astrofireplaces.com Fireplaces & Comfortable Homes

Statistics

Wood Fuel Consumption Statistics: U.S. Household Use and State Estimates

U.S. wood consumption statistics from EIA household and state estimates, with regional, appliance, housing, and income breakdowns.

November 12, 2026 9 min read astrofireplaces.com Editorial Team

Contents

Wood fuel consumption statistics: national household use, fuel types, and heating purpose

In 2020, 11.1 million U.S. primary occupied housing units used wood for any purpose covered by the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). These wood-using households consumed 345.1 trillion Btu in total, averaging 31.2 million Btu per wood-using household. The average is specific to households that used wood; it does not describe all U.S. homes. RECS figures cover primary occupied housing units in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. EIA Table CE7.2

The table separates homes that used wood as their main space-heating fuel from homes that used it only for secondary heating. Main-heating wood users consumed 191.3 trillion Btu in 2020 and averaged 85.0 million Btu per household. Households using wood only for secondary heating consumed 153.2 trillion Btu and averaged 17.5 million Btu per household. Those figures describe different household groups and show how strongly the per-household average varies with wood’s heating role. EIA Table CE7.2

2020 household measureWood use for any purposeMain space heatingSecondary heating only
Total consumption345.1 trillion Btu191.3 trillion Btu153.2 trillion Btu
Average per household31.2 million Btu85.0 million Btu17.5 million Btu

The fuel-type table shows 10.0 million homes using wood logs and 1.0 million using wood pellets in 2020. EIA’s note defines logs to include scrap and other wood. The fuel categories are reported as housing-unit counts, while CE7.2 reports consumption in Btu; they should not be read as a conversion from fuel units to energy. EIA Table CE7.1

RECS consumption figures come from self-reported use of logs and pellets and attribute the published consumption to main or secondary space heating. Other wood uses were too rare for specific published estimates. Respondents reported wood in cords or pellet tons; the technical documentation defines a cord as stacked wood occupying 128 cubic feet. As with other survey estimates, independent rounding may keep subgroup figures from adding exactly to a published total. EIA Table CE7.2 EIA 2020 RECS methodology

Wood fuel consumption statistics by region and rural versus urban location

Regional totals and averages give different views of wood use. In 2020, the Midwest had the largest reported total among the four Census regions, at 105.6 trillion Btu, while its wood-using households averaged 47.8 million Btu each. The Northeast total was 91.5 trillion Btu, with a 40.2 million Btu average. The South recorded 77.0 trillion Btu and an average of 20.2 million Btu per wood-using household. The West total was 70.9 trillion Btu. EIA Table CE7.2

Census region, 2020Total wood consumption among wood usersAverage per wood-using household
Northeast91.5 trillion Btu40.2 million Btu
Midwest105.6 trillion Btu47.8 million Btu
South77.0 trillion Btu20.2 million Btu
West70.9 trillion BtuNot stated here

The West average is omitted because the checked figures do not include it. Total consumption reflects both the number of wood-using homes and their use; the average is reported for wood-using households in the region. These values alone do not identify why regions differ. EIA Table CE7.2

The rural and urban breakdown likewise shows distinct totals and averages. Rural households using wood consumed 239.1 trillion Btu in 2020, averaging 47.2 million Btu per wood-using household. Urban households using wood consumed 106.0 trillion Btu. The checked urban figure is a total, not an average. RECS’s rural classification uses Census Bureau criteria based on 2010 Census data, so the label follows that classification. EIA Table CE7.2

These rural and urban totals describe the survey’s primary occupied housing-unit population. They do not include vacant or seasonal units, second homes, military housing, or group quarters. Keeping this population definition in view matters when comparing the figures with broader counts of buildings or residences. EIA Table CE7.2

Wood fuel consumption statistics: appliance use and annual burn rates

A separate EPA survey presentation reports estimated annual cords burned by appliance and purpose for its 2017 survey. These are approximate values read from charts, rather than printed data-table entries. For conventional fireplaces, the weighted average was 0.5 cords. The chart’s use categories show 0.3 cords for pleasure or aesthetics, 0.9 cords for backup, room, or supplemental heating, and 4.8 cords when the fireplace was used as a primary heat source. The stated purpose categories are important context for the figures. EPA National Residential Wood Combustion Survey Results

For other indoor appliances, the presentation gives weighted average estimates of 1.3 cords for fireplace inserts and 2.1 cords for woodstoves. Its separate chart for other wood-burning appliances estimates 0.4 cords for outdoor wood-burning fire pits, chimeneas, or fire rings. These are cordwood estimates; the EPA presentation keeps pellet-stove figures in tons, a different unit that should not be merged with cord totals. EPA National Residential Wood Combustion Survey Results

EPA 2017 survey chart categoryApproximate annual estimate
Conventional fireplace, weighted average0.5 cords
Conventional fireplace, pleasure or aesthetics0.3 cords
Conventional fireplace, backup, room, or supplemental heating0.9 cords
Conventional fireplace, primary heat source4.8 cords
Fireplace insert, weighted average1.3 cords
Woodstove, weighted average2.1 cords
Outdoor fire pit, chimenea, or fire ring0.4 cords

