Homeowners have a variety of home heating fuels to choose from. Natural gas is the most popular choice in Cattaraugus County, used by 4,593,346 or 59.99% of homes. The 2nd most popular choice for Cattaraugus 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).
Cattaraugus County Primary Home Heating Fuel Popularity by Number of Households
Fuel | Cattaraugus 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 Cattaraugus County. In the 3 years since 2019, the number of heating oil homes fell from 1,521,756 to 1,379,410, a 9.35% drop.
Cattaraugus 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 2019 and today, the number of homes using propane as the primary space heating fuel rose from 295,680 to 371,184.
Between 2019 and today, the number of homes using natural gas as the primary space heating fuel rose from 4,345,992 to 4,593,346.
Electric space heating systems are becoming more popular in Cattaraugus County. Since 2019, the number of homes heating with electricity rose from 868,765 to 1,040,155, a 19.73% 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 Cattaraugus County are heated with active solar arrays. This is a 40.10% increase from 2019, when only 6,040 homes had installed active solar heating.