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How is electricity used in U.S. homes?
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) conducts the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). The RECS includes detailed data on the types of electrical devices in U.S. households (including cooling and heating equipment, electronics, lighting, refrigerators, and water heaters) and electricity consumption by type of end use. Selected data are available for each state. State-level data are also presented in the RECS Dashboard.
Additional information is available in:
- Electricity use in homes
- Over one-quarter of U.S. households use electricity as the only source of energy
- Nearly 90% of U.S. households used air conditioning in 2020
- Nearly half of U.S. households use LED bulbs for all or most of their indoor lighting
- Per capita U.S. residential electricity use was flat in 2020, but varied by state
EIA also publishes projections for U.S. residential sector electricity consumption by type of major end use in the Annual Energy Outlook, Reference case, Table 4: Residential sector key indicators and consumption.
Last updated: March 6, 2024.
Other FAQs about Electricity
- How old are U.S. nuclear power plants, and when was the newest one built?
- How much coal, natural gas, or petroleum is used to generate a kilowatthour of electricity?
- How many smart meters are installed in the United States, and who has them?
- What is the outlook for home heating fuel prices this winter?
- How much does it cost to generate electricity with different types of power plants?
- Does EIA publish electric utility rate, tariff, and demand charge data?
- Can electric utility customers choose their electricity supplier?
- Does EIA have data on each power plant in the United States?
- What types and amounts of energy are produced in each state?
- How much of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are associated with electricity generation?
- How much of U.S. energy production and consumption comes from renewable energy sources?
- Does EIA publish energy consumption and price data for cities, counties, or by zip code?
- How many power plants are in the United States?
- Does EIA have forecasts or projections for energy production, consumption, and prices for individual states?
- How much electricity is used for lighting in the United States?
- What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?
- How much does it cost to build different types of power plants in the United States?
- Does EIA publish data on peak or hourly electricity generation, demand, and prices?
- How much electricity is lost in electricity transmission and distribution in the United States?
- What is the efficiency of different types of power plants?
- Does EIA publish the location of electric power plants and transmission lines?
- How much carbon dioxide is produced per kilowatthour of U.S. electricity generation?
- What is the difference between electricity generation capacity and electricity generation?
- How much electricity does a power plant generate?
- How much electricity is used for air conditioning in the United States?
- How many nuclear power plants are in the United States, and where are they located?
- How much electricity does an American home use?
- Does EIA have county-level energy production data?
- How is electricity used in U.S. homes?
- Does EIA publish electricity sales and price data by state and by utility?
- Does EIA have data on costs for electricity transmission and distribution?
- How much of world energy production and consumption is from renewable energy?
- How much energy does the world consume by each energy end-use sector?
- Does EIA have information on unplanned disruptions or outages of U.S. energy infrastructure?
- How many electric vehicles (EV) and EV charging stations are in the United States?