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 Natural Gas, 1987
 
                       
        Average Natural Gas
                       
    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 U.S. Households 57.3 42.5 99.4 114 49 84.3 33 615 0.26 456 176
Census Region and Division
Northeast 11.7 7.4 21.2 139 49 88.5 34 898 0.31 571 221
New England 1.7 1.0 3.0 155 49 86.8 33 1,044 0.33 586 223
Middle Atlantic 10.0 6.5 18.2 137 49 88.8 35 877 0.31 568 221
Midwest 17.1 13.2 33.3 139 55 106.8 43 684 0.27 526 211
East North Central 12.2 9.2 23.6 147 57 110.5 44 737 0.29 553 222
West North Central 4.9 4.0 9.7 120 49 97.5 39 562 0.23 457 185
South 15.1 12.3 23.7 89 46 72.3 28 493 0.26 400 155
South Atlantic 5.9 4.5 9.7 101 46 77.0 29 657 0.30 501 191
East South Central 2.5 2.0 3.9 94 49 76.1 32 462 0.24 374 159
West South Central 6.8 5.8 10.0 78 45 66.9 26 378 0.22 322 123
West 13.4 9.7 21.2 90 41 65.5 24 457 0.21 331 120
Mountain 3.5 2.8 5.6 110 56 90.2 33 501 0.25 410 149
Pacific 9.9 6.8 15.6 82 36 56.8 21 439 0.19 303 110
Metropolitan Statistical Area  
Urban 48.7 35.0 84.9 116 48 83.6 32 637 0.26 457 174
Central City 23.3 14.9 35.1 128 54 81.9 33 701 0.30 449 178
Suburban 25.4 20.1 49.8 108 43 85.1 31 588 0.24 465 171
Rural 8.6 7.5 14.4 100 53 88.3 37 512 0.27 450 187
Climate Zone (1)
Fewer than 2,000 CDD and--
More than 7,000 HDD 4.2 3.3 8.3 124 50 100.1 42 624 0.25 503 210
5,500 to 7,000 HDD 19.1 13.9 36.6 150 57 109.5 43 761 0.29 555 219
4,000 to 5,499 HDD 13.1 9.4 23.5 116 46 83.1 32 705 0.28 505 194
Fewer than 4,000 HDD 12.2 8.6 18.1 85 40 59.7 22 478 0.23 336 124
2,000 CDD or More and--
Fewer than 4,000 HDD 8.8 7.3 12.8 69 40 58.1 22 377 0.22 315 119
Type and Ownership of
Housing Unit		    
Single-Family Detached 33.6 33.6 73.0 98 45 98.2 34 521 0.24 521 182
Owned 28.9 28.9 65.7 99 44 99.2 35 527 0.23 527 186
Rented 4.7 4.7 7.3 92 60 92.2 30 484 0.31 484 156
Single-Family Attached 3.5 3.5 7.0 83 42 82.8 32 495 0.25 495 194
Owned 2.6 2.6 5.8 87 40 87.2 35 531 0.24 531 212
Rented 0.9 0.9 1.3 70 50 69.9 26 390 0.28 390 145
Multifamily
2 to 4 Units 8.0 2.9 9.4 211 65 76.4 32 1,194 0.37 431 181
Owned 1.7 0.6 3.1 247 49 89.8 39 1,418 0.28 515 224
Rented 6.3 2.3 6.3 202 73 72.8 30 1,134 0.41 409 170
5 or More Units 10.5 0.8 8.4 621 61 48.5 25 3,448 0.34 269 142
Owned 0.6 (*) 1.0 657 31 48.6 28 3,633 0.17 269 156
Rented 9.8 0.8 7.3 618 65 48.5 25 3,437 0.36 269 141
Mobile Homes 1.7 1.7 1.6 71 78 71.1 29 369 0.40 369 148
Owned 1.4 1.4 1.3 72 78 72.1 29 372 0.40 372 147
Rented 0.3 0.3 0.2 66 76 65.8 29 354 0.41 354 154
Heated Floorspace
(square feet)
Fewer than 600 5.3 1.6 2.8 165 91 48.8 26 920 0.51 273 143
600 to 999 15.4 8.2 13.9 123 72 65.4 29 665 0.39 355 158
1,000 to 1,599 14.9 12.2 22.6 96 52 78.5 29 518 0.28 423 156
1,600 to 1,999 7.2 6.7 15.3 103 45 95.7 36 562 0.25 524 195
2,000 to 2,399 5.9 5.6 14.5 111 43 106.0 36 604 0.23 574 192
2,400 to 2,999 5.3 5.0 15.6 127 41 121.2 41 680 0.22 652 221
3,000 or More 3.3 3.2 14.7 139 30 132.3 40 734 0.16 700 213
Number of Rooms
1 0.4 (*) 0.2 521 84 46.8 36 2,981 0.48 268 208
2 1.6 0.3 0.9 228 72 39.7 29 1,148 0.36 200 145
3 6.1 1.7 4.5 166 64 47.4 29 917 0.35 262 158
4 10.6 5.7 11.2 122 63 66.1 30 667 0.34 362 163
5 13.2 10.7 20.4 100 52 80.7 30 539 0.28 433 162
6 11.6 10.6 23.4 104 47 94.3 33 557 0.25 507 179
