What Will It Cost to Heat Your Home This Winter?
Compare gas, oil, propane, electric, heat pump, wood and pellets side by side, at your own local prices.
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Heating Cost Calculator
Your location
Outside the US, or your area isn’t listed?
Your home’s heating need
Your local prices
Typical early-2026 US prices are filled in. Replace them with yours for an accurate comparison, or clear a box to leave that option out.
Costs cover fuel only, not equipment or installation. Wood and pellets also need storage space and hands-on work.
How the Calculator Works
First it works out how much heat your home needs in a normal winter, either from last year's fuel use or from the size of the house and your local climate. Then, for each fuel, it allows for how efficiently typical modern equipment turns that fuel into heat, and multiplies by your price. Heat pumps are rated for your climate, since they work less efficiently in very cold weather. The result is the fuel cost of one heating season with each option.
Ways to Cut Your Heating Bill
Practical steps that lower costs whatever fuel you use.
Turn the thermostat down at night
Setting the thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees for eight hours a day can cut heating costs by up to about 10% a year. A programmable or smart thermostat does it for you.
Stop drafts
Weatherstrip doors, caulk gaps around windows, and seal the attic hatch. Sealing leaks is one of the cheapest ways to cut any heating bill.
Get a home energy audit
Many utilities offer free or low-cost energy audits. A blower-door test shows exactly where warm air escapes and which insulation fixes pay back fastest.
Use free heat from the sun
Open curtains on south-facing windows on sunny days and close them at sundown to hold the heat in. Insulated or cellular shades make a real difference overnight.
Lock in fuel prices early
Oil and propane dealers often offer pre-buy or fixed-price plans in summer and early fall. Budget billing spreads the cost evenly across the year.
Look at a cold-climate heat pump
Modern cold-climate heat pumps keep working well below freezing and often cost less to run than oil, propane or electric baseboard. Ask your utility about rebates.
Keep pipes from freezing
Insulate pipes in crawl spaces, garages and outside walls. On very cold nights, let a faucet drip and open sink cabinet doors on outside walls. Know where your main water shutoff is.
Plan for power outages
Most furnaces, boilers and heat pumps stop when the power goes out. A wood stove keeps heating without electricity. Keep flashlights, water and a few days of food on hand.
Add solar and battery backup
A small solar panel and battery setup can keep phones, lights, a fridge or a furnace blower running in an outage. A standard grid-tied solar system shuts off during a power cut unless it has a battery or backup inverter.
Run a generator safely
Never run a generator indoors, in a garage, or near windows and doors. Carbon monoxide from generators kills people every winter. Keep a battery carbon monoxide alarm working inside.
Common Questions
What is the cheapest way to heat a house?
It depends on your local prices and climate. Where natural gas is available it is often the cheapest. Heat pumps usually beat oil, propane and electric baseboard, and wood or pellets can be cheapest if you have an affordable local supply. Enter your own prices above to see your answer.
Is a heat pump cheaper than oil or propane?
Often, yes. A heat pump moves heat rather than making it, so it delivers two to three units of heat for each unit of electricity. In very cold climates that advantage shrinks, which the calculator allows for.
What does cost per million BTU mean?
It compares fuels on equal footing: what one million BTU of heat delivered into your home costs, after allowing for equipment efficiency. Lower is cheaper.
Where do I find my real fuel prices?
For gas or electricity, divide your total bill by the therms or kWh used, so delivery charges are included. Oil and propane dealers quote a price per gallon, often lower for larger deliveries.
Why might my bills differ from these results?
Bills include hot water, cooking and fixed monthly charges, and no two winters are alike. The calculator covers heating fuel only, in a normal winter.
Results are estimates for a normal winter using typical equipment efficiencies and the prices entered. They cover fuel only, not equipment, installation or maintenance. Prices change often; check with local suppliers before making decisions.