Expect to pay more to heat your home this winter than you spent last year.

That's the message from government analysts who sifted through forecasts for a colder winter and slightly higher energy prices.

The Energy Department said Thursday that household bills are likely to be higher for all four main heating fuels — natural gas, electricity, heating oil and propane.

Last winter, above-normal temperatures reduced nationwide demand for heating fuels to the lowest level in at least 25 years. For most regions outside the West, this winter is expected to be more typical — colder than last winter although still milder than many recent ones, according to forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

If winter turns out to be colder than expected, heating bills could soar.

In Portland, Maine, William Foss, 69, had insulation wrapped around his heating ducts this summer and set aside money to survive Maine's fickle winter weather and volatile fuel market. He usually tops off his 275-gallon oil tank about three times, sometimes with help from federal subsidies, and he was rattled by the forecast of higher heating bills.

“There's not much we can do about it if the weather turns cold all of a sudden,” he said.

Here is the Energy Department forecast for average household heating bill from October through March:

n Natural gas — up 22 percent, or $116, to $635 on a national average. However the average bill in the Northeast is expected to rise 29 percent, or $198, to $889. If winter is colder than NOAA predicts, the increases would be 31 percent nationally and 38 percent in the Northeast.

Nearly half of all American homes are heated with natural gas. The price of gas is expected to rise 11 percent over last winter.

n Heating oil — up 38 percent, or $378, to an average $1,370.

Only 5 percent of U.S. homes use heating oil, but it warms nearly one-fourth of homes in the Northeast.

n Electricity — up 5 percent, or $49, to $945 due to higher consumption. Rates are expected to be flat.

Nearly 40 percent of U.S. households heat with electricity including more than 60 percent in the South.

n Propane— lower than most years, but higher than last winter, when temperatures were mild and prices low.

n Wood and wood pellets — used to heat about 2.5 million U.S. homes including one-fifth of rural households in New England.