Homeowners have a variety of home heating fuels to choose from. Natural gas is the most popular choice in Richmond County, used by 4,593,346 or 59.99% of homes. The 2nd most popular choice for Richmond 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).
Richmond County Primary Home Heating Fuel Popularity by Number of Households
Fuel | Richmond 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)
Heating oil has become less popular in Richmond County. In the 5 years since 2017, the number of heating oil homes fell from 1,663,074 to 1,379,410, a 17.06% drop.
Richmond 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 |
Between 2017 and today, the number of homes using propane as the primary space heating fuel rose from 274,348 to 371,184.
Between 2017 and today, the number of homes using natural gas as the primary space heating fuel rose from 4,228,093 to 4,593,346.
Electric space heating systems are becoming more popular in Richmond County. Since 2017, the number of homes heating with electricity rose from 820,554 to 1,040,155, a 26.76% increase.
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 Richmond County are heated with active solar arrays. This is a 102.49% increase from 2017, when only 4,179 homes had installed active solar heating.