Heating Season

October 17, 2008

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Profile America — Friday, October 17th. Unless you live in the Deep South or Hawaii, the home heating season is here again. As the weather gets chilly, people in many parts of the country, concerned about this year’s huge rise in energy costs, will be keeping a close eye on the thermostat. Most homes in the U.S. have central heating, and six-out-of-10 are equipped with a warm-air furnace. Just over one-in-10 has a heat pump and about the same proportion use steam or hot water as a heating source. The most popular heating fuel is by far natural gas, found in just over half the homes in the country. Fuel oil, while still important in New England, heats less than one-in-10 houses nationally. Coal and wood are now used in just 1 percent of homes. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2008, t. 963
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008edition.html