The Map of Home Heating

The Washington Post has been exploring how Americans heat their homes. Their are four main energy sources used by Americans to heat their homes: electricity, natural gas, propane and fuel oil. Which one is used is mainly determined by geographical and historical reasons.

In How Americans Heat Their Homes the Post has produced a map which shows that fuel oil (in red) is the most used source of home heating in the Northeast. In the South electricity (yellow) dominates. In the Midwest natural gas (dark blue) is the biggest source of home heating, while propane (light blue) is used mainly in rural areas.

The Post's article on home heating includes an interactive map which you can use to see how homes are mainly heated in your town. On this map each census tract is colored to show the main source of heating used in local homes. Hover over a census tract on the map and you can view a percentage breakdown on the four main sources of home heating used in that tract. The article also includes a static map for each of electricity, natural gas, propane and fuel oil showing where each is used across the country.