Total.............................................................................. 111.1 47.1 19.0 22.7 22.3

Do Not Have Cooling Equipment................................ 17.8 8.5 2.7 2.6 4.0

Have Cooling Equipment............................................. 93.3 38.6 16.2 20.1 18.4

Use Cooling Equipment.............................................. 91.4 37.8 15.9 19.8 18.0

Have Equipment But Do Not Use it............................. 1.9 0.9 0.3 0.3 0.4

Air-Conditioning Equipment1, 2

Central System........................................................... 65.9 25.8 10.9 16.6 12.5

Without a Heat Pump.............................................. 53.5 21.2 9.7 13.7 8.9

With a Heat Pump................................................... 12.3 4.6 1.2 2.8 3.6

Window/Wall Units..................................................... 28.9 13.4 5.6 3.9 6.1

1 Unit...................................................................... 14.5 6.8 2.3 2.0 3.3

2 Units.................................................................... 9.1 4.1 1.9 1.2 1.9

3 or More Units....................................................... 5.4 2.4 1.4 0.7 0.9

Central Air-Conditioning.............................................. 65.9 25.8 10.9 16.6 12.5

Housing Units Served by

Central Air-Condition Equipment

One Housing Unit.................................................... 64.2 24.9 10.7 16.1 12.5

Two or More Housing Units..................................... 1.7 0.9 Q 0.5 Q

Do Not Have Central A/C Equipment...................... 45.2 21.3 8.0 6.1 9.8

Number of Rooms Cooled by Central

Air-Conditioning in Summer 2005

None....................................................................... 1.4 0.7 Q Q Q

1............................................................................. 0.7 0.3 Q Q Q

2............................................................................. 2.1 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.4

3............................................................................. 7.5 3.7 1.2 1.6 1.1

4............................................................................. 7.9 3.6 1.6 1.4 1.2

5 or More................................................................ 46.3 16.8 7.4 12.6 9.6

Proportion of Rooms Air-Conditioned

None....................................................................... 1.4 0.7 Q Q Q

Some, But Not All of the Rooms............................. 8.4 3.0 1.3 2.4 1.7

All of the Rooms..................................................... 56.1 22.2 9.5 13.9 10.5

Frequency of Central Air-Conditioner Use

Never...................................................................... 1.4 0.7 Q Q Q

Only a Few Times When Needed........................... 11.4 4.9 1.8 2.9 1.8

Quite a Bit............................................................... 12.6 4.9 2.1 3.1 2.5

All Summer............................................................. 40.5 15.3 6.8 10.3 8.0

Age of Central Air-Conditioner

Used by One Housing Unit

Less than 2 Years............................................... 9.0 3.4 1.4 2.4 1.8

2 to 4 Years......................................................... 11.0 4.0 2.1 2.8 2.2

5 to 9 Years......................................................... 16.3 5.9 2.7 3.8 3.9

10 to 19 Years..................................................... 16.8 6.1 2.6 4.9 3.2

20 Years or More................................................. 6.5 3.1 1.2 1.4 0.8

Don't Know.......................................................... 4.5 2.5 0.7 0.8 0.4

 Million U.S. Housing Units

Table HC8.6 Air Conditioning Characteristics by Urban/Rural Location, 2005

Housing

Units 

Housing Unit Characteristics (millions)

Urban/Rural Location

(as Self-Reported)

City Town Suburbs Rural

Energy Information Administration

2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey: Preliminary Housing Characteristic Tables
 Million U.S. Housing Units

Table HC8.6 Air Conditioning Characteristics by Urban/Rural Location, 2005

Housing

Units 

Housing Unit Characteristics (millions)

Urban/Rural Location

(as Self-Reported)

City Town Suburbs Rural

Used by Two or More Housing Units

Less than 2 Years............................................... Q Q N N N

2 to 4 Years......................................................... Q Q Q N N

5 to 9 Years......................................................... 0.3 QQQQ

10 to 19 Years..................................................... 0.3 QQQQ

20 Years or More................................................. 0.3 Q N Q N

Don't Know.......................................................... 0.7 0.4 Q Q N

Household Pays for Electricity

for Central Air-Conditioning

Yes......................................................................... 63.6 24.7 10.4 16.1 12.4

No........................................................................... 2.3 1.1 0.5 Q Q

Window/Wall Unit Air-Conditioning............................ 28.9 13.4 5.6 3.9 6.1

Frequency Most-Used Unit Used

Never...................................................................... 0.6 0.3 Q Q Q

Only a Few Times When Needed........................... 12.1 5.8 2.2 1.7 2.4

Quite a Bit............................................................... 7.5 3.2 1.7 1.1 1.6

All Summer............................................................. 8.6 4.1 1.5 1.0 2.0

Age of Most-Used Unit

Less than 2 Years................................................... 6.4 3.5 1.0 0.9 1.0

2 to 4 Years............................................................ 7.8 3.4 1.7 1.0 1.8

5 to 9 Years............................................................ 7.0 2.8 1.3 1.1 1.9

10 to 19 Years........................................................ 3.7 1.6 0.7 0.5 0.8

20 Years or More.................................................... 2.1 1.1 0.5 Q 0.3

Don't Know.............................................................. 1.8 1.0 0.4 Q 0.3

Household Pays for Electricity for

Window/Wall Air-Conditioners

Yes......................................................................... 26.1 11.6 5.1 3.6 5.8

No........................................................................... 2.2 1.4 0.4 Q Q

 1. In the 2005 RECS 1.5 million housing units reported having both central and window/wall air conditioners.

 2. The number of housing units using air-conditioning includes a small, undetermined number of housing units where the fuel for 

central air-conditioning was some fuel other than electricity; these housing units were treated as if the air-conditioning fuel was 

electricity.

 Q = Data withheld either because the Relative Standard Error (RSE) was greater than 50 percent or fewer than 10 households were 

sampled.

 N = No cases in reporting sample.

 Notes: ● Because of rounding, data may not sum to totals. ● See Glossary for definition of terms used in these tables.

 Source: Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Markets and End Use, Forms EIA-457 A, B, C of the 2005 

Residential Energy Consumption Survey.

Energy Information Administration

2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey: Preliminary Housing Characteristic Tables