What would going electric save you?
Pick your state and tell us a little about your home. We'll show what each switch saves a year, what it costs to start, and where to begin. In Ohio, a typical family that drives and heats with gas could save about $3,280 a year.
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Your electric life in Ohio
Save about $3,280 a year
That's about $273 a month back in your pocket.
Adds up the switches with a saving below; solar assumes your utility credits every kWh it makes. E-bike savings are shown but not added in.
Where to start
Biggest yearly savings first.
- 1
Rooftop solar
$1,620/yr
Panels sized to cover your whole bill: up to $135 a month back in your pocket.
- About 18 panels (6.9 kW) for about $17,858 before incentives.
- Assumes your utility credits all the power it makes at full price; less generous credits stretch the payback out.
- Upfront about $17,858; pays for itself in about 11 years.
“Solar doesn't work where it's cloudy, and it never pays back.” Panels in every US state but Alaska make more power than in Germany, a solar leader, and the average US solar shopper breaks even in about 10 years. The facts
- 2
Drive electric
$1,598/yr
Like paying $1.48 a gallon instead of $3.87.
- Gas now: about $1,815 a year for 11,960 miles at 25.5 mpg.
- Charging at home: about $696 a year in a 2026 Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD.
- Fuel saved $1,120 + less maintenance $478 (Argonne).
“Won't the battery die in a few years and cost a fortune?” EV batteries lose only about 2% of their range a year, and among 2022-and-newer EVs just 0.3% have needed a new one. The facts
- 3
Plug-in solar
$191/yr
Plugs into an outlet and trims about 12% off your bill. No roof, no installer.
- Up to $191 a year from an 800 W kit on a stand, if you use what it makes.
- Ohio has no plug-in solar law yet: ask your utility first, or pair panels with a power station instead.
- Upfront about $1,595; pays for itself in about 8 years.
“Solar is all or nothing. I'd need a $30,000 system.” A plug-in solar kit starts under $500, plugs into an outlet, and needs no roof or installer. The facts
- 4
E-bike for short trips
$158/yr
Every 10-mile round trip you ride instead of drive saves about $1.52 in gas.
- Two of those trips a week is about $158 a year in gas alone, before parking and wear on the car.
- 5
Heat pump water heater
$64/yr
Hot water for about $64 a year less than gas.
- Gas water heater now: about $228 a year.
- Heat pump water heater: about $164 a year.
- 6
Induction cooking
about even
No gas burning in your kitchen, faster boiling, and a cooktop you wipe clean.
- Cooking with gas: about $24 a year. Induction: about $33 a year.
- The bill difference is small either way; the payoff is cleaner air at home.
“Induction means buying all new pans.” If a fridge magnet sticks to the bottom of your pan, it works on induction. That includes cast iron and most stainless steel. The facts
- 7
Heat pump for heating and cooling
costs $410/yr more
Costs about $410 a year more than gas to run in your state at today's prices.
- Gas furnace now: about $832 a year (average Ohio gas-heated home).
- Heat pump: about $1,242 a year in electricity for the same heat.
“Heat pumps don't work in the cold.” In real homes at 0 to 5°F, new cold-climate heat pumps still made about 2 units of heat for every unit of electricity. Over 60% of Norwegian homes use them. The facts
Never sit in the dark again
Backup power doesn't lower your bill, it keeps life going when the grid goes down. Our pick for outage backup, the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Max, keeps a fridge, Wi-Fi, lights and phones going for about 15 hours, or a fridge alone for about 18 hours.
“A home battery is pointless without solar.” A battery keeps your fridge, Wi-Fi and lights on in an outage with or without panels, and some utilities pay you to share it. The facts
How we calculated this
Prices are Ohio's averages: electricity 18.7¢ per kWh (EIA, this year so far), gasoline $3.87 a gallon (EIA weekly), natural gas $13.85 per thousand cubic feet (EIA). How much gas a home uses for heat, hot water and cooking is the Ohioaverage from EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey. We compare the same heat, hot water and cooking delivered by each appliance, so only efficiency and price change.
