Electric heating spans resistance heaters, heat pumps and mixed household systems. The statistics below separate observed data from estimates and forecasts, and distinguish household electricity from space-heating electricity.
Key Electric Heating Statistics
The most broadly useful electric-heating figures include:
- In 2015, 12.1 million U.S. households used electric heat pumps, although the estimate covers heating equipment and not necessarily primary heating.
- In 2015, 9.3 million U.S. heat-pump households were in hot-humid or mixed-humid climate regions.
- In 2015, 1.3 million households in the U.S. cold/very-cold region had electric heat pumps, equal to about 3% of that region’s households.
- In the Winter Fuels Outlook baseline for winter 2021–22, 41% of U.S. households primarily used electric heat pumps or resistance heaters.
- In the same winter outlook, 64% of households in the U.S. South primarily heated with electricity.
- In 2020, U.S. homes used 161.1 billion kWh for space heating.
- In 2020, December accounted for 133.3 trillion Btu of U.S. residential electric space-heating use.
- In the October 2021–March 2022 forecast, primarily electric-heated U.S. households were expected to use 9,193 kWh per household for all household purposes.
- The winter 2021–22 forecast put average electricity expenditure at $1,268 per primarily electric-heated U.S. household.
- The winter 2021–22 forecast put the average retail electricity price at 13.8 cents/kWh for primarily electric-heated U.S. households.
- In the IEA’s 2022 global baseline, heat pumps supplied 12% of space-heating service demand.
- The IEA pathway requires global heat-pump capacity in buildings to reach 6,500 GW by 2050.
- Global heat-pump installations were projected to rise from 180 million units in 2020 to about 600 million in 2030.
- A properly operated heat pump was estimated to deliver 3–5 units of heat per unit of electricity over a heating season.
- EU households used 9.6 million terajoules of energy in 2023, across all fuels and household uses.
- In 2023, home heating represented 62.5% of EU household final energy consumption.
- About 2.1 million households in England and Wales reported electric-only heating in 2021, around 9% of households.
- Fewer than 1% of English dwellings, or 179,000 dwellings, had a heat pump in 2021.
Contents
- Electric heating household adoption and equipment choices
- Electric space-heating energy use by month and region
- Electric heating costs and winter demand
- Heat-pump performance and global electric-heating growth
- European and UK electric-heating data
- Electric heating outlooks, efficiency and decarbonization
Electric Heating Household Adoption and Equipment Choices
U.S. adoption varies sharply by climate and by definition. The 2015 estimate from the U.S. Energy Information Administration counted households using electric heat pumps as heating equipment, while the Winter Fuels Outlook classified primary space-heating sources.
| U.S. measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Households using electric heat pumps | 2015 | 12.1 million |
| Heat-pump households in hot-humid or mixed-humid regions | 2015 | 9.3 million |
| Heat-pump households in cold/very-cold regions | 2015 | 1.3 million |
| Households primarily using heat pumps or resistance heat | Winter 2021–22 outlook | 41% |
| Southern households primarily using electricity | Winter 2021–22 outlook | 64% |
Source: U.S. households’ heating equipment choices are diverse and vary by climate region. The 1.3-million cold/very-cold estimate was about 3% of households in that climate grouping, while the national 12.1-million figure should not be read as primary-heating adoption.
The regional contrast is important: most of the 2015 electric-heat-pump households were in hot-humid or mixed-humid regions, whereas the cold/very-cold group had a smaller absolute count and a low regional share. The 2021–22 outlook is a separate forecast-period estimate and combines heat pumps with electric resistance heating.
Electric Space-Heating Energy Use by Month and Region
EIA’s 2020 modeled residential tables estimate 549.6 trillion Btu of site electricity for U.S. space heating, equivalent in the same table to 161.1 billion kWh. These figures describe space-heating electricity, not total electricity used by households.
Monthly use shows the seasonal concentration of demand:
- January 2020 accounted for 114.6 trillion Btu.
- February 2020 accounted for 104.8 trillion Btu.
- December 2020 accounted for 133.3 trillion Btu.
Source: Table CE8.2.M.2020 Monthly household site electricity space heating consumption in the United States—totals, 2020. The monthly values are modeled estimates.
Selected state totals show that electric space-heating demand is not limited to one climate band. The units below are billion kWh except where noted.
| State or area | 2020 residential space-heating electricity |
|---|---|
| Texas | 14.5 billion kWh |
| North Carolina | 8.4 billion kWh |
| Pennsylvania | 8.6 billion kWh |
| Ohio | 7.7 billion kWh |
| Tennessee | 7.0 billion kWh |
| Virginia | 6.1 billion kWh |
| Minnesota | 2.8 billion kWh |
| New Jersey | 1.9 billion kWh |
| Iowa | 1.9 billion kWh |
| Kansas | 4.4 trillion Btu |
| Louisiana | 8.5 trillion Btu |
| Florida | 8.4 trillion Btu |
These state observations come from the same EIA 2020 space-heating electricity table, which reports totals in both billion kWh and trillion Btu depending on the table measure.
