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US Census Bureau News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2004

   
Stephen Buckner/Joanna Gonzalez CB04-CN.08
Public Information Office   
(301) 763-3030/457-3670 (fax) Detailed tables:
(301) 457-1037 (TDD)   State | County | Place [Excel Format]
e-mail: pio@census.gov Graphic: Historical Energy Use
   
Cranking Up the Furnace
 
Gas Most Popular Home Heating Fuel, Census Bureau Survey Shows
American Community Survey Looks At How Americans Heat Their Homes

   

           As “old man winter” prepares to take hold across most of the nation, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data today showing that more than half of U.S. homes use gas as their heating fuel.

     The American Community Survey showed that in 2003 nearly 62 million homes (57.0 percent) used utility, bottle, tank or LP gas as their heating fuel. The second most popular home heating source was electricity, used by 33.9 million homes (31.3 percent).Home Heating Fuels

     Among other fuel sources, fuel oil and kerosene were used by about 8.6 percent of households nationwide, mostly in northern states.

     “Annual data from the American Community Survey should improve how energy officials and local utility companies plan for seasonal peaks in fuel consumption,” said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon. “Utility companies will be able to use these and other Census Bureau data to forecast the need for additional power facilities and utility networks.”

     According to the survey, states with some of the highest percentages of households using gas to heat their homes were Utah (88.5 percent), Michigan (86.9 percent), Illinois (86.7 percent), Iowa (82.3 percent) and Colorado (80.2 percent). However, states with warmer climates were more likely to use electricity, with more than 35 percent of the nation’s households using this fuel source concentrated in just three states: Florida, Texas and California. Among the states electricity was used most widely in were Florida (89.5 percent), South Carolina (61.8 percent), Arizona (58.0 percent), Tennessee (53.9 percent) and Washington (52.5 percent).

     About 75 percent of the households across the nation that use fuel oil to keep warm during the winter were in northeastern states and Alaska. Use was most common among households in the six New England states: Maine (79.2 percent), New Hampshire (57.3 percent), Vermont (57.0 percent), Connecticut (50.1 percent), Rhode Island (41.4 percent) and Massachusetts
(38.3 percent).

     Other highlights:

  • Gas was used mostly in the Midwest, which accounted for more than 30 percent of all households using this type of fuel.
  • More than 60 percent of the nation’s households that used electricity were in the South.
  • Western states contained almost 70 percent of households that did not use any fuel or did not have equipment to heat their homes.
  • Sixty-one percent of homes in Hawaii did not use any fuel or did not have equipment to heat their homes.
  • Solar energy was the least-used energy source, with only .03 percent of the nation’s homes using it as a heating fuel.
  • Pennsylvania contained 37 percent of all homes using coal and coke for home heating.
  • Among areas with populations of 250,000 or more, Florida contained the 15 counties and 14 cities with the highest percentage of households that used electricity.

     The new American Community Survey (ACS) is the cornerstone of the government’s effort to keep pace with the country’s ever-increasing demands for timely and relevant population and housing data. After it is fully implemented in January 2005, it will provide current demographic, housing, social and economic information about America’s communities every year — information previously available only once every 10 years.

     The American Community Survey data are based on responses from a sample of households across the nation. As with all surveys, the estimates and rankings may vary from the actual values because of sampling or nonsampling variations. The statistical statements have undergone testing, and comparisons are significant at the 90 percent confidence level. Additional information and data profiles for the nation, states, counties and places may be accessed at <http://www.census.gov/acs> or <http://factfinder.census.gov>.

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Public Information Office |  Last Revised: August 09, 2007