The Heat Index
One number, weekly, since 1990: what a season's heat costs the region's typical oil-heated home at each published price, and, since 2001, what the same warmth costs through a heat pump.
$4,932
a season of oil heat, week of 2026-10-26
$3,365
the same heat through a heat pump
$1,567
spread at the 2026-10-26 reading
1990 to Now
A Season of Heat, Weekly
Oil HomeHeat-Pump Equivalent
$4,932week of 2026-10-26
The gaps in this line are summers, and there is one at the right-hand edge: the federal survey prices heating oil through the heating season and stops. It ran year-round in 2024 alone, then went back to the seasonal schedule, so the newest reading here is the week of 2026-10-26 and the next one comes with the autumn. That is the survey's calendar, not a stale page. Hover the chart to read any week, both lines at once.
The all-time peak: $4,932 in the week of 2026-10-26. The heat-pump line has sat below the oil line almost continuously since it begins, the spread is what a switch saves in running cost, and your town's heating page works it at the published prices with the tipping point for your own electric rate.
Recent Weeks
| Week | Oil $/gal | Oil Home, Season | Heat-Pump Equivalent | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-26 | $6.17 | $4,932 | $3,365 | $1,567 |
| 2026-10-19 | $6.16 | $4,925 | $3,365 | $1,560 |
| 2026-10-12 | $6.08 | $4,863 | $3,365 | $1,498 |
| 2026-10-05 | $6.05 | $4,838 | $3,365 | $1,473 |
| 2026-03-30 | $5.58 | $4,462 | $3,335 | $1,127 |
| 2026-03-23 | $5.60 | $4,481 | $3,335 | $1,146 |
| 2026-03-16 | $5.18 | $4,148 | $3,335 | $813 |
| 2026-03-09 | $5.13 | $4,106 | $3,335 | $771 |
How the Index Is Made
An index, not a bill: nobody buys 800 gallons in one week. Each point prices a typical season: 800 gallons of oil at that week's New England average, as if locked at that week's price, which is what makes 1990 and this week comparable. The heat-pump line delivers the same useful heat (federal energy content, 85% burner efficiency) through a cold-climate heat pump at a seasonal efficiency of 2.5, priced at that month's Massachusetts residential electricity average, light-plant towns run cheaper. Electricity is published about two months behind oil, so weeks newer than it use the newest published month (the latest point uses 2026-08). Identical constants to every heating page: one arithmetic, two surfaces. Cite it: RE413, “The Heat Index,” www.re413.com/heat-index/.
Week by Week
These prices move every week. The current ones sit in this week's numbers, and every week we have published stays readable in the archive.
From the Desk
RE413 News on this subject: oil against a heat pump. Every piece is built from the same public record as the figures above, and states the period each covers.
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly heating-fuel and monthly electricity series, derived. Figures through the week of 2026-10-26. Checked 2026-11-02.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.