Home > Households, Buildings & Industry > Residential Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) > Historical Publications
Residential Energy Consumption Historical Data Tables

Table 1. Consumption and Expenditures in U.S. Households that Use Electricity, 1981
 
                       
        Average Electricity
                       
    Residential Buildings Consumption Expenditures
          per            
      Total per   Square   per   per    per
   Total Total   Floorspace Building Foot per   Household per   Square per Household
  Households Number (billion (million  (thousand  Household Member Building Foot Household Member
Characteristics (million) (million) sq. ft.) Btu) Btu) (million Btu)   (million Btu)   (dollars) (dollars) (dollars) (dollars)
Total 83.1 66.1 144.2 37 17 29.1 10 678 0.31 539 192
Census Region and Division
Northeast 17.9 12.1 35.1 33 11 22.1 8 830 0.29 561 195
New England 4.3 2.9 8.3 31 11 21.3 8 776 0.27 531 189
Middle Atlantic 13.7 9.2 26.7 33 11 22.4 8 847 0.29 571 197
Midwest 21.2 17.4 41.5 32 13 26.3 10 574 0.24 471 173
East North Central 14.6 12.0 28.1 30 13 24.8 9 561 0.24 461 169
West North Central 6.6 5.4 13.3 36 15 29.5 11 602 0.24 492 180
South 27.7 23.5 42.6 43 24 36.3 13 738 0.41 627 226
South Atlantic 14.1 11.3 21.9 42 22 33.7 12 765 0.39 614 225
East South Central 5.6 5.1 9.3 50 27 45.1 16 730 0.40 661 236
West South Central 8.0 7.1 11.4 39 24 34.7 12 701 0.44 627 220
West 16.3 13.0 25.0 35 18 28.3 10 568 0.29 453 157
Mountain 3.9 3.4 6.1 32 18 27.7 9 522 0.29 449 152
Pacific 12.3 9.6 18.9 37 19 28.5 10 584 0.30 455 158
Metropolitan Statistical Area  
Urban 57.3 41.6 95.4 35 15 25.7 9 688 0.30 500 183
Central City 24.6 16.0 36.2 37 16 23.8 9 725 0.32 471 175
Suburban 32.7 25.6 59.2 35 15 27.2 10 664 0.29 521 190
Rural 25.8 24.4 48.8 39 19 36.6 12 662 0.33 626 210
Climate Zone (1)
Fewer than 2,000 CDD and--
More than 7,000 HDD 8.8 7.3 16.9 31 13 25.8 9 541 0.23 450 156
5,500 to 7,000 HDD 20.9 16.1 41.8 33 13 25.5 9 637 0.25 490 172
4,000 to 5,499 HDD 21.6 16.4 39.5 38 16 28.8 11 719 0.30 545 202
Fewer than 4,000 HDD 19.5 15.8 29.2 37 20 30.1 11 651 0.35 527 184
2,000 CDD or More and--
Fewer than 4,000 HDD 12.2 10.4 16.7 43 27 36.7 13 814 0.51 697 251
Type and Ownership of
Housing Unit		    
Single-Family Detached 54.6 54.6 114.2 33 16 33.4 11 599 0.29 599 197
Owned 46.3 46.3 101.7 34 16 34.1 11 615 0.28 615 205
Rented 8.2 8.2 12.5 29 19 28.9 9 507 0.33 507 155
Single-Family Attached 3.0 3.0 5.8 25 13 25.3 9 531 0.27 531 192
Owned 2.1 2.1 4.3 25 12 24.8 9 549 0.26 549 198
Rented 0.9 0.9 1.5 26 16 26.5 10 491 0.30 491 177
Multifamily
2 to 4 Units 9.3 3.4 10.5 51 16 18.4 8 1,074 0.35 389 159
Owned 2.1 0.8 3.4 54 12 19.5 8 1,279 0.29 466 181
Rented 7.2 2.6 7.1 50 18 18.1 7 1,015 0.37 366 152
5 or More Units 12.0 0.9 9.9 242 23 18.9 9 5,085 0.48 396 186
Owned 1.0 0.1 1.2 317 20 22.9 12 6,714 0.41 484 263
Rented 11.0 0.9 8.8 236 23 18.5 9 4,947 0.49 388 179
Mobile Homes 4.2 4.2 3.7 30 34 30.0 12 514 0.58 514 208
Owned 3.6 3.6 3.3 31 34 30.7 12 528 0.58 528 212
Rented 0.6 0.6 0.4 26 37 26.0 11 434 0.62 434 182
Heated Floorspace
(square feet)
Fewer than 600 7.2 3.3 4.1 34 27 15.7 8 734 0.59 339 170
600 to 999 21.8 13.4 20.4 36 24 22.1 9 672 0.44 415 175
1,000 to 1,599 25.2 21.7 38.6 35 20 29.9 10 633 0.36 544 188
1,600 to 1,999 10.6 9.6 22.7 37 16 33.6 11 687 0.29 628 205
