The short answer
A gas bill in Northern Virginia comes down to two things: the price of each unit of gas, and how many units the house burns. The price went up last winter. If your bill went up more than the price did, the extra is the house: the furnace, the ducts, the water heater or the thermostat.
The part most people don’t know
Virginia homes paid a lot more for gas last winter than the winter before, and more than the country did. Here’s the Energy Information Administration’s average residential price for Virginia and the whole US, in dollars per thousand cubic feet:
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Swipe to see all columns →
| Month | Virginia 2025 | Virginia 2026 | US 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | $13.28 | $16.34 | $13.96 |
| February | $14.56 | $16.66 | $14.95 |
| March | $17.49 | $18.75 | $16.16 |
That’s a 23 percent jump in Virginia from January 2025 to January 2026. Your bill counts therms, not cubic feet. A therm is 100,000 Btu and a cubic foot of gas is about 1,036 Btu, per EIA, so a thousand cubic feet is about 10 therms.
Here’s the strange one. In August 2026, when nobody’s heating, Virginia’s average was $31.14 per thousand cubic feet (the US average was $27.05), almost double January’s. Summer gas isn’t some premium product. Our read: every bill carries a fixed charge, and in summer it gets spread over very little gas, so the average per unit looks huge. That same fixed charge is why a bill can look high even when you barely used any gas.
The $67 Heating Check
We check your furnace, heat pump or boiler before winter. Through December 31. See the offer
What’s on a Washington Gas bill
Take Washington Gas as the example; other gas companies work about the same way. Its Virginia bill guide lists a System Charge, a fixed amount every month whether you burn gas or not. Then there’s a Distribution Charge for delivering each therm, billed in tiers (the first up to 25 therms, the next from 25 to 125), and a Purchased Gas Charge for each therm of the gas itself. Only the System Charge stays put. Every other line grows with every therm the house burns.
This winter should cost less. If yours doesn’t, look at the house
On October 7, 2026, EIA said in its winter fuels outlook that it expects homes heating with natural gas to spend about 9 percent less on average this winter than last. That’s a national average, and a cold snap can swing it. But if gas costs less and your bill is still climbing, the house is burning more of it.
Where the house burns extra gas
- An old furnace. Older furnaces turn less of their gas into heat and send more up the flue. Here’s how old furnace efficiency compares, and what it means when a furnace runs constantly.
- Leaky ducts. Heat you paid for ends up in the attic or crawl space, and the furnace runs longer to make up for it. See leaky ducts and why a house gets drafty in winter.
- A gas water heater set too hot. It burns gas around the clock to hold the tank at temperature. Here’s the water heater temperature setting that makes sense.
- The thermostat. DOE says turning it back 7 to 10°F for 8 hours a day can save as much as 10 percent a year on heating and cooling. With a furnace, that’s an easy win. More in the best thermostat setting for winter.
What you can check yourself
Compare therms, not dollars. Pull last January’s bill and this January’s and look at the therms line. If the therms went up and the weather wasn’t colder, something in the house changed. If the therms are flat and the dollars jumped, it’s the price. Do the same with a summer bill. In a house with a gas furnace and a gas water heater, summer therms are mostly hot water, so a big jump there points at the water heater.
What we check
Our heating check is $67 per system, through December 31: furnace, heat pump or boiler. On a furnace, for $229 (regularly $467) we also pull the blower wheel and clean it blade by blade, fit a new filter, set your dampers for winter and tune the furnace.
Holding a quote already? Our free second opinion sends a tech to look at the system you were quoted on and tell you what it actually needs, with our price if you want it. You don’t owe us anything for looking.
Seeing a code or a blinking light on the furnace? Our error codes and warning lights guide covers what each one means.
Book it
Book the heating check, call (703) 997-9757, or book online from goswiftpro.com/cookiesoffer and a box of warm cookies comes with the visit. Rated 5.0 stars across 1,138 reviews on Google, Angi, Yelp, the BBB and Facebook, Virginia Class A license 2705192276.
Questions people ask
Why is my gas bill so high this winter?
Partly price. EIA’s average Virginia home price was $16.34 per thousand cubic feet in January 2026, up 23 percent from January 2025. If your therms went up too, the house is burning more gas: an old furnace, leaky ducts or a water heater set too hot.
Why is my gas bill high when I barely use any gas?
Every bill carries a fixed charge. Washington Gas calls it the System Charge, and it’s the same every month no matter how little gas you burn. In summer it can be most of the bill.
How many therms are in a thousand cubic feet of gas?
About 10. EIA puts a therm at 100,000 Btu and a cubic foot of natural gas at about 1,036 Btu.
Does turning down the thermostat save gas?
Yes. DOE says turning it back 7 to 10°F for 8 hours a day can save as much as 10 percent a year on heating and cooling. With a gas furnace it’s one of the simplest savings there is.
