About this site
Updated August 2026
What this site is
HeatCostCalculator.com answers one question with as much precision as public data allows: what does it actually cost to heat a home? We maintain comparison pages for 7 heating fuels and systems, all 51 states and D.C., and 10 plain-English guides on lowering the bill itself.
The site is independent — no affiliation with any fuel supplier, utility or equipment brand — and is supported by advertising. Nothing here is a sales pitch for a heating system; several guides argue explicitly for not buying one.
Where the numbers come from
- Energy contents (BTU per gallon, therm, cord, ton, kWh) are physical constants.
- Fuel prices are national averages from EIA data and market surveys, noted per fuel — and every price is editable in the calculator, because your delivered price is the one that matters.
- Electricity rates use state average residential figures from the same EIA dataset as our other cost sites.
- System efficiencies are typical values for modern equipment (e.g. 95% condensing gas furnaces, seasonal COP 3.0 for cold-climate heat pumps), stated on each fuel page.
How every figure is calculated
Cost per million BTU = price per unit ÷ (BTU per unit × system efficiency) × 1,000,000 — the one number that makes all fuels comparable.
Annual cost = your home's estimated heat demand (from square footage and building standard) × cost per BTU delivered.
Every figure is an estimate and labeled as one: real prices vary by region and contract, real efficiency varies with installation and weather, and real demand varies with insulation and habits. Where reality has a known bias — heat-pump COP falling with temperature, wood moisture content — we bake it in or flag it rather than quote best-case numbers.
Corrections
Spot a price or constant that has drifted? Reach us via the contact link in the footer — corrections ship in the next update, and the "Updated" date on every page reflects the last review pass.