How much electricity is used for lighting in the United States?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that in 2018, the U.S. residential sector and the commercial sector used about 232 billion kilowatthours (kWh) of electricity for lighting. This was about 8% of the total electricity consumed by both of these sectors and about 6% of total U.S. electricity consumption.
Residential sector electricity consumption for lighting was about 91 billion kWh or about 6% of total residential sector electricity consumption in 2018.
The commercial sector, which includes commercial and institutional buildings, and public street and highway lighting, consumed about 141 billion kWh for lighting, equal to about 10% of total commercial sector electricity consumption in 2018. EIA does not have an estimate of electricity use specifically for public street and highway lighting.
In 2014, about 55 billion kWh were consumed for facility lighting in manufacturing facilities, which was equal to about 1.4% of total U.S. electricity consumption in 2014.1
1 This is the most recent data available at the time that this FAQ was updated.
Learn more:
EIA projections for energy use in the residential and commercial sectors in Table 4 and Table 5 of the Annual Energy Outlook (Reference case)
Trends in Lighting in Commercial Buildings
American households use a variety of lightbulbs as CFL and LED adoption increases
Energy Explained: Use of Electricity
U.S. Department of Energy market studies on lighting
Last updated: January 24, 2019
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