Heat pump vs heating oil
Across the U.S. this week, heat pump is the cheaper heat: $21.32 against $52.95 per million Btu delivered. For a typical home in an average U.S. winter that is a difference of about $1,348.
Heat pump is cheaper in 49 of the 49 states compared; heating oil in 0.
Break-even price
45.2¢
Heat pump is the cheaper heat when it costs less than this per kWh. Assumes a heat pump COP of 2.5 and 85% efficiency for heating oil.
State by state
Typical winter: a 2,000 sq ft home of average insulation in that state’s normal heating season. Italic prices are regional or U.S. averages where EIA does not survey the state.
| Alabama | 16.5¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $517 | $1,413 | Heat pump by $896 |
| Arizona | 15.4¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $346 | $1,016 | Heat pump by $670 |
| Arkansas | 13.7¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $547 | $1,797 | Heat pump by $1,250 |
| California | 32.6¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $1,075 | $1,490 | Heat pump by $415 |
| Colorado | 16.8¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $1,389 | $3,734 | Heat pump by $2,345 |
| Connecticut | 27.5¢/kWh | $6.15/gallon | $1,883 | $3,055 | Heat pump by $1,172 |
| Delaware | 18.0¢/kWh | $6.44/gallon | $945 | $2,450 | Heat pump by $1,505 |
| District of Columbia | 24.9¢/kWh | $6.32/gallon | $1,330 | $2,449 | Heat pump by $1,119 |
| Florida | 15.3¢/kWh | $5.96/gallon | $116 | $326 | Heat pump by $210 |
| Georgia | 15.5¢/kWh | $5.96/gallon | $509 | $1,420 | Heat pump by $911 |
| Idaho | 13.0¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $1,048 | $3,638 | Heat pump by $2,590 |
| Illinois | 19.2¢/kWh | $6.22/gallon | $1,376 | $3,226 | Heat pump by $1,850 |
| Indiana | 17.0¢/kWh | $6.50/gallon | $1,124 | $3,107 | Heat pump by $1,983 |
| Iowa | 14.6¢/kWh | $5.89/gallon | $1,164 | $3,413 | Heat pump by $2,249 |
| Kansas | 15.3¢/kWh | $6.22/gallon | $872 | $2,577 | Heat pump by $1,705 |
| Kentucky | 14.2¢/kWh | $5.87/gallon | $732 | $2,193 | Heat pump by $1,461 |
| Louisiana | 13.3¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $257 | $875 | Heat pump by $618 |
| Maine | 30.2¢/kWh | $6.04/gallon | $2,750 | $3,982 | Heat pump by $1,232 |
| Maryland | 21.3¢/kWh | $6.43/gallon | $1,140 | $2,492 | Heat pump by $1,352 |
| Massachusetts | 30.2¢/kWh | $6.25/gallon | $2,171 | $3,258 | Heat pump by $1,087 |
| Michigan | 21.7¢/kWh | $6.19/gallon | $1,718 | $3,549 | Heat pump by $1,831 |
| Minnesota | 16.4¢/kWh | $5.95/gallon | $1,645 | $4,311 | Heat pump by $2,666 |
| Mississippi | 15.1¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $422 | $1,264 | Heat pump by $842 |
| Missouri | 14.3¢/kWh | $6.22/gallon | $834 | $2,632 | Heat pump by $1,798 |
| Montana | 14.1¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $1,416 | $4,526 | Heat pump by $3,110 |
| Nebraska | 12.9¢/kWh | $5.72/gallon | $952 | $3,054 | Heat pump by $2,102 |
| Nevada | 13.4¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $541 | $1,828 | Heat pump by $1,287 |
| New Hampshire | 26.9¢/kWh | $6.07/gallon | $2,350 | $3,839 | Heat pump by $1,489 |
| New Jersey | 24.1¢/kWh | $6.38/gallon | $1,460 | $2,802 | Heat pump by $1,342 |
| New Mexico | 15.3¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $802 | $2,363 | Heat pump by $1,561 |
| New York | 29.3¢/kWh | $6.44/gallon | $2,058 | $3,283 | Heat pump by $1,225 |
| North Carolina | 14.9¢/kWh | $5.84/gallon | $588 | $1,667 | Heat pump by $1,079 |
| North Dakota | 12.5¢/kWh | $6.22/gallon | $1,342 | $4,854 | Heat pump by $3,512 |
| Ohio | 18.8¢/kWh | $6.41/gallon | $1,254 | $3,095 | Heat pump by $1,841 |
| Oklahoma | 13.8¢/kWh | $6.22/gallon | $572 | $1,868 | Heat pump by $1,296 |
| Oregon | 15.5¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $955 | $2,789 | Heat pump by $1,834 |
| Pennsylvania | 21.1¢/kWh | $6.05/gallon | $1,412 | $2,928 | Heat pump by $1,516 |
| Rhode Island | 29.0¢/kWh | $6.40/gallon | $1,962 | $3,130 | Heat pump by $1,168 |
| South Carolina | 15.9¢/kWh | $5.96/gallon | $482 | $1,309 | Heat pump by $827 |
| South Dakota | 14.6¢/kWh | $6.22/gallon | $1,305 | $4,035 | Heat pump by $2,730 |
| Tennessee | 13.8¢/kWh | $6.22/gallon | $607 | $1,983 | Heat pump by $1,376 |
| Texas | 16.0¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $342 | $964 | Heat pump by $622 |
| Utah | 13.2¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $1,079 | $3,695 | Heat pump by $2,616 |
| Vermont | 23.9¢/kWh | $6.10/gallon | $2,261 | $4,173 | Heat pump by $1,912 |
| Virginia | 16.9¢/kWh | $6.04/gallon | $846 | $2,185 | Heat pump by $1,339 |
| Washington | 14.4¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $949 | $2,970 | Heat pump by $2,021 |
| West Virginia | 15.6¢/kWh | $5.96/gallon | $925 | $2,563 | Heat pump by $1,638 |
| Wisconsin | 19.1¢/kWh | $6.14/gallon | $1,681 | $3,927 | Heat pump by $2,246 |
| Wyoming | 14.0¢/kWh | $6.23/gallon | $1,351 | $4,355 | Heat pump by $3,004 |
21 states have state-level prices for both fuels.
Why per-gallon prices mislead
A gallon of heating oil holds 138,500 Btu, a gallon of propane 91,452 Btu, a therm of natural gas 100,000 Btu and a kilowatt-hour of electricity 3,412 Btu (EIA heat contents). Then the equipment loses some of it: a typical oil or propane furnace delivers about 85%, a gas furnace 90%, while a heat pump moves 2.5 units of heat for every unit of electricity over a season.
So the break-even rule for heat pump against heating oil is simple: heat pump wins when its price per kWh is below 0.072× the price of heating oil per gallon (with electricity in dollars per kWh).
Equipment, installation and maintenance costs are not part of this comparison. Methodology.