2,000 to 2,399 7.4 7.2 19.0 37 14 36.0 11 659 0.25 639 199
2,400 to 2,999 5.6 5.5 16.5 39 13 38.0 11 693 0.23 685 197
3,000 or More 5.4 5.3 23.0 45 10 44.0 13 840 0.19 821 233
Number of Rooms
1 0.5 0.1 0.2 29 24 7.8 6 702 0.58 188 134
2 1.9 0.6 1.0 44 26 14.0 9 918 0.55 291 189
3 7.7 2.9 5.7 45 23 17.2 10 909 0.47 347 195
4 17.4 10.8 19.6 37 21 23.1 10 696 0.38 434 186
5 19.4 16.7 29.2 33 19 28.1 10 596 0.34 513 180
6 16.5 15.5 32.7 34 16 31.8 10 623 0.30 587 192
7 9.6 9.4 23.7 38 15 37.0 11 679 0.27 665 204
8 or More 10.2 10.0 32.2 43 13 42.6 11 796 0.25 784 207
Ownership of Unit
Owned 55.1 52.8 113.9 34 16 32.8 11 624 0.29 599 205
Rented 28.0 13.2 30.3 46 20 21.9 8 893 0.39 422 163
Year of Construction
1939 or Before 24.2 18.9 44.3 28 12 21.6 8 553 0.24 433 157
1940 to 1949 6.9 6.0 11.1 31 17 26.7 10 564 0.31 492 185
1950 to 1959 13.5 11.7 23.3 31 15 26.7 10 584 0.29 505 183
1960 to 1969 16.1 12.5 26.7 40 19 30.8 11 749 0.35 581 205
1970 to 1974 10.7 8.0 18.0 48 21 35.8 13 837 0.37 625 219
1975 to 1979 9.8 7.4 17.7 53 22 40.5 14 911 0.38 693 233
1980 to 1981 (2) 1.9 1.5 3.1 52 25 40.1 14 853 0.42 661 235
All Utilities Paid by
Household		  
Yes 69.6 62.6 131.6 35 17 31.9 11 637 0.30 574 197
No 13.5 3.4 12.6 58 16 14.7 6 1,430 0.39 360 159
1981 Family Income
Less than $5,000 9.8 6.5 10.9 29 17 19.4 9 572 0.34 379 178
$5,000 to $9,999 13.5 9.7 18.6 32 16 22.7 9 596 0.31 428 174
$10,000 to $14,999 12.5 9.5 19.0 35 18 26.6 10 633 0.32 483 181
$15,000 to $19,999 10.7 8.5 17.5 37 18 29.5 10 662 0.32 528 182
$20,000 to $24,999 10.8 9.0 19.8 37 17 31.2 10 679 0.31 571 189
$25,000 to $34,999 13.3 11.5 26.9 38 16 33.3 11 704 0.30 610 193
$35,000 or More 12.6 11.3 31.5 44 16 39.6 12 833 0.30 744 233
Below Poverty Line
100 Percent 11.0 7.6 12.9 32 19 21.9 7 609 0.36 420 138
125 Percent 15.8 11.0 19.1 31 18 21.8 8 600 0.35 419 149
Age of Householder
Under 25 Years 27.6 19.6 40.7 39 19 27.8 9 709 0.34 503 168
25 to 34 Years 14.6 12.5 30.1 42 17 35.5 9 779 0.32 663 175
35 to 44 Years 18.4 16.1 36.3 38 17 33.0 11 700 0.31 613 212
45 to 59 Years 22.5 17.9 37.0 29 14 23.3 13 555 0.27 442 238
Education of Householder
12 Years or Fewer 52.8 42.6 84.5 34 17 27.7 10 636 0.32 513 181
13 to 16 Years 23.2 17.9 44.6 41 17 31.7 11 758 0.30 582 211
17 Years or More 7.1 5.6 15.2 39 14 30.9 11 747 0.27 588 214
Race of Householder
White 72.5 58.9 129.9 37 17 30.0 11 674 0.31 547 199
Black 9.0 6.1 12.2 34 17 23.1 7 704 0.35 477 152
Other 1.6 1.1 2.1 34 17 22.7 6 772 0.38 513 136
Householder of Hispanic
Descent		  
Yes 4.5 3.3 5.8 31 18 22.5 6 657 0.37 471 126
No 78.6 62.8 138.3 37 17 29.5 11 679 0.31 543 197
Household Size
1 Person 15.3 9.8 18.1 27 15 17.5 18 535 0.29 340 340
2 Persons 27.7 21.5 46.0 35 16 27.0 13 640 0.30 498 249
3 Persons 15.3 12.6 28.7 39 17 32.1 11 708 0.31 582 194
4 or More Persons 24.7 22.1 51.3 41 18 36.9 8 761 0.33 681 145
                       
(1)  Climate zones are based on annual degree-days that are averaged over 30 years from 1951 to 1980.
(2)  Does not include all new construction for 1981.
Notes: • Because of rounding, data may not sum to totals.
Source:  Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Markets and End Use, Forms EIA-457 A-G of the 1981 Residential
Energy Consumption Survey.

Contacts:

Specific questions on this product may be directed to:
Chip Berry
mailto:James.Berry@eia.doe.gov
Program Manager
Phone: (202) 586-5543
FAX: (202) 586-0018