Home Heating Cost in Ohio (2027): Natural Gas vs Oil vs Electric
Heating costs for your home size in Ohio
How much heat does a Ohio home burn in a winter, and what does it cost on each fuel? We take today's average rates for natural gas, heating oil, propane and electricity, apply a Region #3 heating load for your home size, and price the result the way our heating cost calculator does.
Pick natural gas and a 1,800 sq. ft. Ohio home costs about $1,320 to heat for the season. Pick electric baseboard heat and the same season costs about $4,550.
What a Season of Heat Costs in Ohio, by Fuel
| Fuel & equipment | Price | Season use | Cost / season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gasnatural gas boiler, 82 AFUE | $1.57per therm | 838therms | ~$1,320 |
| Electric heat pumpductless, ~2.9 COP | $0.233per kWh | 6,939kWh | ~$1,620 |
| Propanepropane boiler, 82 AFUE | $2.57per gal | 915gals | ~$2,360 |
| Heating oiloil boiler, 82 AFUE | $5.92per gal | 604gals | ~$3,580 |
| Electric baseboardresistance heat | $0.233per kWh | 19,519kWh | ~$4,550 |
Season estimates for a 1,800 sq. ft. home, rounded up to $10, from the same math and rates as our heating cost calculator. Use the buttons to see a drafty or a tight house.
A Season of Heat, Fuel by Fuel
Same house, same winter, five fuels. Hover a bar for the use and the rate behind it.
Season = the modeled Ohio heating load on standard mid-efficiency equipment; fuels ranked like the heating cost calculator (pellet and wood stoves are manual-load and stay unranked).
The Next 10 Winters, Fuel by Fuel
Today's ranking is one winter. Over 10 winters, price trends matter too. Electricity in Ohio rose about 2.58% a year between 2013 and 2023 in our energy data, and both electric lines follow that trend. We have no matching long record for natural gas, heating oil or propane, so the buttons show two cases instead of a guess. Hover or tap a winter for every fuel's cost.
Each column is one heating season for the house above at average insulation. Totals are rounded up to $10.
If natural gas, heating oil and propane stay at today's prices, natural gas costs about $13,200 over 10 winters here, against about $51,070 for electric baseboard heat.
Winter in Ohio: What the Climate Asks For
Ohio sits in Region #3, the middle of the map: winter days near 36°F, nights near 20°F. A house needs a solid amount of heat, but far less than in the northern tier, so the fuel ranking can tip either way.
Climate details worth raising with an installer:
Freeze risk. A no-heat call is an emergency when pipes can freeze. A service visit in early fall catches worn igniters, weak capacitors and clogged filters before the busy season.
Ice dams. Icicles along the eaves mean heat is leaking into the attic and melting the roof snow from below. Sealing the attic floor and adding insulation stops the leak, which trims the heating bill and the ice at the same time.
Damp cold. Moist air near freezing frosts a heat pump's outdoor coil, so the unit pauses to defrost now and then. That is normal; a model with demand-based defrost wastes less energy doing it.
Great Lakes snow bands can drop a foot of snow on parts of Ohio in a day. After each storm, clear the heat pump's outdoor unit and the furnace vents so the system keeps running. Shop for heating equipment in the shoulder months. If the air conditioner is also aging, a heat pump replaces both in one visit.
Three Things That Change the Number
Walls and attic. Insulation moves the load about 12% between average and poor, and the same between average and well insulated. That is roughly $160 a season with natural gas here.
Burner efficiency. The table assumes a mid-efficiency boiler at 82 AFUE. A condensing unit at 93 AFUE burns less fuel for the same heat, about $160 a season less on natural gas here. An old 62 AFUE unit burns about $430 more.
Ductwork. Bare ducts lose about 17% of a furnace's heat in the calculator's duct model. Sealing and insulating them recovers most of it. Boilers and ductless heat pumps have no such loss.
Heat Pump vs. Electric Baseboard in Ohio
A heat pump is an air conditioner that runs in reverse in winter. Pulling heat from outdoor air, it yields about 2.9 kWh of warmth for every kWh it uses in Ohio. Same $0.233 rate, but about $2,930 less per season than baseboard heat. That puts it in second place in Ohio, after natural gas.
Common Questions About Heating a Ohio Home
Is it worth switching off heating oil in Ohio?
For most homes, yes. This house would spend about $3,580 a season on heating oil and about $1,320 on natural gas, so 10 winters at flat prices leave roughly $22,540 on the table. Weigh that against the conversion quote. Natural gas requires a service line to the house.
Which heating fuel costs least in Ohio?
At current rates the winner is natural gas, about $1,320 a season for this house; a heat pump follows at about $1,620. Natural gas only helps where a natural gas line reaches the house.
Is insulation worth it for heating in Ohio?
Using natural gas, poor insulation pushes this 1,800 sq. ft. house to about $1,480 a season, and good insulation brings it down to about $1,170. The difference, about $320, comes back every winter.
Pellet and wood stoves stay out of the ranking because they need hand loading; see the pellet stove calculator for their costs.
Fine print: estimates, not bills. The fuel prices are Ohio averages and the heat load is modeled, so treat the figures as a fair comparison of fuels rather than a forecast of your statement.
