- Home
- Data Catalog
- Residential Energy Consumption Survey
Residential Energy Consumption Survey
Add to My BasketDescription
The Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) datasets include edited housing unit-level data collected through the RECS Household Survey (EIA-457A) and Energy Supplier Surveys (EIA-457D-G). EIA administers RECS to a nationally representative sample of housing units to collect a reference year snapshot of energy characteristics, usage patterns, and household demographics. This information is combined with data from energy suppliers to estimate energy costs and usage for heating, cooling, appliances and other end uses. RECS is not a longitudinal study. Researchers are advised to use RECS data for cross-sectional studies and not as a time series since the sample, study design, questionnaire, and statistical processes differ across survey cycles. Researchers are encouraged to consult each cycle’s documentation for more information. Most information collected by RECS is available in a public use microdata file with disclosure protections applied so individual respondents are not identifiable. Monthly energy bills are available as restricted-use microdata. Research applications may include a combination of variables from both the non-public and public use microdata files. Public use microdata file may be helpful in evaluating subpopulation sample sizes prior to submitting a research application.
Download supplemental documentation such as codebooks.
DownloadDetailed Methodology
The address frame and sample are updated for each survey cycle to account for changes in the U.S. housing stock. 2020 RECS selected housing units based on an Address Based Sample (ABS) design. The frame for this sample is a list of residential addresses, based on the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Computerized Delivery Sequence (CDS) file of active mail delivery points. The frame file was enhanced with supplemental data from the Decennial Census, the American Community Survey, and other sources. Addresses were then statistically selected using a stratified, random sample. Each responding household has a final analysis weight (NWEIGHT), which was used to produce RECS estimates. The average NWEIGHT for the 2020 RECS is 6,679, meaning that, on average, each RECS household represents itself and 6,678 other households like it. For more information on the 2020 RECS sample, see https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/pdf/2020%20RECS_Methodology%20Report.pdf.
2020 RECS reflects a three-fold increase in the sample size and other changes as discussed in Comparing the 2020 RECS with Previous RECS and other studies available at https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/pdf/Comparing_2020_with_previous_RECS.pdf. For sample methodology documentation from prior RECS survey cycles, visit the Data webpage for each reference year and select the Methodology tab.
- Survey (self- or interviewer-administered)
- Irregular
- Last year/last 12 months
RECS survey questionnaires and data collection modes differ across survey cycles. For the 2020 RECS respondents completed the RECS Household Survey (EIA-457A) by self-administered Web or paper questionnaire. Energy Supplier Surveys (457D-G) collected energy bills and bulk fuel data for households responding to the RECS Household Survey via a Web portal using Webforms and Excel file uploads. For more information on 2020 RECS survey methodology, see https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2020/index.php?view=methodology. For data collection methodology documentation from prior RECS survey cycles, visit the Data webpage for each reference year and select the Methodology tab. RECS survey questionnaires are available at https://www.eia.gov/survey/#eia-457.