Homeowners have a variety of home heating fuels to choose from. Natural gas is the most popular choice in Rensselaer County, used by 4,593,346 or 59.99% of homes. The 2nd most popular choice for Rensselaer County homeowners is heating oil, used by 1,379,410 homes (18.02%). The remaining homes are heated with electricity (1,040,155), propane (371,184), no fuel (127,077), and other fuels (245,918).

Rensselaer County Primary Home Heating Fuel Popularity by Number of Households

Fuel	Rensselaer County Households	% of Households
Natural Gas	4.5M	59.99%
Heating Oil	1.3M	18.02%
Electricity	1.0M	13.59%
Propane	371,184	4.85%
No Fuel	127,077	1.66%
Wood	117,324	1.53%
Other Fuels	102,644	1.34%
Coal	17,488	0.23%
Solar	8,462	0.11%

Natural gas (59.99)

Heating oil (18.02)

Electricity (13.59)

Propane (4.85)

No fuel (1.66)

Wood (1.53)

Other fuels (1.34)

Coal (0.23)

Solar (0.11)

#2 Heating Oil (Fuel Oil) Use in Rensselaer County

Heating oil has become less popular in Rensselaer County. In the 7 years since 2015, the number of heating oil homes fell from 1,819,152 to 1,379,410, a 24.17% drop.

Rensselaer County Heating Oil Households (2011 - 2022)

Year	Heating Oil Households
2011	2.1M
2012	2.0M
2013	1.9M
2014	1.9M
2015	1.8M
2016	1.7M
2017	1.6M
2018	1.5M
2019	1.5M
2020	1.4M
2021	1.4M
2022	1.3M

Propane vs. Natural Gas use for home heating in Rensselaer County

Between 2015 and today, the number of homes using propane as the primary space heating fuel rose from 251,521 to 371,184.

Between 2015 and today, the number of homes using natural gas as the primary space heating fuel rose from 4,122,437 to 4,593,346.

Electricity use for home heating in Rensselaer County

Electric space heating systems are becoming more popular in Rensselaer County. Since 2015, the number of homes heating with electricity rose from 769,345 to 1,040,155, a 35.20% increase.

Solar use for home heating in Rensselaer County

Solar is the most environmentally friendly of all space heating fuels. With an “active” solar heating system, liquid is circulated between solar panels on a home’s roof and a heat energy storage tank in the basement.

Currently, 8,462 homes in Rensselaer County are heated with active solar arrays. This is a 223.59% increase from 2015, when only 2,615 homes had installed active solar heating.