The survey context limits how broadly these estimates should be applied. The survey was fielded across 21 states and received 2,984 responses from 94,502 surveys sent, for a 3.16% response rate. The presentation’s summary chart says 29.7% of surveyed respondents reported burning wood. Those figures describe survey response and sample results; they do not replace the national RECS consumption estimates. EPA National Residential Wood Combustion Survey Results

Wood fuel consumption statistics across home types, ages, and sizes

In 2020, single-family detached homes accounted for 9.6 million housing units that used wood, including 8.8 million units using wood logs. This is a count of housing units in the structure-type category, not an estimate of the share of all detached homes that burned wood. The separate counts show that logs were the predominant reported fuel among detached homes in the checked figures. EIA Table CE7.1

Wood use appeared across multiple construction periods. The counts of wood-using homes were 1.8 million for homes built before 1950, 2.0 million for homes built in 1970–1979, 1.9 million for those built in 1980–1989, and 1.2 million for those built in 2000–2009. These are counts within each construction-period category. They do not show the rate of wood use among homes of each age, so comparisons should not be interpreted as a propensity to burn wood. EIA Table CE7.1

The reported size categories include 2.5 million wood-using homes with 1,500–1,999 square feet and 2.6 million homes with at least 3,000 square feet. EIA’s square-footage measure is based on respondent reports and includes defined areas such as basements, conditioned attics, and attached garages as described in the table notes. The figures count homes in each band; they are not per-square-foot consumption estimates. EIA Table CE7.1

Household size is another category in the table. Two-member households accounted for 4.8 million wood-using housing units in 2020, compared with 2.0 million units with 1 household member. These counts offer a composition snapshot, but the data cited here do not provide corresponding use rates for all homes in each household-size category. EIA Table CE7.1

Wood fuel consumption statistics by income and household composition

Income categories show both counts of homes and consumption totals, but the figures answer different questions. In 2020, the $60,000–$99,999 annual household-income group included 2.9 million wood-using units. Wood-using homes in that income band consumed 91.7 trillion Btu in total, and 2.3 million units used wood only for secondary heating. EIA Table CE7.1 EIA Table CE7.2

For the $20,000–$39,999 income group, wood-using households consumed 65.2 trillion Btu, averaging 37.0 million Btu per wood-using household. Among households in that income group using wood as their main space-heating fuel, the average was 95.4 million Btu per household. The main-heating average has a narrower population than the overall wood-use average. EIA Table CE7.2

At higher income levels, the $100,000–$149,999 group recorded 48.9 trillion Btu of total consumption among wood-using homes. Households with annual incomes of $150,000 or more averaged 24.6 million Btu per wood-using household across any use, while those using wood as their main space-heating fuel averaged 95.9 million Btu per household. These averages have distinct heating-use definitions and should be read within their named groups. EIA Table CE7.2

Together, the income observations illustrate why a total and an average should not be treated as interchangeable measures. A total is the consumption reported for all wood-using units in a category; an average is reported per household within the defined wood-using group. The checked counts and consumption estimates do not establish that income itself caused a particular household’s fuel use. EIA Table CE7.1 EIA Table CE7.2

Wood fuel consumption statistics: 2024 state residential estimates

EIA’s State Energy Data System (SEDS) reports U.S. residential wood consumption of 358.2 trillion Btu in 2024. Table F45 separates residential wood from commercial, industrial, and electric-power wood and biomass waste. Its residential column therefore provides a national energy estimate by end-use sector, rather than a household count or a per-home average. EIA Table F45

Among the checked state estimates, Pennsylvania recorded 26.8 trillion Btu of residential wood consumption in 2024, and Michigan recorded 26.6 trillion Btu. New York was at 20.9 trillion Btu, California at 19.0 trillion Btu, and Virginia at 18.9 trillion Btu. Wisconsin’s estimate was 15.8 trillion Btu, while Minnesota’s was 14.1 trillion Btu. All figures use the same unit and residential category in Table F45. EIA Table F45

2024 residential wood consumptionTrillion Btu
United States358.2
Pennsylvania26.8
Michigan26.6
New York20.9
California19.0
Virginia18.9
Wisconsin15.8
Minnesota14.1

These 2024 SEDS estimates and the household survey figures above are different statistical products. RECS describes consumption attributed to space heating in primary occupied housing units, with household-level categories and averages; SEDS provides state energy estimates for residential consumption. The EIA RECS page identifies the 2020 consumption tables as the latest complete release available as of November 12, 2026, and says full 2024 RECS data are scheduled for spring 2027. Preliminary housing-characteristics data do not constitute full consumption results. EIA Table F45 EIA RECS

Sources

Written by

astrofireplaces.com Editorial Team

Editorial team

Independent editorial coverage of fireplaces & comfortable homes.

More to Explore