Frequently Asked Questions
How is electricity used in U.S. homes?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates in the Annual Energy Outlook 2017 that about 1,410 billion kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity were used by the residential sector in the United States in 2016.
| Estimated U.S. residential sector electricity consumption by end use, 2016 | |||
End use | Billion kWh | Share of total | |
| Space cooling | 247 | 18% | |
| Water heating | 134 | 9% | |
| Lighting | 129 | 9% | |
| Refrigeration | 103 | 7% | |
| Space heating | 96 | 7% | |
| Televisions and related equipment1 | 83 | 6% | |
| Clothes dryers | 61 | 4% | |
| Furnace fans and boiler circulation pumps | 32 | 2% | |
| Computers and related equipment2 | 32 | 2% | |
| Cooking | 32 | 2% | |
| Dishwashers3 | 28 | 2% | |
| Freezers | 22 | 2% | |
| Clothes washers3 | 8 | 1% | |
| Other uses4 | 405 | 29% | |
| Total consumption | 1,410 | ||
1 Includes televisions, set-top boxes, home theater systems, DVD players, and video game consoles.
2 Includes desktop and laptop computers, monitors, and networking equipment.
3 Does not include water heating.
4 Includes small electric devices, heating elements, exterior lights, outdoor grills, pool and spa heaters, backup electricity generators, and motors not listed above. Does not include electric vehicle charging.
Learn more:
Annual Energy Outlook, Reference case, Table 4: Residential sector key indicators and consumption
Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS)
Last updated: February 28, 2017
Other FAQs about Electricity
- Can electric utility customers choose their electricity supplier?
- Does EIA have county-level energy production data?
- Does EIA have data on each power plant in the United States?
- Does EIA have data on the costs for electricity transmission and distribution?
- Does EIA have energy consumption and price data for cities, counties, or by zip code?
- Does EIA have maps or information on the location of electric power plants and transmission lines in the United States?
- Does EIA have projections for energy production, consumption, and prices for individual states?
- Does EIA publish data on peak or hourly electricity generation, demand, and prices?
- Does EIA publish electric utility rate, tariff, and demand charge data?
- Does EIA publish electricity consumption and price data by state and by utility?
- How is electricity used in U.S. homes?
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- How many power plants are there in the United States?
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- How much coal, natural gas, or petroleum is used to generate a kilowatthour of electricity?
- How much does it cost to build different types of power plants in the United States?
- How much does it cost to generate electricity with different types of power plants?
- How much electricity does a nuclear power plant generate?
- How much electricity does an American home use?
- How much electricity is lost in transmission and distribution in the United States?
- How much electricity is used for lighting in the United States?
- How much energy does the world consume by each energy end-use sector?
- How much of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are associated with electricity generation?
- How much of U.S. energy consumption and electricity generation comes from renewable energy sources?
- How much of world energy consumption and production is from renewable energy?
- How old are U.S. nuclear power plants, and when was the newest one built?
- What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?
- What is the difference between electricity generation capacity and electricity generation?
- What is the efficiency of different types of power plants?
- What is the outlook for home heating fuel prices this winter?
- What types and amounts of energy are produced in each state?