How many American homes don’t have air conditioning? – Energy Institute Blog

With growing adoption, nearly 90% of US homes have air conditioning, but nearly 30% in California still don’t.

And, once again, the United States is gripped by sweltering heat and humidity. Above-average summer temperatures are everywhere, even in places like Portland, Oregonwho exceeded 100 degrees last weekend and in Boston, Massachusetts, which declared a heat emergency early August.

These high temperatures in the North West and North East are of particular interest and concern as these are the few areas of the country where many people do not have air conditioning. The percentage of US households with air conditioning was steadily increasing for decadesand today nearly 90% of households have some type of air conditioning.

But for today’s post, I want to look at the remaining 10%. Where are the households without air conditioning? Which states have the most households without? These patterns are important because households without air conditioning are more at risk of dangerous temperature spikesand because that’s where adoption is likely to increase in the coming years.

keep cool

The map below plots the percentage of households equipped with air conditioning by state. This information comes from the new version 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Conducted approximately every 4 years by the US Department of Energy, the RECS provides extensive energy-related information on US households.

As the map indicates, the United States is very fond of air conditioning. In forty states, more than 80% of households have air conditioning. In thirty-two states, over 90% have air conditioning, and in thirteen states, over 95% have air conditioning. Despite not be a particularly hot country by international standardsthe United States has long vigorously embraced air conditioning.

Sweat

Yet the map also highlights several states with lower air conditioning levels. The table below lists the ten states with the lowest percentage of households equipped with air conditioning. Alaska is in a league of its own with only 6% of households equipped with air conditioning. Otherwise, the percentage of households with air conditioning varies from 55% (Washington) to 78% (New Hampshire).

Note: This table was constructed by Lucas Davis (UC Berkeley) using data from the 2020 Residential Energy Use Survey. Air conditioning is defined as any type of air conditioning, including central air conditioning, room air conditioners and mini-splits. Percentages are calculated using RECS sampling weights.

There is a clear regional trend here. New England is strongly represented (Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire), but also the Mountain West (Wyoming and Montana) and the Pacific (Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and California).

This data implies that nationwide there are 14 million homes without air conditioning. Of these, 3.7 million are in California. No other state comes close in terms of the total number of households without air conditioning, so the state is likely to be particularly sensitive to health impacts temperature peaks, and is a state where we are likely to see rapid increases in air conditioning In the years to come.

Climate correlation

As you have probably already deduced from looking at the map, there is a strong correlation between air conditioning and climate. The scatterplot below explores this correlation using cooling degree days (CDD), a widely used measure of cooling demand that reflects both the number of hot days as well as the intensity of the heat these days. days there.

Air conditioning is ubiquitous in states with more than 1,500 cooling degree days per year. It’s logic. There are fixed costs of purchasing and maintaining an air conditioner, and households choose to bear these costs when they live in a location that exceeds a particular climatic threshold.

For the same reason, virtually all of the least air-conditioned states have less than 1500 cooling degree-days per year. Alaska is again a clear outlier, but Montana, Vermont, Maine, Wyoming, and Oregon, for example, are all relatively cool states with few days warm enough each year for many households choose to forgo air conditioning.

Hawaii is a fascinating exception. The average household in Hawaii experiences 3,500 CDDs per year, making it the hottest US state by this measure, but only 59% of households have air conditioning. Readers can give their favorite explanations, but I suspect the lack of air conditioning in Hawaii has to do with housing stock. Because it’s generally not very cold in Hawaii, homes are built with less insulation, which makes air conditioning less efficient and more expensive, especially considering High Retail Electricity Prices in Hawaii.

The Last Frontier for American Air Conditioning

This data was collected just before Oregon and Washington’s record heat wave in July 2021. It was so hot in the Pacific Northwest that people waited in long lines for the chance to buy an air conditioner, and stores like Home Depot, Lowe’s and Walmart sold out completely. So while this data is relatively recent, it likely already underestimates the current level of air conditioning in some states.

In the United States and other wealthy countries, household incomes are usually not the limiting factor. Instead, the adoption of air conditioning in the United States is more a matter of climate, and when and where average temperatures rise enough to justify the cost and hassle of installing air conditioning.

This “air conditioning frontier” will continue to shift over time with climate change. Since the 1950s, average annual degrees of cooling in the United States increased by 30%. Over time, American households experience hotter days and higher heat intensity on those days, which makes air conditioning more attractive. The United States is already a country with high levels of air conditioning, but there will be fewer and fewer exceptions, with air conditioning widespread even in places that historically had none.

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Suggested citation: Davis, Lucas. “How many American homes don’t have air conditioning? » Energy Institute Blog, UC Berkeley, August 15, 2022, https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/2022/08/15/how-many-us-households-dont-have-air-conditioning/