Electric Heating Costs, Consumption and Winter Demand
The EIA’s Winter Fuels Outlook forecast covered October 2021 through March 2022 and primarily electric-heated households. Its consumption and expenditure measures include all household electricity uses, so they are not heating-only bills.
| Forecast measure | United States | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity consumption per household | 9,193 kWh | October 2021–March 2022 |
| Average retail electricity price | 13.8 cents/kWh | October 2021–March 2022 |
| Electricity expenditure per household | $1,268 | October 2021–March 2022 |
| Consumption change from prior winter | 1% higher | 2021–22 vs. 2020–21 |
| Price change from prior winter | 5% higher | 2021–22 vs. 2020–21 |
| Expenditure change from prior winter | 6% higher | 2021–22 vs. 2020–21 |
Source: Winter Fuels Outlook – October 2021. These are nominal forecast figures rather than observed outcomes.
Regional forecast expenditures differed across the country:
- The Northeast was forecast at $1,538 per primarily electric-heated household.
- The Midwest was forecast at $1,346 per household.
- The South was forecast at $1,173 per household.
- The West was forecast at $1,330 per household.
The same outlook forecast 9,498 kWh per primarily electric-heated household in the South. Regional prices, weather, housing, equipment and household usage all affect the observed bill, but the supplied forecast does not isolate those drivers.
Heat-Pump Performance and Global Electric-Heating Growth
Heat pumps are a distinct part of electric heating because the IEA measures both equipment capacity and the heat delivered as a service. In the IEA’s 2022 baseline, heat pumps supplied 12% of global space-heating service demand, and global building heat-pump capacity was estimated at 1,000 GW.
| IEA pathway milestone | Heat-pump share of global space-heating service demand | Global building capacity |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 baseline | 12% | 1,000 GW |
| 2030 | 25% | 3,000 GW |
| 2035 | 40% | 4,400 GW |
| 2050 | 55% | 6,500 GW |
Sources: Space heating and Installation of about 600 million heat pumps covering 20% of buildings heating needs required by 2030. The 2030, 2035 and 2050 values are pathway milestones, not observed global counts.
A separate IEA/TCP strategic pathway projected global heat-pump installations from 180 million units in 2020 to about 600 million in 2030. It described a baseline installation pace of 1.5 million units per month in the 2022 report and projected about 5 million installations per month by 2030.
The pathway estimated that one unit of electricity used by a properly operated heat pump delivers 3–5 units of heat on average over a heating season. Actual performance depends on the system, climate and operation, so the range is not a universal equipment rating.
European and UK Electric-Heating Data
EU household energy data covers all household fuels and end uses, while UK census and housing-survey figures use different populations and definitions. They should therefore be read as related indicators, not as a directly comparable adoption series.
| Measure | Period and geography | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Household energy use | EU, 2023 | 9.6 million TJ |
| Change in household energy use | EU, 2022–2023 | 5.6% decrease |
| Households’ share of final energy | EU, 2023 | 26.2% |
| Electricity share of household final energy | EU, 2023 | 25.9% |
| Natural-gas share of household final energy | EU, 2023 | 29.5% |
| Renewables and biofuels share | EU, 2023 | 23.5% |
| Home-heating share of household final energy | EU, 2023 | 62.5% |
| Space and water heating share | EU, 2023 | 77.6% |
Source: Energy use in EU households down second year in a row. The heating shares include all heating fuels, and the electricity share includes all household electricity uses.
In the 2021 Census, about 2.1 million households in England and Wales, around 9%, reported electric-only heating. In the Castlefield and Deansgate neighbourhoods of Manchester, the reported electric-only share was 84%, a small-area result that should not be generalized nationally.
For comparison, 865,940 England-and-Wales households reported oil as their only central-heating source, about 3%. Source: Census 2021: how homes are heated in your area.
The English Housing Survey estimated that fewer than 1% of English dwellings—179,000 dwellings—in 2021 had a heat pump for space heating, water heating or both. Source: English Housing Survey 2021 to 2022: energy.
Electric Heating Outlooks, Efficiency and Decarbonization
The IEA pathway pairs more electrified heating with lower building energy demand. It projects space-heating energy consumption in buildings to fall almost 70% by 2050 while heated floor area rises 30%, reflecting the combined effect of building codes, equipment efficiency and behavior.
| Pathway year | Heated floor area | Zero-carbon-ready existing building stock |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 baseline | 157 billion m² | — |
| 2030 | 170 billion m² | 20% |
| 2035 | 180 billion m² | 35% |
| 2050 | 200 billion m² | 80% |
The same pathway sets a 2.5% annual retrofit rate for advanced economies in 2030, 2035 and 2050. It also projects zero-carbon-ready new buildings and deep renovations at 100% in each of those years.
Source: Space heating. “Zero-carbon-ready” is a pathway category and is not synonymous with electric heating; the figures are forecasts rather than observed building-stock results.