Gas vs electric furnace, side by side
With gas service at the house, a gas furnace beats an electric furnace on operating cost in our market. But if you're shopping electric heat in 2026, the real comparison is a heat pump — it delivers the same electric heat at 2–4× the efficiency of resistance coils, with rebates on top ($1,500–$2,400 from PSE for exactly that conversion).
| Dimension | Gas furnace | Electric furnace | Heat pump (the asterisk) |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it heats | Combustion in a heat exchanger | Resistance coils (space-heater physics) | Moves heat — 2–4× energy delivered per unit consumed |
| Install cost | $4,000–$9,000 (Seattle range) | Lowest of the three | $8,000–$16,000 ducted, before rebates |
| Operating cost | Gas rates (+9.4% in 2025) | Highest — full electric rate per BTU | Lowest electric option by a wide margin |
| Rebates | None | None | SCL instant + PSE conversion rebates |
| Cooling | No | No | Yes |
Gas furnace
Choose gas when…
Gas service exists, you're replacing like-for-like on a working duct system, and upfront cost drives the decision. Modern condensing units (90%+ AFUE) keep the operating math as good as gas gets — see the efficiency-tier guide for the 80-vs-95 call. In suburban two-stories with sound ducts, a condensing furnace swap is still the cheapest whole-home heat path when electrification isn't the priority this cycle. If your furnace is under ten years, a repair may make more sense than any column here — this comparison is for replacement decisions.
Electric furnace
Choose an electric furnace when…
Honestly: rarely, in this market. Its remaining niches are backup-heat air handlers paired with heat pumps and situations where install budget is absolute and runtime is minimal. As a primary heater at Seattle-area electric rates, resistance heat is the most expensive way to make a house warm — which is exactly why PSE pays $1,500–$2,400 to convert those homes to heat pumps instead.
Heat pump (the asterisk)
Choose the heat pump when…
You were considering electric heat at all — same fuel, a fraction of the consumption (DOE puts heat pumps at ~50% less electricity than resistance heating), plus cooling, plus the PSE electric-conversion rebate ($1,500/$2,400). This is the column Washington's utilities are actively paying people to move to. Even gas-heated homes increasingly land here at replacement time, when PSE's conversion rebate ($3,000–$4,000) offsets the premium over a furnace swap. If you're comparing columns on a new build or full replacement, the heat pump is the direction the code, the utilities, and the rate trends all point.
The Seattle-area numbers
Gas furnace replacement
$4,000 – $9,000
New high-efficiency furnace, installed — equipment, labor, permit
Sources: Home Comfort Alliance Seattle furnace guide (2026) · HVAC Project Cost — Seattle, WA (2026)
Ducted heat pump installation
$8,000 – $16,000
All-electric heating + cooling using your existing ductwork
Sources: HVAC Project Cost — Seattle, WA (citing Angi 2026) (2026) · WattFax — 113 WA homeowner quotes (2026)
These are typical Seattle-area market ranges compiled from published cost guides (Angi, HomeGuide, and Seattle-area 2025–2026 cost studies) — market context, not a quote from Glendale Heating & Air Conditioning. Your home's size, equipment, ductwork, electrical, and permits change the number. National figures are marked; Seattle-area labor typically runs above national averages.
Questions homeowners ask about this choice
Why do electric furnaces even exist?
Cheap hardware, simple install, no combustion or venting — legitimate in mild-runtime settings and as heat-pump backup stages. Their problem is physics: every BTU is bought at full electric price, which is why baseboard/electric-furnace homes are PSE's headline conversion-rebate target.
Is gas going away in Seattle?
Gas service continues, but the cost trend is real: WA UTC-approved increases (~9.4% in 2025 with more in 2026) partly reflect Climate Commitment Act compliance. New-construction electrification codes and utility incentives all point one direction — worth weighing on a 15–20-year appliance.
What about dual-fuel?
The pragmatic hybrid: heat pump primary, gas furnace backup, PSE hybrid rebate ($1,500/$2,400). It keeps gas's cold-snap security while most hours run on the efficient column.
Can I add AC to any of these?
Yes on gas and electric furnaces — a matched outdoor AC unit and indoor coil on the existing air handler. A heat pump already includes cooling. The AC-addition range ($5,100–$9,800 in published Seattle figures) is the comparison point when a young gas furnace makes straight AC the summer-only play.
Go deeper
Furnace efficiency tiers: the 80-vs-95 guide
Related
Heat pump vs gas furnace, in depth
Related
Oil vs gas vs heat pump costs
Related
Single vs two-stage vs modulating
Take action
Heating installation
How we know this
Efficiency physics per U.S. DOE resistance-vs-heat-pump guidance; rate trends per WA UTC orders; ranges from published Seattle-area studies (2025–26).
Reviewed by the Glendale Heating & Air Conditioning team · Last updated 2026-07-15
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