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Propane vs. Natural Gas vs. Heating Oil: Fairfax County Home Heating Fuel Comparison

Homeowners have a variety of home heating fuels to choose from. Electricity is the most popular choice in Fairfax County, used by 1,887,993 or 56.72% of homes. The 2nd most popular choice for Fairfax County homeowners is natural gas, used by 1,101,616 homes (33.09%). The remaining homes are heated with propane (153,698), heating oil (129,907), wood (65,453), and other fuels (41,045).

Fairfax County Primary Home Heating Fuel Popularity by Number of Households

Fuel	Fairfax County Households	% of Households
Electricity	1.8M	56.72%
Natural Gas	1.1M	33.09%
Propane	153,698	4.62%
Heating Oil	129,907	3.90%
Wood	65,453	1.97%
No Fuel	24,314	0.73%
Other Fuels	12,489	0.38%
Solar	2,751	0.08%
Coal	1,491	0.04%

Electricity (56.72)

Natural gas (33.09)

Propane (4.62)

Heating oil (3.90)

Wood (1.97)

No fuel (0.73)

Other fuels (0.38)

Solar (0.08)

Coal (0.04)

#2 Heating Oil (Fuel Oil) Use in Fairfax County

Heating oil has become less popular in Fairfax County. In the 2 years since 2020, the number of heating oil homes fell from 137,208 to 129,907, a 5.32% drop.

Fairfax County Heating Oil Households (2011 - 2022)

Year	Heating Oil Households
2011	228,988
2012	211,492
2013	195,333
2014	182,928
2015	171,696
2016	162,011
2017	154,885
2018	148,684
2019	141,997
2020	137,208
2021	128,923
2022	129,907

Propane vs. Natural Gas use for home heating in Fairfax County

Between 2020 and today, the number of homes using propane as the primary space heating fuel rose from 138,451 to 153,698.

Between 2020 and today, the number of homes using natural gas as the primary space heating fuel rose from 1,049,137 to 1,101,616.

Electricity use for home heating in Fairfax County

Electric space heating systems are becoming more popular in Fairfax County. Since 2020, the number of homes heating with electricity rose from 1,765,043 to 1,887,993, a 6.97% increase.

Solar use for home heating in Fairfax County

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, 2,751 homes in Fairfax County are heated with active solar arrays. This is a 91.84% increase from 2020, when only 1,434 homes had installed active solar heating.