Cost to Heat a Home in Maine: Oil vs Propane vs Heat Pump

In Maine the cheapest heat last winter was natural gas at $19.89 per MMBtu delivered; electric resistance cost $87.36 — EIA prices, October 2025 to March 2026.

Updated September 2026 · Source: EIA STEO September 2026, Natural Gas Monthly, SHOPP · EPM Table 5.6.A (July 2026 data) · next: EIA Winter Fuels Outlook Oct 6, weekly SHOPP prices from October

By SolarCostData Data Desk · Reviewed September 2026 · Corrections log

On this page: CalculatorTableHow we calculatedSources

Maine heating cost per MMBtu, fuel by fuel

The season column is an illustrative 60 MMBtu of delivered heat; in Maine that puts natural gas at $1,194 and electric resistance at $5,242 for the winter. The this-winter column applies EIA’s national STEO change per fuel to Maine’s own price (oil +35% is the large one) — direction, not a state forecast.

The prices behind the table

Maine’s June gas figure ($31.62/Mcf) runs 1.6× its winter average ($19.59) because EIA’s residential price is average revenue per Mcf with the fixed charge folded in; the high-volume winter months are the closest published proxy for the marginal rate this page needs.

What Maine’s utilities charge

The statewide 29.81¢ hides a 10.7¢ spread between Maine’s largest utilities, worth $31.36 per MMBtu on resistance heat and $14.45 on a heat pump. The ZIP lookup finds yours.

How Maine homes are heated

Heating oil or kerosene heats 57.3% of Maine’s 589,085 occupied homes against 4.1% nationally, with electricity at 10.1%, propane at 13.0% and heating oil at 57.3%. The table above says otherwise for last winter: the households on heating oil or kerosene paid about $31.65 per MMBtu while natural gas delivered the same heat for $19.89, a $11.76 gap on every million Btu.

What the numbers say about Maine

At last winter’s average prices, the cheapest way to heat a home in Maine was natural gas at about $20 per million Btu delivered, and the most expensive was electric resistance at $87 — a 4.4× spread between the two columns. Gas beat a cold-climate heat pump at 17°F (COP 2.17) by $20.37/MMBtu, and at 47°F (COP 3.2, $27.30) the heat pump still trails. At Maine’s winter rates the economic balance point lands above 47°F (COP 4.39 needed against 3.20 available), so the furnace is cheaper at every rated temperature. Heating oil averaged $3.73/gal across 26 SHOPP survey weeks and finished the season at $5.37 on March 30, 2026; EIA’s September outlook puts national oil +35% for this winter, which would carry Maine’s figure to roughly $43/MMBtu. Propane averaged $3.29/gal in the state survey, with a national -5% outlook for this winter.

Heating degree-days: Maine’s own figure and the EIA division forecast

Maine itself logged 6,471 population-weighted heating degree-days from October 2025 to March 2026 (NOAA Climate Prediction Center state series, base 65°F), against 3,500 for the contiguous US. The month-by-month table below is a different, coarser series — EIA STEO New England census division degree-days, the only one with a forecast for the coming winter; it groups Maine with its neighbours and is not a Maine figure:

January in the EIA New England census division (the coarse series that groups Maine with its neighbours) averaged about 23°F last winter (65°F minus degree-days per day) and is forecast at 29°F for January 2027, a season move of -633 degree-days. Degree-days set how much heat Maine needs, the table above sets the price per unit, and the bill jump calculator multiplies the two.

Heating oil prices in Maine

EIA’s weekly SHOPP survey priced residential No. 2 heating oil in Maine at $3.28/gal in the first October week of the 2025-26 season and $5.37 in the final March week — a season average of $3.73, low $3.23, high $5.41, against a national average of $4.01. The survey resumes in October 2026; the weekly tracker carries every state.

Where the heat pump crosses over in Maine

At last winter’s averages of 29.81¢/kWh and $1.89/therm, a heat pump beats a 95% gas furnace whenever its COP exceeds 4.39. Maine’s economic balance point on the NEEP median curve is above 47°F (COP 4.39 needed against 3.20 available), so the furnace is cheaper at every rated temperature; the crossover tool runs seven named units at Maine’s prices and the dual-fuel calculator turns the answer into a changeover setting.

From October 6 the EIA Winter Fuels Outlook adds household expenditure by region and the weekly SHOPP survey restarts, giving Maine fresh state propane and heating-oil readings on the weekly tracker .

Frequently asked questions

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.

Where to go next

• Winter heating cost hub: gas vs propane vs oil vs electric — The national table, the arithmetic behind every row here, and all {len(COLD)} state pages.
• Propane vs oil heat cost — Maine’s two delivered fuels head to head, with the break-even price.
• Oil vs heat pump cost — Whether a cold-climate heat pump beats a 85% oil boiler at Maine’s electricity price.
• Gas vs heat pump heating cost — The COP a heat pump needs to beat gas at $1.89/therm.
• Propane vs heat pump cost — Propane at $3.29/gal against a heat pump at 29.81¢/kWh.
• Electric vs gas heat cost — Resistance heat versus gas across every state with a published gas price.
• Propane vs electric heat cost — Propane at $3.29/gal against resistance strips at 29.81¢/kWh.
• Heating oil and propane prices by state (weekly tracker) — Every SHOPP weekly reading behind Maine’s oil and propane figures, with season lows, highs and trend lines.
• Heat pump crossover temperature — Seven named NEEP units at 29.81¢ and $1.89/therm — Maine needs COP 4.39 to beat gas.
• Dual-fuel switchover calculator — Turns Maine’s balance point (above 47°F (COP 4.39 needed against 3.20 available)) into a thermostat changeover setting.
• Heat pump sizing estimator — Maine sits in IECC zone 6A; a January mean near 23°F is the design context for capacity.
• Why is my electric bill so high? — Splits a Maine bill jump into weather (5,608 degree-days last winter), rate and usage.
• Solar panel cost in Maine — The same 32.41¢/kWh July rate driving payback, utilities and rate history for Maine.
• Cost to run a space heater in Maine — 1,500 W at Maine’s winter rate and degree-days — the per-hour and per-winter figure for one room.
• Cost to run a heat pump in Maine — 3,500 W at Maine’s winter rate and degree-days — the per-hour and per-winter figure for one room.
• Cost to run a ductless mini-split in Maine — 2,000 W at Maine’s winter rate and degree-days — the per-hour and per-winter figure for one room.
• Cost to heat a home in Wisconsin — Cold-state neighbour on this list: cheapest heat there was natural gas at $11.47/MMBtu.
• Cost to heat a home in Minnesota — Cold-state neighbour on this list: cheapest heat there was natural gas at $10.84/MMBtu.