- Car: 25.5 mpg, the average new vehicle (EPA Automotive Trends); EV is the matching EPA-rated model. Charging at home at the average price. Scheduled maintenance: 6.1¢ a mile for a battery-electric car vs 10.1¢ for a gasoline car (Argonne National Laboratory, 2021).
- Heat pump delivers 2.2 units of heat per unit of electricity over a season (HSPF2 7.5, the federal minimum for new heat pumps in the North since 2023). Cold-climate models do better. Gas furnace efficiency 80% (AFUE), the federal minimum for gas furnaces sold today.
- Heat pump water heater efficiency 3.3 (UEF), the ENERGY STAR minimum; gas tank water heater efficiency 0.58 (uef), the federal minimum for a 40-gallon tank; standard electric tank water heater efficiency 0.92 (uef), the federal minimum for a 50-gallon tank.
- Induction is about 3 times as efficient as a gas burner (ENERGY STAR), so it needs a third of the energy for the same cooking.
- Rooftop solar: sized to cover your bill using the PVWatts model for Ohio, at $2.60 per watt installed (EnergySage national average, before incentives). Savings assume your utility credits every kWh at full price (net metering); where it pays less for power you send back, savings are lower.
- Plug-in solar: an 800 W kit at $1,595 on a south-facing stand, valued at your electricity price, assuming you use what it makes as it makes it.
- E-bike: gasoline for a 10-mile round trip in your car. Electricity to charge an e-bike is pennies and not subtracted.
- Upfront costs and incentives vary a lot, so we show a price only where we have a sourced national figure.
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Tables 5.6.A and 5.6.B (July 2026 YTD (year to date); latest month July 2026)
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Weekly Retail Gasoline and Diesel Prices (regular, all formulations)
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Prices: price delivered to residential consumers (2025 annual average)
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), state tables CE4.6.EL.ST and CE5.4.ST
- U.S. EPA and DOE, fueleconomy.gov vehicle data (combined kWh/100 mi, includes charging losses)
- PVWatts v8 solar model (National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly NREL, run via its PySAM package) on NASA POWER hourly weather
- US DOE Fact of the Week #1190, citing Argonne National Laboratory (2021)
- Federal efficiency standards for home appliances, 10 CFR 430.32
- ENERGY STAR Residential Water Heaters Version 5.0 specification
- ENERGY STAR, 2021 Emerging Technology Award: induction cooking tops
- EnergySage, solar panel cost (national average)
Lower bills, every month
Electricity is a cheaper way to move a car, heat water and, in many states, heat a home. The savings repeat every month.
Off the gas price rollercoaster
Charge at home and you stop watching the price signs. Add solar and you lock in a share of your power for decades.
Quieter, cleaner home
No engine idling in the garage, no flame in the kitchen, and backup power that runs silently when the grid is down.
Frequently asked questions
How much can I save by going electric?
It depends most on how much you drive and what your home runs on. For a typical household that drives 12,000 miles a year and heats with gas, our estimate ranges from about $2,870 to $4,370 a year depending on the state, with Arizona at the top. In most states the biggest single saving is switching from a gas car to an EV charged at home, followed by solar for homeowners.
What should I switch first?
Start with what you replace anyway. If your car is due, an EV usually saves the most. If your furnace, AC or water heater is near the end of its life, a heat pump version costs far less to add then than as an early swap. A plug-in solar kit or a power station is the cheapest way to start today, and works for renters.
Does a heat pump always save money over gas?
No. Where gas is cheap and electricity is expensive, a heat pump can cost a little more to run than a gas furnace, and we show that honestly. It still replaces your air conditioner too, and against electric baseboard, propane or oil it usually saves a lot. Cold-climate models do better than the conservative efficiency we assume.
Data updated . Methodology · Myths, answered
Estimates for a typical household using state averages. Your savings depend on your rate plan, your home, how you drive and what equipment you buy. Upfront costs are before incentives. Not financial advice. See our disclaimer.