Furnaces remain a major U.S. home-heating category. The latest figures below distinguish central warm-air furnaces from heat pumps and other equipment, identify the survey year and geography, and separate measured estimates from future projections.
Key Furnace Statistics
The most broadly useful furnace statistics are:
- In 2020, 74.42 million U.S. homes used a central warm-air furnace as their main heating equipment.
- In 2020, 53.04 million U.S. single-family detached homes used a central warm-air furnace as their main heating equipment.
- In 2020, 8.65 million U.S. homes in buildings with five or more units used a central warm-air furnace as their main heating equipment.
- In 2020, 30.04 million homes in the RECS very-cold/cold climate region used a central warm-air furnace.
- In 2020, 21.13 million homes in the RECS mixed-humid climate region used a central warm-air furnace.
- In 2020, 27.40 million U.S. two-member households used a central warm-air furnace.
- In 2020, 18.44 million U.S. one-member households used a central warm-air furnace.
- In 2015, 46.5 million U.S. homes used a central warm-air furnace as their main heating equipment.
- In 2015, 57.7 million U.S. homes used natural gas as their main heating fuel.
- In 2015, 9.1 million U.S. homes built before 1950 used a central warm-air furnace.
- In 2020, 4,026 trillion Btu of site energy were used for space heating in U.S. homes.
- In 2020, 34.4 million Btu was the average annual site energy use for space heating among U.S. households using that end use.
- In 2022, residential gas furnaces accounted for approximately 19% of U.S. annual residential energy use, according to DOE.
- In 2020, natural gas was used in 58% of U.S. homes for all household end uses.
- Beginning in late 2028, covered non-weatherized gas furnaces and mobile-home furnaces will require at least 95% AFUE under DOE’s finalized standard.
- DOE estimates the future furnace standard will save consumers $1.5 billion annually in utility bills after implementation.
- DOE projects the standard will save consumers $24.8 billion over 30 years.
- DOE projects the standard will cut carbon emissions by 332 million metric tons over 30 years.
Contents
- Key Furnace Statistics
- Furnace Statistics by U.S. Housing Type and Building Form
- Furnace Statistics Across Climate Regions and Household Size
- Furnace Data by Home Age, Size and Heating Context
- Residential Furnace Energy Use, Fuel Mix and Efficiency
- Furnace Standards, Savings and Long-Term Trends
Furnace Statistics by U.S. Housing Type and Building Form
The 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) estimated that 74.42 million U.S. homes used a central warm-air furnace as their main heating equipment. EIA defines this category as a central combustor or resistance unit that supplies warm air through ducts; heat pumps are excluded.
The housing-form breakdown shows where these homes were located:
| Housing type | Homes using central warm-air furnace, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Single-family detached | 53.04 million |
| Single-family attached | 4.91 million |
| Apartments in 2–4-unit buildings | 4.22 million |
| Apartments in buildings with 5+ units | 8.65 million |
| Mobile homes | 3.60 million |
Source: EIA Table HC6.1, Space heating in U.S. homes by housing unit type, 2020. These are RECS estimates of homes, not counts of individual furnace appliances.
For context, EIA estimated that 16.13 million U.S. homes used a heat pump as their main equipment in 2020. Other main-equipment categories included 9.29 million homes using steam or hot-water systems, 7.65 million using built-in electric units and 3.03 million using portable electric heaters.
These categories should not be treated as a furnace-only market-share calculation. They describe separate main-heating-equipment groups, and the central warm-air furnace category does not include heat pumps.
Furnace Statistics Across Climate Regions and Household Size
Climate matters because the RECS categories describe heating regions rather than political boundaries. In 2020, the survey covered 42.50 million homes in the very-cold/cold region, 36.79 million in mixed-humid, 15.06 million in mixed-dry/hot-dry, 22.31 million in hot-humid and 6.87 million in marine regions.
Central warm-air furnace use varied across those same categories:
| RECS climate region | Homes using central warm-air furnace, 2020 | RECS homes covered, 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Very-cold/cold | 30.04 million | 42.50 million |
| Mixed-humid | 21.13 million | 36.79 million |
| Mixed-dry/hot-dry | 9.36 million | 15.06 million |
| Hot-humid | 10.19 million | 22.31 million |
| Marine | 3.70 million | 6.87 million |
Source: EIA Table HC6.6, Space heating in U.S. homes by climate region, 2020. The regions are RECS classifications, not states or census divisions.
