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US Home Heating Fuels Statistics

2020 RECS estimates show home heating fuel use by dwelling type, tenure, climate, Census region, and construction period.

November 11, 2026 10 min read astrofireplaces.com Editorial Team

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US home heating fuels statistics: National heating fuel use

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) counts occupied housing units reporting fuels for space heating. Figures are in millions of homes, not fuel volumes, energy use, or shares of households. “Space heating” includes any reported use for that purpose; “main” and “secondary” identify the fuel’s role. A home may report more than one fuel, so these categories overlap and should not be added into a total. The Total U.S. figures cover primary occupied housing units in the 50 states and District of Columbia, excluding vacant and seasonal units, second homes, military houses, and group quarters. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

Fuel and useU.S. homes (millions), 2020
Electricity, any space heating64.84
Electricity, main space-heating fuel42.57
Electricity, secondary space-heating fuel31.57
Natural gas, any space heating64.47
Natural gas, main space-heating fuel62.71
Wood, any space heating11.02
Wood, main space-heating fuel2.25
Wood, secondary space-heating fuel8.83

Housing-unit counts; categories may overlap. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

The any-use counts for electricity (64.84 million homes) and natural gas (64.47 million homes) were close. Their main-fuel counts differ: natural gas was listed as the main fuel in 62.71 million homes, while electricity was main in 42.57 million. The “any use” figures include homes that used the fuel secondarily as well as those for which it was main. Electricity’s 31.57 million secondary-use count illustrates why the role distinction matters. These are counts of homes reporting use, not measures of how much heat each fuel supplied. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

Wood shows the same distinction. Of 11.02 million homes reporting wood for space heating, 2.25 million listed it as the main fuel and 8.83 million as secondary. A view focused only on primary heating would therefore omit many homes using wood for supplemental heat. The survey counts homes, not fireplaces, stoves, cords of wood, or heating output; the figures cannot establish a ranking of fuel efficiency or contribution to household heat. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

US home heating fuels statistics by housing type

The count of homes using a fuel varies with the housing category being described. In detached single-family homes, 46.06 million used natural gas for space heating and 36.87 million used electricity. Those counts show the scale of reported use within the category; they do not give the percentage of detached homes using either fuel. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

Housing type and fuel useHomes (millions), 2020
Detached single-family: natural gas, space heating46.06
Detached single-family: electricity, space heating36.87
Detached single-family: propane, space heating6.41
Detached single-family: wood, secondary space heating7.71
Apartments in buildings with 5+ units: electricity, space heating14.37
Apartments in buildings with 5+ units: natural gas, space heating7.56
Mobile homes: electricity, space heating4.85
Mobile homes: electricity, main space-heating fuel3.87

Counts retain the specified housing type and fuel-use measure. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

The detached-home observations include more than the two largest listed fuels. Propane was used for space heating in 6.41 million detached homes, while 7.71 million used wood as a secondary space-heating fuel. The wood figure specifically describes secondary use, rather than homes relying on wood as their main heat source. Keeping that label prevents unlike measures from being treated as equivalent. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

For apartments in buildings with five or more units, the reported counts were 14.37 million homes using electricity and 7.56 million using natural gas for space heating. Among mobile homes, 4.85 million used electricity for space heating, and 3.87 million listed electricity as the main fuel. The “any use” and “main” observations answer different questions even within the same housing type. The selected values do not describe every fuel in each category, and an unlisted value should not be interpreted as zero. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

These figures help compare the number of housing units in each type reporting particular fuels. They do not adjust for how many units exist in each type, and they provide no information about equipment, bills, fuel quantities, or climate exposure. A raw count and a percentage within a housing type are different measures. The observed counts also do not establish that building form itself determines which fuel a home uses. Source: EIA Table HC1.1, 2020 RECS

US home heating fuels statistics for owner and renter households

The tenure comparison covers owner- and renter-occupied single-family and mobile homes. It is not a count of every owner or renter housing type. Within that defined group, electricity was used for space heating in 40.23 million owner-occupied units and 24.62 million renter-occupied units in 2020. Natural gas counts were 48.20 million for owners and 16.27 million for renters. Source: EIA Table HC1.2, 2020 RECS

Fuel used for space heatingOwner-occupied single-family and mobile homes (millions)Renter-occupied single-family and mobile homes (millions)
Electricity40.2324.62
Natural gas48.2016.27
Wood9.671.35
Propane6.870.81

Housing-unit counts in the table’s single-family and mobile-home tenure categories; fuels may overlap. Source: EIA Table HC1.2, 2020 RECS

The same comparison records wood use in 9.67 million owner-occupied units and 1.35 million renter-occupied units. Propane was used in 6.87 million owner-occupied and 0.81 million renter-occupied units. Together with the electricity and natural-gas figures, these provide a consistent set of four fuel counts for the stated housing types and tenure categories. They remain counts, not rates within owner and renter populations. Source: EIA Table HC1.2, 2020 RECS

