Special Topics

RECS Special Topics

• Fax and Photocopier Machines In the 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, 23.6 million households had a fax machine with more than half (53.3 percent) as a feature of a PC printer. There were also 20.0 million households with photocopier machines; nearly two-thirds of those (63.0 percent) were a feature of a PC printer.  Released 05/22/03.
• Square Footage Measurements and Comparisons The average total square footage of U.S. housing units, as measured in the 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, was 2,066 square feet. This is a 10.6 percent increase above the average total square footage of 1,875 square feet in 1993, when it was last measured.  (Released 05/22/03).
• Characteristics of Residential Housing Units By Ceiling Fans Of the 107.0 million U.S. households as reported in the 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), 69.6 million or 65.1 percent of them have ceiling fans. This is a 14.1 percent increase over the number of households (61.0 million) reported having ceiling fans in the 1997 RECS.  (Released 04/03/03.
• Cooking Trends from 1993 to 2001. Trends in the United States. Do Americans spend less time in the kitchen cooking now than they did in the 1990's. In the 1993 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), Americans were indeed cooking more than in the 2001 RECS. Identifiable differences are shown between the two survey years. (Released 1/26/02)
• Effect of Income on Appliances in U.S. Households. Viewing how people live in the United States shows that the factors, which cause the most differences in home lifestyle, including energy use are: geographic location, socioeconomics, and household income. EIA looks at the relationships of these factors to home appliance ownership, based on information from the 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey. (Released 11/26/02)

• The 1997 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) collected household energy data for the four most populated States (California, Florida, New York, and Texas). Data for all the other States are aggregated and available at the Census Division (groups of 3 to 8 States) level. (Released 06/12/2002).

• 1997 Residential Energy Consumption and Expenditures by Origin of Householder.  In Response to a request by DOE's Office of Minority Economic Impact, residential household data are presented by these categories: "Hispanic," "Non-Hispanic White," "Non-Hispanic Black," and "Other." This is the first time presenting this data using these race/ethnicity breakouts.   (Released 03/06/02)
• Additional information on the 1997 Residential Energy Consumption Survey: "Residential Energy Consumption and Expenditures per Household Member and per Building" HTML format  (Released 12/20/01)
• "Heating Oil Use in American Households" HTML format  (Released 02/22/01)
• "Natural Gas Use in American Households" HTML format   (Released 01/16/01)
• "Winter Energy Savings from Lower Thermostat Settings" HTML format (Released 12/12/00)

• Air-conditioning Trends. In 1978, only 23 percent of U.S. housing units had central air-conditionings. By 1997, the share had increased to 47 percent. During the same period, the share of housing units with window/wall units dropped from 33 percent to 25 percent, and the share of housing units with no air-conditioning equipment dropped from 44 percent to 28 percent. (Released 08/02/00)
• According to the Residential Energy Consumption Surveys, over the past two decades (1978  - 1997), the use of fuel oil in U.S. homes has changed.   (Released 05/16/02)
• "Air Conditioning Facts from the 1997 Residential Energy Consumption Survey" HTML format   (Released 03/23/99)
• "Lighting Type at Home and at Work" HTML format (includes data from the 1995 CBECS). (Released 01/15/98)

Regional Energy Profiles Special Topics

• Residential Energy Maps 2000: Mountain Division -- This map presents annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline for the year 2000 for the eight Mountain States: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Household density per square mile and weather indicators (30-year annual averages of precipitation, heating degree-days, and cooling degree-days) also are included.    (Released 07/10/03)

• Residential Energy Maps 2000: Pacific Division -- This map presents annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline for the year 2000 for the five Pacific States: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. Household density per square mile and weather indicators (30-year annual averages of precipitation, heating degree-days, and cooling degree-days) also are included.
  (Released 07/10/03)

