How High Will My PA Winter Heat Bills Be?
Even though you may have the best energy supplier in PA, you might see a higher heating bill this month. So far this January, we’ve seen a stretched polar vortex swoop across the country 5 times. And each time it’s brought down a LOT of frosty air from the Dakotas to Florida. Obviously, winter isn’t over yet. So, a lot of folks in PA are worrying about more high heating bills. In order to help consumers learn more, we’ve compared winter heat costs for in each state, including PA. And, we’ve also broken it down by the four primary heating fuels.
How Much Heat Do PA Homes Use?
Specifically, spacing heating in the US accounts for 42% of home energy use. For that reason, heating your home can eat a pretty big chunk of your yearly budget.
Of course, homeowners in PA can choose natural gas or use a multitude of other heating systems. Almost all homes rely on only one main heating system. And the most common heating system fuels are natural gas, electric, propane, wood, and heating oil. But while all of these are used in PA, they're not all used by the same number of homes. As a result, this makes figuring out average heating costs a little bit tricky.
How Does Heat Cost in PA
In order to find realistic averages, we multiplied heating fuel prices in each state by their usage percentage. We then used this to create a weighted average cost. As a result, consumers can easily see the costs for heating systems they're likely to use. It also scales back the impact of fuels used in only a few homes. To that end, we focused on the four most common heating systems: natural gas, electric, propane, and heating oil. Of these, natural gas and electric systems make up almost two-thirds of the US heating fuel mix. Also, since both heating oil and propane are regionally significant we've included them, too.
Wood heat and passive solar are also important heat sources in many parts of the country. However, these are difficult to track for consumption and cost. So, we've left them out.
Which 10 States Have the Highest Winter Heat Costs?
| State | Primary Fuel | Weighted Cost |
| Alaska | Natural Gas | $235.50 |
| Rhode Island | Natural Gas | $217.48 |
| Oklahoma | Natural Gas | $193.33 |
| New Hampshire | Fuel Oil | $191.20 |
| Connecticut | Fuel Oil | $177.80 |
| Vermont | Fuel Oil | $177.70 |
| Maine | Fuel Oil | $165.94 |
| Ohio | Natural Gas | $160.61 |
| Missouri | Natural Gas | $158.25 |
| West Virginia | Electric | $150.07 |
These 10 States Have the Cheapest Winter Heat Costs
| State | Primary Fuel | Weighted Cost |
| Hawaii | Electric | $8.46 |
| Florida | Electric | $26.00 |
| Arizona | Electric | $30.39 |
| Nevada | Natural Gas | $45.99 |
| California | Natural Gas | $51.36 |
| New Mexico | Natural Gas | $54.97 |
| Idaho | Natural Gas | $58.73 |
| Louisiana | Electric | $60.82 |
| Utah | Natural Gas | $67.54 |
| District of Columbia | Natural Gas | $69.61 |
Space Heating in Warmer States
Unlike many U.S. homes in winter, nearly 5% do not use space heating. In Florida, 8% of households do not have any heating. Meanwhile, another 20% do have heating but don't use it. Similarly, according to EIA data, 85% of Hawaiian homes also don't have heating installed. Still, the EIA 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) shows that 5% of Hawaiian homes use electric heat. As a result, electricity is the primary heating fuel. At any rate, we know at least some heat (about 1.4 mmBTUs) is used during the winter. Specifically, that equals 14 ccf of natural gas. As a result, our data assumes that Hawaii has a least one winter heating month for its weighted monthly cost.
How Does PA Rank for Heat Cost?
In contrast to Hawaii, PA gets about 7 months of winter. Not surprisingly, with a weighted monthly heating cost of $129.37, it ranks 16th for high price. All in all, 52% of homes use natural gas heat, using 81.71 ccf per month. However, residential delivered PA natural gas prices in October, 2024 were the 20th cheapest. Meanwhile, oil heated 13% of PA homes and cheap electricity warmed 26% of homes.
Comparing PA Heating Fuel Costs
Certainly, our data reflects average costs for the four main heating fuel systems in all kinds of homes. But, consumers can benefit by knowing the cost and efficiency of each of these fuels. To that end, we compared the four heating fuel systems by their their cost ($/mmBtu) and their energy usage (mmBtu).
When we looked at energy consumption data from the EIA 2020 RECS, we found that homes relying on natural gas heat generally pay less per mmBtu of heat energy than all other fuels. In particular, electricity costs around 7 times more per mmBtu than natural gas.
Comparing Heating Fuel Efficiency
However, when we compared gas to electric, we found that gas tended to use 4 to 10 times more energy.
- Heating oil systems consumed 58.5 mmBtu.
- Natural gas used 56.6 mmBtu.
- Propane used 35.7 mmBtu.
- Electric systems used the least energy, 8.5 mmBtu.
In part, this may be due to the need to keep burning fuels and exhaust gasses from mixing with the air in a home's living space. As a result, homes using gas tend to pay more even though it's the cheapest heating fuel. In contrast, homes using electric heating systems used far less energy and paid lower heating costs.
We found this also held true in our own comparison using October 2024 prices. In short, the average heating cost per month for electricity was the cheapest of the four for every state.
With this fact in mind, it's important to say that we're not favoring electric heating systems over a natural gas. Rather we want to underscore how important it is for consumers to keep their heating systems running efficiently. To that end, they can save more money on their winter heat.
PA Heating System Efficiency Tips
- At least every 6 months, pour bleach or vinegar into condensate tubes on condensing gas furnaces. Doing so can prevent clogs and unexpected shut downs.
- During fall, check that furnace air intakes and exhausts outside are clear of leaves and other debris.
- In addition to changing air filters regularly, only use air filters that the manufacturer recommends.
- Occasionally, inspect the blower for dust building up. Doing so can indicate air leaks around the filter.
- Also seal and insulate ductwork. Coupled with a clean air filter, this can really improve your system's air circulation.
- Keep baseboard heating systems clean so air can circulate freely through them.
- Similarly, keep the area around outdoor heat pump condenser unit free of leaf litter, snow, and other obstructions.
- Generally for radiant heat systems, regularly check the boilers. In particular, check water levels and periodically bleed radiators to release trapped air.
- Once in a while, check that the boiler's burner can get enough air and that its exhaust is not blocked.
- In the same fashion, keep the area around the boiler free of boxes and other stored items.
- Above all, air seal and add more insulation to your home.
Methods
Firstly, we based the number of heating months on the EIA Degree Day per Census Zone. A good analog to keep in mind here are the first and last frost dates in a state or region. In general, the average number of heating months in the US is 6.3. However, for many utilities in the northeast and midwest, heating season runs October - May. That's because these regions still experience stretches of cold weather from early October right up to Memorial Day. Lastly, EIA states Alaska heating season runs 6 months, from October - March.
To find a state's weighted average cost, we multiplied heating fuel prices by their usage percent (or "weight"). We then added up the products to find the weighted average cost. This produced an average cost that reflects what most consumers in a state pay for heating.
Sources
Heating Consumption data is from the EIA 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS).
https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/index.php
Residential Space Heating Fuels By State (2020 RECS)
https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/state/pdf/State%20Space%20Heating%20Fuels.pdf
EIA electric and natural gas pricing data for October 2024 uses bundled costs.
Bundled costs = the price of the energy + the utilities' charge for delivering it to homes.
Natural Gas: https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/monthly/
Electricity: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/
EIA pricing for home heating oil and propane are last prices available for October, 2024.
https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/data.php