, compared to electric space heater.
For example, my favorite brand – Fujitsu, has typical COP for their multi-zone Low Temp Heating models between 3.3 to 4!
I have a in my house a AOU36RLXFZ1 (3 TON, 4 zone heat pump) which is rated at 3.55 COP for non-ducted installs, which is what I have.
I also have 9RLS3YH and 09LZAH1 single zone models with 4.1 COP
What this means in real numbers – instead of $0.04132473 / 1000 BTUs, I get between $0.0103311825 and $0.01377491 which is less than half of natural gas.
Now, another factor to keep in mind – even the most efficient furnace, with well-insulated ducts – you still lose 15-20% of your heat in the ductwork! So the cost of the heat that stays in your home is closer to $0.3 – $0.4 per 1000 BTUs.
What this means in real numbers – I have a single zone Fujitsu 09LZAH1 running right now, and it is effectively heating half of my house – 800 s.f. downstairs open space, and residual heat going to upstairs rooms.
It is set for 86F (because I have a little cold). Thermostat on the other side of the house is showing 78F. Thermostat in a room upstairs shows 76F (the room is directly above my indoor unit, so most of residual heat goes there. Temp outside is 40F.
Finally the power draw is consistently 1400W .. that is LESS than a single space heater!
Bottom line – if your electric cost is less than $0.15 / kWh in 2023, it is almost always better to go with a ductless heat pump!
In my case, as of Dec 2022, my electric cost is $0.3218, and is supposed to increase by 40% in Jan 2023. However, I have solar panels, which cover about 85% of my electricity thorough the year, so I pretty much only pay for lights and fridges and other small appliances, and my AC and Heat is free!
We recently installed a high efficiency Heat pump system from our old oil burner hot water system; we are receiving exorbitant electric bills with 3-9x the kWh usage when compared to prior years; do you have suggestions?
@Joe
Did you install a central heat pump? Like the same as a central AC – sitting in your basement or attic, with a big square condenser/compressor outside?
Where do you live, and how much you pay for each kWh? Or, what’s a total number of KWHs you used last month, and what was the cost?
So main problem that I suspect – you have a CENTRAL HEAT PUMP … these puppies are NOT made to replace your main heating system (manufacturers and green-freaks are lying to you) … Here is more on Heat Pump HEATING Efficiency
Central Heat Pumps are “OK” at heating until about 35-40°F – below that, an ELECTRIC HEAT STRIP turns on… so it is effectively a resistive electric heating, only you also lose anywhere from 10-25% of your heat in the ducts…
In some cases a central heat pump is paired with a high efficiency gas furnace (if you have gas) … but both must be “communicating” variants, capable of working together … basically they cost more $$
What you can do:
#1 – Add a lot of insulation! This is good regardless of next item.
#2 – Install large solar system. Depending on where you live, you payback will be between 4-8 years. For me, payback should be less than 4 years, as in Massachusetts where I live, electric costs increased over 60% in 1 year … we now pay over $0.30 per kWh, and I have 15.4 KW of solar.
In many situation, your financing cost will be LOWER than cost of electricity. DO NOT do “Solar Lease” or PPA (power purchasing agreement) – those are total scams.
#3 – contact your Electric company and change your rate plan to “Electric Heating”.
Bottom line – without spending some more money, it’s hard to “reduce” costs. But, in my case, when I was planning out my switch from OLD gas furnace to DUCTLESS Heat Pumps + Solar, I ran all the numbers, and excluding costs of Ductless equipment (which I installed myself).
I will be having almost free heating/cooling/electricity in 3 years. But to get there, I had to:
A) Cut 15 trees
B) Replace my roof
C) Install 15.4 kW solar ($40,300 financed)
D) Spent months on research and learning the HVAC trade (including going to a trade school, and paying for it out of pocket)
E) Actually buying and installing all my HVAC equipment
Good luck
I sell solar. In general I say you’re right about the lease and ppa being a scam. BUT, the purchase can also be a scam if contracted through the wrong company. ANYONE reading this, BEWARE and look for your warranties IN WRITING.
The warranty should be a. 1)25 year warranty from the solar company NOT just a Mfr warranty . You the consumer don’t want to call different numbers for different issues.
2) 25 years warranty for the solar panels, the inverters, micro inverters ( you don’t want a stringers system, but optimizers May be ok), racking. 3) confirm ( in writing) that you are getting micro inverters. You don’t want a stringer system (cheaper $, but not worth it), optimizers are better than stringers but generally micro inverters are best.
4)make sure in writing that if something goes wrong; don’t pay for shipping, testing, labor to remove/replace or any other fees. Solar co. Should pay for everything. 5) I have not seen any company offer more than 10 year warranty for the monitoring system…. ,,,
6) panels should have a low degradation. Preferably under .5%
the Lease May not be a scam since some people don’t qualify for the purchase.
On a lease, Some companies (like mine) will allow you to purchase the panels in 5 years at an independent appraisers price at the 5 year mark. I have worked for several companies and although I am biased, I have stayed with the one that I think best suits me and the homeowner also. Email me if you have personal questions giovanni@kamtechsolar.com
Lol, do your own research.
I can use either LPgas or Electric heat for our home. What is the formula to compare prices of each to decide which is cheaper to use?
If I have a 20×20 room. what would it cost to heat that room on the average per month for each heat source, ie – electric, natural gas, fuel oil, propane, wood stove, pellet stove in the state of Maryland or West Virginia