All four selected owner counts are larger than their renter counterparts. That is a comparison of the reported numbers of units; without the corresponding number of units in each tenure group, it does not show what proportion used a fuel or establish a preference. The table also does not say who pays heating costs, controls the equipment, or makes decisions about a building’s fuel system. Source: EIA Table HC1.2, 2020 RECS

US home heating fuels statistics across climate regions

RECS climate regions are a geographic classification distinct from Census regions and divisions. In 2020, electricity was used for space heating in 17.81 million homes in the Very-cold/Cold region, 21.65 million in Mixed-humid, and 15.18 million in Hot-humid. Natural gas counts were 27.56 million in Very-cold/Cold, 18.62 million in Mixed-humid, and 9.25 million in Mixed-dry/Hot-dry. Source: EIA Table HC1.6, 2020 RECS

Among the listed electricity observations, Mixed-humid had the largest count, followed by Very-cold/Cold and Hot-humid. For natural gas, Very-cold/Cold had the largest listed count, followed by Mixed-humid and Mixed-dry/Hot-dry. These comparisons describe numbers of homes, not regional percentages or adoption rates. A larger count can reflect the size of the housing population as well as reported fuel use; these figures alone do not isolate a climate effect. Source: EIA Table HC1.6, 2020 RECS

Wood was used for space heating in 4.70 million homes in Very-cold/Cold and 2.97 million in Mixed-humid. The category is any space-heating use, so it may include both main and secondary use. It does not report the amount of wood burned or establish wood as the primary heating source. Source: EIA Table HC1.6, 2020 RECS

US home heating fuels statistics across Census regions

The regional tables provide selected comparisons across Census regions and divisions. In 2020, fuel oil or kerosene was used for space heating in 4.26 million Northeast homes: 2.01 million in New England and 2.25 million in Middle Atlantic. The Midwest count for this fuel grouping was 0.38 million homes. New England and Middle Atlantic are divisions within the Northeast, so their figures give detail alongside, rather than additional units to add to, the Northeast total. Source: EIA Table HC1.7, 2020 RECS

Census region or divisionFuel and useHomes (millions), 2020
NortheastFuel oil or kerosene, space heating4.26
New EnglandFuel oil or kerosene, space heating2.01
Middle AtlanticFuel oil or kerosene, space heating2.25
MidwestFuel oil or kerosene, space heating0.38
NortheastPropane, space heating1.37
MidwestPropane, space heating2.49
NortheastWood, space heating2.26
MidwestWood, space heating2.21

Rows are separate published regional observations, not components of one complete matrix. Sources: EIA Tables HC1.7 and HC1.8, 2020 RECS.

For propane, the Northeast count was 1.37 million homes and the Midwest count was 2.49 million. Wood counts were similar in these two regions: 2.26 million in the Northeast and 2.21 million in the Midwest. “Similar” here describes the reported counts; it does not imply equal use rates, since the table does not give the size of each region’s housing population in this comparison. Source: EIA Table HC1.7, 2020 RECS

Electricity observations in the South and West table include 31.37 million homes in the South overall, 16.93 million in the South Atlantic division, and 8.25 million in the Pacific division using electricity for space heating. South Atlantic and Pacific are divisions, not region-wide totals; the division counts should not be substituted for totals for the South or West. Source: EIA Table HC1.8, 2020 RECS

These selected observations are not a complete fuel-by-region matrix. Each comparison needs to retain both its fuel and geography: a regional total and a division count describe different scopes. The counts do not provide regional rates or explain why households use a fuel. Sources: EIA Tables HC1.7 and HC1.8, 2020 RECS.

US home heating fuels statistics by construction year

Construction-year categories describe when homes in the 2020 survey housing stock were built; they are not the survey measurement year. The survey counted 20.26 million homes built before 1950 and 4.56 million built from 2016 to 2020. These are counts of homes in two construction bands, not counts of heating systems installed during those periods. Source: EIA Table HC1.3, 2020 RECS

Among homes built before 1950, 13.22 million used natural gas for space heating. In the 1970–1979 construction cohort, 10.25 million homes used electricity for space heating. Those figures refer to different fuels and cohorts, so they are not a direct comparison of one fuel across construction periods. They also describe housing-unit counts rather than gas or electricity consumption. Source: EIA Table HC1.3, 2020 RECS

For other fuels and cohorts, 1.43 million homes built from 1990 to 1999 used propane for space heating. Wood was used for space heating in 2.02 million homes built from 1970 to 1979 and 0.20 million homes built from 2016 to 2020. The “used for space heating” measure does not specify main-fuel status, so the wood counts should not be read as counts of homes primarily heated with wood. Source: EIA Table HC1.3, 2020 RECS

Construction bands can describe how reported fuel-use counts are distributed among age cohorts. They cannot show from these counts alone whether age, renovation, location, household composition, or another factor accounts for a pattern. A home’s construction year also does not identify when its furnace, stove, fireplace, or other equipment was installed. These estimates are a snapshot of 2020 RECS reporting, not current-year conditions. Source: EIA Table HC1.3, 2020 RECS

Sources

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