Household size also provides a useful view of adoption. In 2020, central warm-air furnaces served 18.44 million one-member households, 27.40 million two-member households, 11.77 million three-member households, 10.07 million four-member households and 6.74 million households with five or more members.
| Household size | Central warm-air furnace homes, 2020 | Heat-pump homes, 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| One member | 18.44 million | 4.15 million |
| Two members | 27.40 million | 6.65 million |
| Three members | 11.77 million | 2.15 million |
| Four members | 10.07 million | 1.84 million |
| Five or more members | 6.74 million | 1.34 million |
Source: EIA Table HC6.4, Space heating in U.S. homes by number of household members, 2020. Heat-pump figures are comparison categories, not furnace use.
Furnace Data by Home Age, Size and Heating Context
The 2015 RECS counted 118.2 million U.S. homes. Of those, 113.1 million used space-heating equipment, 3.6 million had equipment but did not use it, and 1.6 million did not have space-heating equipment.
In that 2015 survey, central warm-air furnaces were the main equipment in 46.5 million homes. The housing-type detail was 35.3 million single-family detached homes, 3.4 million single-family attached homes, 3.2 million apartments in 2–4-unit buildings, 3.5 million apartments in buildings with five or more units and 1.2 million mobile homes.
Source: EIA Table HC6.1, Space heating in U.S. homes by housing unit type, 2015. RECS counts homes and reports the main equipment category; it does not count individual furnace units.
Home age adds another dimension to the 2015 estimate:
| Construction period | Homes using central warm-air furnace, 2015 |
|---|---|
| Before 1950 | 9.1 million |
| 1950–1959 | 6.5 million |
| 1970–1979 | 6.7 million |
| 1990–1999 | 6.4 million |
| 2000–2009 | 5.9 million |
| 2010–2015 | 1.4 million |
Source: EIA Table HC6.3, Space heating in U.S. homes by year of construction, 2015. The construction-year groupings are those used by RECS.
Fuel and equipment are related but not interchangeable measures. Natural gas was the main heating fuel in 57.7 million U.S. homes in 2015, while 46.5 million homes used central warm-air furnaces as their main equipment; the fuel figure is not a furnace-only count.
The 2015 survey also estimated 16.1 million homes using heat pumps as main equipment, compared with 46.5 million using central warm-air furnaces. The 2015 and 2020 estimates come from different survey years and should not be treated as a causal time series.
Residential Furnace Energy Use, Fuel Mix and Efficiency
U.S. homes used 4,026 trillion Btu of site energy for space heating in 2020, according to EIA. Among households using space heating, the average annual site energy use for that end use was 34.4 million Btu.
The 2020 RECS covered 123.53 million U.S. housing units and estimated total residential site energy use at 9,481 trillion Btu. Space-heating energy therefore describes a major residential end use, but the supplied estimate is not furnace-only.
Source: EIA Table CE3.1, Annual household site end-use consumption in the United States—totals and averages, 2020. EIA notes that space-heating end-use energy excludes furnace-fan or blower energy.
The fuel mix provides additional context:
- Natural gas was used in 58% of U.S. homes in 2020, across all household end uses.
- Natural gas supplied about 43% of U.S. residential-sector end-use energy in 2020.
- Electricity supplied about 44% of U.S. residential-sector end-use energy in 2020.
These figures describe household energy and fuel use broadly, not the fuel consumed by central warm-air furnaces alone. In 2020, approximately 13% of U.S. households used a heat pump as their main heating equipment, a comparison category excluded from EIA’s central warm-air furnace category.
DOE separately reported that residential gas furnaces accounted for approximately 19% of U.S. annual residential energy use in 2022. That estimate covers residential gas furnaces, not all furnace types.
Furnace Standards, Savings and Long-Term Trends
DOE finalized a residential gas-furnace efficiency standard that requires at least 95% annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) for covered non-weatherized gas furnaces and mobile-home furnaces beginning in late 2028. AFUE is an annual fuel-utilization measure, not a field-measured seasonal average for every installation.
DOE describes the 95% AFUE requirement as converting nearly all gas used into heat for the living space. The requirement applies to covered products and does not describe the efficiency of the installed furnace stock before implementation.
DOE’s projected outcomes are distinct from observed results:
| Projected outcome | DOE estimate | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer utility-bill savings | $1.5 billion annually | After implementation |
| Consumer savings | $24.8 billion | 30 years |
| Carbon-emissions reduction | 332 million metric tons | 30 years |
| Methane-emissions reduction | 4.3 million tons | 30 years |
Source: DOE, DOE Finalizes Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential Furnaces to Save Americans $1.5 Billion In Annual Utility Bills. The dollar figures are in 2022 U.S. dollars, and all savings and emissions figures are DOE projections rather than post-implementation observations.
The long-term picture therefore combines a large installed residential heating category with a future efficiency threshold. The 2020 and 2015 RECS figures describe estimated homes and households, while the late-2028 standard and its savings, carbon and methane outcomes describe covered products and forecast effects under DOE’s assumptions.