How much of an Ohio home's energy goes to hot water
Heating water is one of the larger uses of energy in a house, and the shower is one of the main places that hot water goes. This page sets out what the federal Residential Energy Consumption Survey reports for Ohio: the share of home electricity and natural gas that heats water, what fuel Ohio water heaters run on, and, for Ohio and four other Great Lakes states together, how many are tanks and how old they are, with what the Department of Energy says about shower heads.
Last updated September 2026 · Figures are the U.S. Energy Information Administration's and the Department of Energy's, each read September 25, 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base
How much of a home's energy heats water
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's Residential Energy Consumption Survey is the federal count of how American homes use energy, and its 2020 survey, released in final form in 2023, carries figures for Ohio. Of all the electricity Ohio households used at home in 2020, 10 percent went to heating water; of all the natural gas, 19 percent. Nationally the same shares were 12 percent of electricity and 25 percent of natural gas. Counting every fuel, the survey puts water heating at 15 percent of all the energy Ohio homes used on site, against 18 percent nationally. The Department of Energy's own round figure for the country is about 18 percent of a home's energy use, which it calls the second largest energy expense in a home.
| Fuel | All home use in Ohio | Used for water heating in Ohio | Share in Ohio | Share nationally |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity | 166.2 | 17.3 | 10 percent | 12 percent |
| Natural gas | 242.2 | 46.2 | 19 percent | 25 percent |
Among Ohio households that heat water with electricity, the survey's average is 2,849 kilowatt-hours a year for water heating; among those that heat it with natural gas, 165 hundred cubic feet a year. Those are averages over every household using that fuel, from one person to a large family.
What heats the water in Ohio homes
Of Ohio's 4.74 million occupied homes in the 2020 survey, a little more than half heat water with natural gas and a little under two in five with electricity. For Ohio alone, the survey's published tables give the fuel but not the type or age of water heaters.
| Fuel | Ohio homes | Share of Ohio homes |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 2.71 million | 57 percent |
| Electricity | 1.78 million | 38 percent |
| Propane | 0.23 million | 5 percent |
| Fuel oil or kerosene | Too few in the sample to publish | Not published |
Tank or tankless, and how old
For the type and age of water heaters, the nearest published figures cover the East North Central states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin together, and they describe that region, not Ohio alone. Of its 18.55 million homes in 2020, 96 percent heated water in a storage tank and 4 percent with a tankless heater, against about 6.5 percent tankless nationally. The single most common age was 5 to 9 years, and about one heater in seven (14 percent) was 15 years old or older.
| Age of the water heater | Share of homes |
|---|---|
| Less than 2 years | 15 percent |
| 2 to 4 years | 19 percent |
| 5 to 9 years | 31 percent |
| 10 to 14 years | 21 percent |
| 15 to 19 years | 7 percent |
| 20 years or more | 6 percent |
What the shower has to do with it
The Department of Energy's advice on hot water starts with using less of it, and the shower head is where it starts. A shower head made for the U.S. market since 1994 may flow no more than 2.5 gallons a minute at test pressure, though since May 2025 a fixture with several heads may deliver more in total, and the WaterSense label goes to 2.0; before 1992, the department notes, some shower heads ran as high as 5.5. Its test for an old head is a bucket marked at one gallon: if the shower fills it in less than 20 seconds, the head is a candidate for replacement. The department also lists turning down the water heater's thermostat and insulating the tank and pipes. How a water heater is sized, what the codes ask of it and what temperature is safe are on the page on hot water for a Central Ohio shower.
Scope, plainly. These are survey estimates for 2020, the newest the agency has published on water heating: its 2024 survey has released other housing figures, but its water heating tables are not due until spring 2027. The figures describe homes on average, not any one house, and nothing here says what one household spends.
The short version. In the federal Residential Energy Consumption Survey for 2020, water heating took 10 percent of the electricity and 19 percent of the natural gas Ohio homes used, and 15 percent of all the energy Ohio homes used. Of Ohio's 4.74 million homes, 57 percent heat water with natural gas, 38 percent with electricity and 5 percent with propane. Across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin together, 96 percent of water heaters are storage tanks and the most common age is 5 to 9 years. A single shower head made since 1994 flows at most 2.5 gallons a minute.
Sources
Every figure, date and quotation on this page comes from one of these documents, read on the date given. Where two of them disagree, the page says so.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2020, state tables CE3.1 (site end-use consumption, all fuels), CE4.1 (site energy end uses by fuel, electricity and natural gas, sheet Btu) and CE4.6 (end uses in physical units), final, June 2023; read September 25, 2026.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Highlights for water heating in U.S. homes by state, 2020, final, March 2023; read September 25, 2026.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Table HC8.7, Water heating in homes in the Northeast and Midwest regions, 2020, final, March 2023, and the 2024 survey index giving spring 2027 for its water heating tables; read September 25, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Saver, Water Heating and Reduce Hot Water Use for Energy Savings, read in archived copies of January 1, 2026 because the live pages no longer load; read September 25, 2026.
- Code of Federal Regulations, 10 CFR 430.32(p), showerheads manufactured after January 1, 1994, and U.S. Department of Energy, Repeal of the Definition of Showerhead, Federal Register, April 15, 2025, effective May 15, 2025; read September 26, 2026.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, WaterSense Showerheads (no more than 2.0 gallons a minute); read September 26, 2026.
Common questions
How much of an Ohio home's energy goes to heating water?
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Residential Energy Consumption Survey for 2020, water heating took 10 percent of the electricity and 19 percent of the natural gas that Ohio households used at home. Across every fuel, water heating took 15 percent of Ohio homes' site energy, against 18 percent nationally. The Department of Energy's round national figure is about 18 percent of a home's energy use.
What do most Ohio homes use to heat water?
Natural gas. In the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, 57 percent of Ohio's 4.74 million occupied homes heated water mainly with natural gas, 38 percent with electricity and 5 percent with propane; fuel oil was too rare in the sample to publish.
How many Ohio homes have a tankless water heater?
The federal survey publishes no Ohio-only figure. For the East North Central states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin together, 4 percent of homes heated water with a tankless heater in 2020 and 96 percent with a storage tank, against about 6.5 percent tankless nationally.
How old is the typical water heater in Ohio?
The nearest published figures cover the East North Central states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, together. In 2020 the most common age of the main water heater there was 5 to 9 years, at 31 percent of homes; 21 percent were 10 to 14 years old, 7 percent 15 to 19 and 6 percent 20 years or older.
How can I tell if my shower head uses too much hot water?
The Department of Energy's test is a bucket marked at one gallon: if the shower fills it in less than 20 seconds, the head flows more than about 3 gallons a minute and is a candidate for a lower-flow one. A shower head made since 1994 may flow no more than 2.5 gallons a minute, and WaterSense-labeled heads no more than 2.0; a multi-head fixture may exceed 2.5 in total.
Is there newer data than 2020 on water heating?
Not yet for water heating. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released some housing figures from its 2024 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, but its water heating tables and its end-use energy figures are due in spring 2027, so the 2020 survey is the newest on the subject.
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