7 7.2 7.1 18.2 107 42 105.4 34 586 0.23 576 188
8 or More 6.5 6.4 20.5 130 41 128.0 38 699 0.22 690 207
Ownership of Unit
Owned 35.3 33.6 76.9 101 44 95.8 35 541 0.24 516 188
Rented 22.0 8.9 22.4 162 65 65.9 28 891 0.36 361 154
Public Housing 1.8 0.3 1.4 307 73 55.7 24 1,740 0.42 316 135
Not Public Housing 20.2 8.6 21.0 157 64 66.8 28 858 0.35 365 156
Rent Subsidy 0.9 0.3 0.8 219 78 68.4 29 1,356 0.48 424 182
No Rent Subsidy 19.3 8.3 20.2 155 64 66.7 28 841 0.35 363 154
Year of Construction
1939 or Before 15.7 11.5 27.7 132 55 97.4 40 732 0.30 539 220
1940 to 1949 6.0 4.7 9.3 103 52 80.1 31 577 0.29 449 176
1950 to 1959 9.1 7.8 15.6 101 51 86.1 32 536 0.27 459 171
1960 to 1969 11.9 8.2 20.4 113 45 77.7 30 619 0.25 427 166
1970 to 1974 5.8 3.9 9.8 124 49 83.7 32 641 0.26 433 165
1975 to 1979 4.7 3.4 9.0 99 37 72.2 26 495 0.19 361 130
1980 to 1984 3.0 2.1 5.2 93 38 65.5 24 495 0.20 350 129
1985 or After (2) 1.2 0.9 2.5 107 40 82.0 27 561 0.21 430 141
All Utilities Paid by
Household		  
Yes 43.2 39.6 86.4 101 46 92.8 33 543 0.25 497 179
No 14.1 3.0 13.0 274 63 58.2 29 1,556 0.36 330 162
1990 Family Income
Less than $5,000 3.8 2.0 3.8 148 78 78.0 41 796 0.42 421 220
$5,000 to $9,999 7.4 4.9 9.3 117 62 77.5 37 624 0.33 413 197
$10,000 to $14,999 8.0 5.6 10.9 111 57 77.4 34 595 0.31 416 182
$15,000 to $19,999 5.6 3.9 8.3 116 53 78.8 30 624 0.29 426 164
$20,000 to $24,999 5.3 3.9 8.4 107 50 79.3 33 563 0.26 416 172
$25,000 to $34,999 9.9 7.5 17.8 108 45 81.7 30 592 0.25 446 163
$35,000 to $49,999 8.3 7.1 17.5 110 44 93.7 31 597 0.24 509 167
$50,000 or More 9.0 7.8 23.4 115 38 99.3 32 635 0.21 547 177
Below Poverty Line
100 Percent 7.4 4.5 8.2 132 73 80.8 29 718 0.40 438 157
125 Percent 11.5 7.4 13.5 126 69 80.6 30 682 0.37 435 163
Eligible for Federal
Assistance (3)		 16.4 10.9 20.7 119 63 79.2 30 644 0.34 430 162
Age of Householder
Under 25 Years 18.1 11.5 25.1 120 55 76.8 27 646 0.30 413 146
25 to 34 Years 10.7 8.5 20.6 113 47 89.4 27 600 0.25 476 145
35 to 44 Years 11.7 9.6 24.3 115 45 94.6 34 623 0.25 512 186
45 to 59 Years 16.8 12.9 29.3 107 47 82.0 46 590 0.26 452 253
Education of Householder
12 Years or Fewer 31.4 23.5 49.6 111 53 83.3 32 607 0.29 454 175
13 to 16 Years 20.3 14.9 37.7 116 46 84.9 32 619 0.24 454 172
17 Years or More 5.6 4.2 12.1 118 41 88.1 37 639 0.22 476 198
Race of Householder
White 46.6 36.0 85.2 110 46 84.7 34 584 0.25 452 179
Black 8.5 5.3 11.2 141 67 87.5 32 827 0.39 514 185
Other 2.2 1.3 3.0 110 47 62.8 18 582 0.25 332 96
Householder of Hispanic
Descent		  
Yes 3.7 2.4 4.4 97 52 62.5 19 530 0.28 341 102
No 53.6 40.2 94.9 115 48 85.8 34 620 0.26 464 183
Household Size
1 Person 14.3 8.1 18.0 123 55 69.1 69 654 0.29 368 368
2 Persons 18.7 14.3 33.3 106 45 80.5 40 571 0.24 435 217
3 Persons 22.3 18.5 43.6 115 49 95.1 25 625 0.27 518 138
4 or More Persons 2.0 1.8 4.5 122 48 107.6 16 678 0.27 597 90
                       
(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 1987.
(3)  Below 150 percent of poverty line or 60 percent of median State income.
(*) = Value rounds to zero in the units displayed.
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 1987 Residential
Energy Consumption Survey.

Contacts:

Specific questions on this product may be directed to:
Eileen O'Brien
Eileen.O'Brien@eia.doe.gov
Program Manager
Phone: (202) 586-1122
FAX: (202) 586-0018