As someone who has owned or rented homes heated with oil, gas and heat pumps (the latter two in the SE US), my experience has been that the gas and heat pump sy

As someone who has owned or rented homes heated with oil, gas and heat pumps (the latter two in the SE US), my experience has been that the gas and heat pump systems cost about the same same to operate. But when the gas system in our current house had to be replaced about 5 years ago, I went the path of least resistence and got the recommended gas unit. I really regret that decision now, especially given the small difference in installed price. Same with the tankless water heater (although there, gas was all that was available on short notice). The momentum in favor of gas is still enormous, and at least around here strongly influences what installers recommend. Maybe better educated consumers will change that. Unfortunately, I'm going to be stuck with gas into the next decade, with the only consolation being that at least I'm done with oil (the last two oil burners I ran were from the 50s, for steam heat, and cost a fortune to run: one winter in the early 00s about $600 a month).