The census asked people about the type of central heating their household uses.  The census was carried out in March 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and in March 2022 in Scotland. This dashboard shows the results for constituencies and local areas across the UK. It also includes maps of more recent estimates of the proportion of households not on the gas grid in Great Britain, see our dashboard Constituency data: Households off the gas grid for more on these.

In the census, most households (73%) in the UK said mains gas was their only central heating source. 8% used electric central heating, 5% used oil central heating and 2% had no central heating. This is broadly similar to the proportion of households using different types of central heating in the 2011 census.

Alternatives to gas heating were mostly used in areas where mains gas was less available. This includes Northern Ireland where half (50%) of households said oil was their only central heating. Many of the constituencies where a high percentage of households had electric-only heating were in urban areas, including London. This is because high rise flats tend not to have mains gas due to the fire risk.

The response options were different in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Some statistics have been produced by aggregating heating types together into broad categories, to allow UK-wide comparisons. These figures are for comparative purposes, and don’t tell us about the population on a particular date.

Explore constituency data

Use the tabs below to select whether to view a map of households not on the grid, a map of census data on the different kinds of fuels used, or a summary of constituency information from the census. All tabs have dropdown menus to select the constituency you’re interested in and view local information. 

Open a printable version

If you would like to access this information in an alternative format please email papers@parliament.uk and we will review your request.

Definitions

Central heating is a system to heat multiple rooms in a building by circulating air or heated water through pipes to radiators or vents. Single or multiple fuel sources can fuel these systems.

Central heating systems that are unused or not working are still counted. No information is available for households with no usual residents.

Due to changes in question structure, this data cannot be compared with 2011 census data on central heating.

Sources

England and Wales: Office for National Statistics, 2021 census table TS046

Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2021 census table MS-E11

Scotland: Scotland’s census, Search census data, Table UV407

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Subnational estimates of properties not connected to the gas network

Data updates

This dashboard largely uses census data, which means that there aren’t any updates planned for the near future. Data on households off the gas grid will be updated alongside our Households off the gas-grid and prices for alternative fuels publication.

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