Whether you are heating your home, cooking a meal or drying your clothes, using natural gas helps save you money.
In fact, natural gas remains the cheapest fuel for residential consumers. EIA data shows that natural gas makes up 65% of the average American household energy usage but only makes up 40% of the household energy bill.
According to American Gas Association (AGA), low domestic natural gas prices have saved American families $125 billion over the past decade.
Here’s how that looks in a home with natural gas, according to calculations by Wiliams:
- It costs $1.40 to cook one egg every day for a year using a gas stove, versus $4.25 using an electric stove.
- It costs $0.15 to take the average shower utilizing a natural gas water heater, with an electric water heater it costs about $0.40.
- The average U.S. household utilizing gas for home heating this winter will spend $600, where homes using electricity for heat will pay $1,080.
What they are saying
- In its October 2024 Winter Fuels Outlook, the EIA expects that most U.S. households are likely to spend about the same or less on energy than they did last winter, depending on a household’s main space heating fuel and the region where they live.
- More natural gas is currently stored in U.S. inventories compared with the previous five-year average going into this winter which is one factor that has helped keep prices below year-ago levels.
- “We expect that lower prices this winter will be offset by colder temperatures, resulting in relatively little change in expenditures.”
Did you know that natural gas is the main space heating fuel in 45% of U.S. homes, making it the most widely used residential heating fuel in the country, according to the EIA.
- And it’s not just homes benefiting from low-cost, abundant and clean natural gas. More than 5.4 million commercial customers use natural gas for space and water heating. These include schools, hospitals, police and fire stations, offices, restaurants, grocery stores, retail outlets and public halls.
Bottom line: Natural gas is one of the most affordable forms of energy available to residential consumers and for businesses. In the Mid-Atlantic, it’s four times less expensive than electricity and key to keeping us warm this winter, while being a lower source of emissions than heating oil or coal.