About Heating Cost Calculator
What This Site Is
Heating Cost Calculator is a free set of calculators and guides that estimate what it costs to heat a home or run a heater in the United States. There is no sign-up, nothing to buy, and no account. It is an independent publication, not a utility, a contractor, or a government body, and it is funded by advertising and by affiliate commission on Amazon links — see our disclaimer.
We publish no author byline because the numbers, not a personality, are what should carry the weight here. Everything on the site is meant to be checkable: every energy price is named with the exact government series and reporting period it came from, every calculation follows from assumptions stated next to the result, and where we cannot source a figure we say so rather than estimating one.
How the Numbers Are Produced
Every rate on the site comes from one shared data file, so no two pages can quote different prices for the same fuel. Costs are compared as dollars per 1,000 BTU delivered into the room, which accounts for furnace efficiency (AFUE), heat pump coefficient of performance (COP) and the energy content of each fuel — comparing dollars per gallon against dollars per therm tells you nothing useful.
Whole-house estimates use a heat-loss model: a home’s heat loss coefficient multiplied by heating degree days for the local winter temperature. Room-heater estimates use watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × your electricity rate. Heater sizing uses roughly 10 watts per square foot of average-insulated room, which is why a 1,500 W heater suits about 150 sq ft and not the 1,000 sq ft printed on the box. The full method is on our how it works page.
Our Data Sources
Prices were last refreshed on August 22, 2026. Each series has its own release schedule, so the reporting periods below differ from one another; we quote the period rather than the year.
- Residential electricity prices, US and by state — EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, May 2026 (released July 23, 2026). We currently use 18.44¢/kWh as the US average. This is a single month, not a 2026 annual average: annual 2026 figures do not exist until 2027.
- Residential natural gas prices, US and by state — EIA Natural Gas Monthly, residential price by state, winter average, November 2025 - March 2026 (US); December 2025 - February 2026 (by state). We use $1.44/therm. Winter figures are used deliberately, because the residential $/Mcf series spikes every summer when fixed customer charges are spread over near-zero volumes.
- Propane and heating oil — EIA State Heating Oil and Propane Program (weekly), heating-season average, October 2025 - March 2026. We use $2.55/gal for propane and $3.98/gal for heating oil. This series runs weekly from October to March only and has published nothing since 30 March 2026.
- Household heating expenditure — EIA Winter Fuels Outlook, winter 2025-26 forecast, published October 15, 2025. These are forecasts, not measured outturn, and we label them as such wherever they appear.
- Winter temperatures — NOAA station normals via Current Results, December-February averages, used to estimate heating degree days.
- Physical constants and equipment efficiencies — DOE fuel heat contents (91,500 BTU/gal propane, 138,500 BTU/gal No. 2 heating oil, ~20 million BTU per cord of seasoned hardwood), the exact 3,412.14 BTU/kWh conversion, and manufacturer AFUE, HSPF and COP ratings.
What These Estimates Cannot Tell You
Results are estimates from average prices and standard efficiency assumptions. They do not know your building’s air tightness or insulation, your thermostat habits, your utility’s fixed monthly charges, tiered blocks or time-of-use rates, the age and condition of your equipment, or how cold this particular winter turns out to be. Any of those can move a real bill by more than the difference between two fuels.
Take the rate printed on your own utility bill and enter it in place of our default — that single change makes every estimate on the site materially more accurate. For decisions involving equipment replacement, consult a qualified HVAC contractor or energy auditor.