Household heating fuels vary across the country
Note: Pie sizes are approximate but represent the total number of homes in that Census Region.
The use of particular fuels for space heating varies widely across the United States. While natural gas heats 50% of homes nationwide, heating oil is particularly important to the Northeast and electricity is most widely used in the South.
EIA recently released the Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook with projections of heating fuel prices, consumption, and expenditures for the upcoming 2011-2012 winter.
Data on the map above are from EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), which was significantly expanded for the 2009 RECS, from a sample size of about 4,400 households to over 12,000 households, with detailed data on a total of 16 representative States. RECS provides detailed data on home space heating, including heating system type, age, and maintenance, as well as thermostat use.