Fireplace Cost Table
| Fuel | Typical size | $/hr | 100-hr season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric insert | 1.5 kW, ~5,100 BTU | $0.26 | $26 |
| Natural gas | 30,000 BTU input | $0.42 | $42 |
| Propane | 30,000 BTU input | $0.96 | $96 |
| Wood pellets | 5.5 lb/hr stove | $0.89 | $89 |
| Seasoned firewood | cord at 60% eff. | $0.93 | $93 |
Every fireplace fuel gets priced per hour somewhere on the internet, and almost every number you will find is right - for somebody else's utility rates and somebody else's unit size. The table below prices all five common fuels at national-average prices with the burn-rate arithmetic in the open: an electric insert draws a flat 1.5 kilowatts, a 30,000-BTU gas unit burns 0.30 therms an hour, the same rating in propane drinks 0.33 gallons, a pellet stove eats 5.5 pounds an hour, and a cord of firewood at 60 percent effective efficiency lands near a dollar an hour.
The calculator above the table takes your actual rates - what you pay per kilowatt-hour, per therm, per gallon - and re-prices the three metered fuels on the spot, then names the cheapest hour and prices a full season of it. Pellets and cordwood stay at their average rows because nobody has a pellet rate on their utility bill; their costs move with bag and cord prices instead.
The honest part: per-hour is not the whole bill. The insert warms one seat, the gas unit warms a room, the stove warms a floor - so the cheapest hour and the cheapest warm room are different winners, and the fuel that wins on paper can lose on the labor of hauling it.
How to use
- Enter your electricity rate from your bill in cents per kilowatt-hour - the national average is about 17, but range matters more than the average.
- Add your natural gas rate per therm and propane price per gallon; both are itemized on most winter bills, and propane is also on the tank receipt.
- Set the hours you actually expect to burn this season - 100 hours is a realistic evening-and-weekends winter for most homes.
- Read the cheapest-fuel result, then check the season total: the spread between your cheapest and priciest fuel is the real decision number.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a gas fireplace per hour?
A 30,000-BTU gas fireplace burns about 0.30 therms per hour, so at the national-average $1.40 per therm that is roughly $0.42 an hour - your number is simply 0.30 times your therm rate from the bill. Two footnotes: pilot-light models idle at 500-700 BTU around the clock, which adds $5-15 a season if you never shut the pilot off in summer, and decorative mills-rated units often run at 20,000-26,000 BTU, which scales the hour cost down proportionally.
Is an electric fireplace cheaper to run than gas?
Per hour, usually yes - a 1.5 kW insert at the 17-cent average costs about $0.26 an hour against $0.42 for the average gas unit. But they are not the same product: the insert delivers about 5,100 BTU, a sixth of the gas unit's 30,000, so six electric hours warm what one gas hour does. The honest comparison is per unit of heat delivered, which is what the gas vs electric head-to-head calculator is for - the table above is the per-hour ledger, not the warmth verdict.
How much does a cord of firewood cost per hour of burning?
A cord - a stacked pile 4 by 4 by 8 feet, about 24 million BTU for seasoned mixed hardwood - runs $250-400 in most markets. At 60 percent effective efficiency in a modern stove, that works out to roughly $0.75-1.10 an hour of steady burning, or $0.93 at the $325 midpoint the table uses. The efficiency assumption is doing heavy lifting: an open fireplace sends most of the heat up the flue and can even net-loss a sealed house, while an EPA-certified stove converts far more of the cord into the room.
Are wood pellets cheaper than propane?
Usually, narrowly - a $6.25 forty-pound bag burned at 5.5 pounds an hour is about $0.89 an hour, against roughly $0.96 for the average 30,000-BTU propane unit at $2.90 a gallon. Pellets also burn in the 70-80 percent efficiency range in modern stoves, so more of each dollar arrives as heat. The catch is logistics: pellets cost store runs or pallet deliveries and demand daily loading, while propane is a tank and a thermostat - the cheap fuel you will not haul stops being cheap.
Why is my actual fireplace bill higher than the table says?
Three usual suspects. Input versus output: a 30,000-BTU input rating is not delivered heat, and older units waste a third of it up the flue. Zone creep: a fireplace that takes the chill off a room invites the thermostat up two degrees elsewhere, and that costs more than the fire does. And standby: standing pilots, pellet-stove electronics and smart inserts all draw when off - the electric fuel is free at the switch, but gas pilots bill all summer unless you shut them.