Million U.S. Housing Units

Total..................................................................... 111.1 14.7 7.4 12.5 12.5 18.9 18.6 17.3 9.2

Do Not Have Cooling Equipment....................... 17.8 3.9 1.8 2.2 2.1 3.1 2.6 1.7 0.4

Have Cooling Equipment................................... 93.3 10.8 5.6 10.3 10.4 15.8 16.0 15.6 8.8

Use Cooling Equipment..................................... 91.4 10.6 5.5 10.3 10.3 15.3 15.7 15.3 8.6

Have Equipment But Do Not Use it................... 1.9 Q Q Q Q 0.6 0.4 0.3 Q

Air-Conditioning Equipment1, 2

Central System................................................. 65.9 3.7 2.6 6.1 6.8 11.2 13.2 13.9 8.2

Without a Heat Pump.................................... 53.5 3.6 2.3 5.5 5.8 9.5 10.1 10.3 6.4

With a Heat Pump......................................... 12.3 Q 0.3 0.6 1.0 1.7 3.1 3.6 1.7

Window/Wall Units............................................ 28.9 7.3 3.2 4.5 3.7 4.8 3.0 1.9 0.7

1 Unit............................................................. 14.5 3.1 1.6 1.9 1.8 2.7 1.8 1.0 0.5

2 Units........................................................... 9.1 2.3 1.0 1.8 1.2 1.5 0.7 0.5 Q

3 or More Units.............................................. 5.4 1.9 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.4 0.4 Q

Central Air-Conditioning.................................... 65.9 3.7 2.6 6.1 6.8 11.2 13.2 13.9 8.2

Housing Units Served by

Central Air-Condition Equipment

One Housing Unit.......................................... 64.2 3.6 2.6 6.1 6.5 10.8 13.1 13.4 8.0

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

Do Not Have Central A/C Equipment............. 45.2 10.9 4.8 6.4 5.7 7.7 5.3 3.4 1.1

Number of Rooms Cooled by Central

Air-Conditioning in Summer 2005

None.............................................................. 1.4 Q Q Q Q 0.4 0.3 Q Q

1.................................................................... 0.7 N N QQQQQQ

2.................................................................... 2.1 Q Q Q Q 0.4 0.6 0.4 Q

3.................................................................... 7.5 0.5 0.3 0.6 0.6 1.5 2.1 1.3 0.6

4.................................................................... 7.9 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.5 1.6 2.1 0.6

5 or More....................................................... 46.3 2.5 1.9 4.7 5.1 7.4 8.7 9.8 6.3

Proportion of Rooms Air-Conditioned

None.............................................................. 1.4 Q Q Q Q 0.4 0.3 Q Q

Some, But Not All of the Rooms.................... 8.4 0.9 0.5 0.7 0.7 1.4 1.6 1.7 0.8

All of the Rooms............................................ 56.1 2.8 2.1 5.3 6.0 9.5 11.3 12.0 7.2

Frequency of Central Air-Conditioner Use

Never............................................................. 1.4 Q Q Q Q 0.4 0.3 Q Q

Only a Few Times When Needed.................. 11.4 0.9 0.7 1.3 1.1 2.1 2.3 2.1 0.9

Quite a Bit..................................................... 12.6 1.0 0.5 1.2 1.6 1.9 2.6 2.5 1.4

All Summer.................................................... 40.5 1.7 1.4 3.5 4.1 6.8 8.1 9.2 5.7

Age of Central Air-Conditioner

Used by One Housing Unit

Less than 2 Years...................................... 9.0 0.4 0.4 0.9 0.7 1.0 1.6 0.8 3.2

2 to 4 Years............................................... 11.0 0.8 0.3 0.9 1.0 1.6 1.6 0.7 4.0

5 to 9 Years............................................... 16.3 1.0 0.8 1.2 1.4 2.6 2.1 6.7 0.4

10 to 19 Years........................................... 16.8 0.8 0.7 1.8 1.8 2.2 4.8 4.6 Q

20 Years or More....................................... 6.5 0.4 Q 1.0 0.8 2.2 1.7 Q Q

Don't Know................................................. 4.5 Q Q 0.4 0.8 1.1 1.2 0.5 Q

Table HC5.6 Air Conditioning Characteristics by Year of Construction, 2005

Year of Construction

Housing 

Units 

(millions)

Before 

1940

1940 to 

1949

1950 to 

1959

1960 to 

Air Conditioning Characteristics 1969

1970 to 

1979

1980 to 

1989

1990 to 

1999

2000 to 

2005

Energy Information Administration

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

Table HC5.6 Air Conditioning Characteristics by Year of Construction, 2005

Year of Construction

Housing 

Units 

(millions)

Before 

1940

1940 to 

1949

1950 to 

1959

1960 to 

Air Conditioning Characteristics 1969

1970 to 

1979

1980 to 

1989

1990 to 

1999

2000 to 

2005

Used by Two or More Housing Units

Less than 2 Years...................................... Q NNNNNNNQ

2 to 4 Years............................................... Q NNNNNQNQ

5 to 9 Years............................................... 0.3 Q N N Q Q N Q N

10 to 19 Years........................................... 0.3 N N N QQQQN

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

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

Household Pays for Electricity

for Central Air-Conditioning

Yes................................................................ 63.6 3.7 2.6 5.9 6.3 10.9 12.6 13.5 8.1

No.................................................................. 2.3 Q Q Q 0.4 0.3 0.7 0.4 Q

Window/Wall Unit Air-Conditioning................... 28.9 7.3 3.2 4.5 3.7 4.8 3.0 1.9 0.7

Frequency Most-Used Unit Used

Never............................................................. 0.6 QQQQQQQQ

Only a Few Times When Needed.................. 12.1 3.2 1.2 2.2 1.3 1.9 1.0 0.9 0.4

Quite a Bit..................................................... 7.5 2.1 0.7 0.9 1.2 1.2 0.7 0.6 Q

All Summer.................................................... 8.6 1.9 1.2 1.4 1.2 1.4 1.2 0.3 Q

Age of Most-Used Unit

Less than 2 Years.......................................... 6.4 1.7 0.7 1.1 0.6 1.1 0.7 0.3 0.2

2 to 4 Years................................................... 7.8 2.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 1.2 0.9 0.6 0.3

5 to 9 Years................................................... 7.0 1.8 0.7 1.3 1.1 1.0 0.5 0.6 Q

10 to 19 Years............................................... 3.7 1.0 0.5 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.5 Q Q

20 Years or More........................................... 2.1 0.6 Q 0.3 0.4 0.5 Q Q N

Don't Know.................................................... 1.8 0.3 Q Q 0.2 0.5 0.3 Q Q

Household Pays for Electricity for

Window/Wall Air-Conditioners

Yes................................................................ 26.1 6.7 2.9 4.1 3.3 4.2 2.6 1.7 0.6

No.................................................................. 2.2 0.4 Q 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 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 airconditioning 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