• Residential Energy Maps 2000: South Atlantic Division -- This map presents annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline for the year 2000 for the eight South Atlantic States: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Household density per square mile and weather indicators (30-year annual averages of precipitation, heating degree-days, and cooling degree-days) also are included.   (Released 07/08/03)
• Residential Energy Maps 2000: East South Central Division -- This map presents annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline for the year 2000 for the four East South Central States: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Household density per square mile and weather indicators (30-year annual averages of precipitation, heating degree-days, and cooling degree-days) also are included.  (Released 07/08/03)
• Residential Energy Maps 2000: West South Central Division -- This map presents annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline for the year 2000 for the four West South Central States: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Household density per square mile and weather indicators (30-year annual averages of precipitation, heating degree-days, and cooling degree-days) also are included.  (Released 07/08/03)
• Residential Energy Maps 2000: West North Central Division -- This map presents annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline for the year 2000 for the seven West North Central States: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Household density per square mile and weather indicators (30-year annual averages of precipitation, heating degree-days, and cooling degree-days) also are included.  (Released 07/01/03)
• Residential Energy Maps 2000: New England Division -- This map presents annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline for the year 2000 for the six New England States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Household density per square mile and weather indicators (30-year annual averages of precipitation, heating degree-days, and cooling degree-days) also are included.  (Released 07/01/03)
• Residential Energy Maps 2000: Middle Atlantic Division
  This map presents annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline for the year 2000 for the three Middle Atlantic States: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Household density per square mile and weather indicators (30-year annual averages of precipitation, heating degree-days, and cooling degree-days) also are included.  (Released 07/01/03)
• Residential Energy Maps 2000: East North Central Division
  The East North Central map is the first map available in the new Residential Energy Map series (part of the Regional Energy Profiles group). It displays annual household consumption of natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, and motor gasoline, as well as weather indicators (heating and cooling degree-days and precipitation), for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.  (Released 06/26/03)
• Pacific Appliance Report 2001
  New data for 2001 on the market shares of appliances in the Pacific Division (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington) are presented in this report. Personal computers and gas appliances continued to be more common among the 17 million households in the Pacific than among U.S. households. Air-conditioning and most electric appliances continued to be less common among Pacific households. With the release of this report, all reports in the Appliance series have now been updated to include data for 2001.   (Released 01/27/03)/font>
• Mountain Appliance Report 2001
  This brief report includes new data for 2001 on the market shares of appliances in the Mountain States (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming). The data indicate that, among the 7 million households in the Mountain Division, electric appliances, particularly evaporative coolers, continued to be more common than among U.S. households, and gas appliances and air-conditioning continued to be less common.   (Released 01/17/03)
• West South Central Appliance Report 2001
  This brief report on appliance market-share trends in the West South Central Census Division includes newly available data for 2001. The data show that air-conditioning continues to be more prevalent in West South Central households, when compared to U.S. households overall, and that most appliances are found in West South Central households about as often as in U.S. households. (Released 01/15/03)
• East South Central Appliance Report 2001
  Data for 2001 are included in this brief statistical report, which compares long-term trends in the market share of air-conditioning and other appliances in the East South Central States of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee to trends in the United States as a whole. In the East South Central States, fewer households have natural gas available in the neighborhood, and market shares of gas appliances, particularly gas clothes dryers, are much lower.  (Released 01/08/03)
• South Atlantic Appliance Report 2001
  Newly available data for 2001 confirm long-term trends in appliance market shares in the South Atlantic. The data show that electric appliances continue to be much more common in the South Atlantic States than in the United States as a whole, and that the difference became more pronounced from 1980 through 2001. In contrast, gas appliances remain less common in the South Atlantic, where 2 out of 4 households have natural gas available in the neighborhood, compared with 3 out of 4 households nationwide.   (Released 12/ 23/02)
• West North Central Appliance Report 2001
  This brief report on appliance market-share trends in the West North Central Census Division includes newly available data for 2001. The data show that households in the West North Central States, when compared with households across the United States, are more likely to have common, major electric appliances, such as clothes washers and dryers, and less likely to have more specialized electric appliances, such as evaporative coolers and swimming pool pumps.   (Released 12/17/02)
• East North Central Appliance Report 2001
  This brief report on appliance market-share trends in the East North Central Census Division includes newly available data for 2001. Unlike some areas of the United States, the five States in the Division (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin) have extensive natural gas pipeline systems, and the 2001 data show that gas appliances, particularly ranges and clothes dryers, continue to be more prevalent in East Noth Central households than in U.S. households overall.   (Released 12/10/02)
• Middle Atlantic Appliance Report 2001
  Data for 2001 are included in this brief statistical report, which compares long-term trends in the market share of air-conditioning and other appliances in the Middle Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) to nationwide trends. The 2001 data show that gas appliances, particularly ranges and clothes dryers, continued to be more prevalent in the Middle Atlantic than in the United States as a whole.   (Released 12/03/02)
• New England Appliance Report 2001
  Data for 2001 are included in this brief statistical report, which compares long-term trends in the market share of air-conditioning and other appliances in New England to nationwide trends. The new data for 2001 show that the share of New England households with central air-conditioning remained low compared with the share of households nationwide. In 2001, 14 percent of New England households had central air-conditioning, compared with 55 percent of U.S. households.   (Released 11/19/02)