Residential

Note: These pages present final 1990-2024 Inventory data (updated March 2026) and the EPA's latest 2025-2030 projections estimates (updated May 2026)  

Residential sector

This sector accounts for all emissions from fuel combustion in households for domestic space and hot water heating. Emissions in the Residential sector are 5.48 Mt and increased by 4.8% (0.25 Mt CO₂eq) since 2023. Within the different fuels used in household space and water heating, increases were seen in 2024 for all fossil fuels except peat; coal, kerosene, and natural gas usage increased by 6.2%, 8.5%, and 3.3% respectively, while peat usage decreased by 8.6%. 2024 marks the first increase in emissions in this sector after three continuous years of reductions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which saw emissions of 7.2 Mt of CO₂eq, the highest for the sector since 2011. There were 6.3% more heating degree days in 2024 than in 2023, underpinning the increase in emissions in 2024 and reinforcing that weather continues to be a key driver of residential emissions from year to year. 

Projected emissions

(Latest update May 2026)

Under the With Existing Measures scenario, emissions from the residential sector are projected to decrease by 13.1% between 2018 and 2030 to 5.9 Mt CO₂eq. Emissions are projected to decrease by 17.7% to 5.6 Mt CO₂eq under the With Additional Measures scenario. The sector has an emissions reduction target of 40% by 2030 compared to 2018.

The decrease is driven by continued retrofit of existing housing stock and the transition away from fossil fuel sources of home heating. The larger emissions decrease under WAM compared to WEM is driven by more domestic heat pumps in existing dwellings along with a greater number of retrofits completed out to 2030.