Census 2022 figures show the main central heating fuel in every county: oil dominates outside the cities, gas leads in Dublin, and peat is still common in the midlands. Newer surveys show heat pumps spreading in new homes.
In Monaghan, more than three in four homes burn oil
In Census 2022, 77.5% of homes in Monaghan that gave an answer used oil for their central heating. In Dublin, the figure was just 9.4%. No other fuel splits the country so sharply, according to CSO Census 2022 figures.
Cavan (72.2%), Wexford (70.1%) and Donegal (70.1%) follow Monaghan. Very few homes in these counties used natural gas. In Wexford and Donegal, the figure was only about 1%.
Nationally, oil and gas heat three in four homes
Ireland had 1,836,728 households in permanent homes at the time of Census 2022. Of those that answered the question, 40.9% used oil and 34.5% used natural gas. Electricity came third, at 12.4%.
Gas is a city fuel. In Dublin, 70.3% of homes that answered used natural gas, followed by Louth (42.3%) and Kildare (39.8%). In 12 counties, fewer than one in ten homes used gas.
| County | Oil | Natural gas | Solid fuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monaghan | 77.5% | 6.6% | 6.4% |
| Donegal | 70.1% | 1.1% | 21.1% |
| Kerry | 65.2% | 2.3% | 16.2% |
| Mayo | 63.1% | 2.7% | 22.5% |
| Galway | 57.1% | 8.0% | 17.1% |
| Offaly | 44.1% | 7.6% | 36.8% |
| Limerick | 46.7% | 30.0% | 9.0% |
| Cork | 41.0% | 36.4% | 6.3% |
| Kildare | 38.6% | 39.8% | 7.3% |
| Dublin | 9.4% | 70.3% | 0.7% |
Peat is still common in the midlands and west
Across Ireland, 67,891 homes used peat or turf as their main heating fuel in 2022, 3.9% of those that answered. But in Offaly, it was more than one home in four. Roscommon, Longford, Mayo and Westmeath also had high shares.
Coal follows a different map. Donegal (12.0%) and Wexford (11.1%) had the highest shares of homes heated by coal. In Dublin, it was just 0.4% of homes that answered.
The cities do not all heat the same way
Looking at city council areas on their own shows big gaps. In Galway City, 51.2% of homes that answered used oil, against 16.8% in Cork City and 4.9% in Dublin City. Only 15.9% of Galway City homes used gas.
Electric heating is most common in city council areas. It was the main fuel in 25.7% of homes in Dublin City and 24.6% in Galway City. In Donegal, it was 5.2%.
Electricity is rising as solid fuels fall
The number of homes heated by electricity rose from 146,302 in 2016 to 216,075 in 2022, up 47.7%. Over the same years, homes heated by coal fell by 26.8% and homes heated by peat by 24.6%.
Census 2022 also asked about renewable energy at home. Solar panels were used by 6% of households, ranging from 3% in Dublin City to 11% in Meath. Among homes built between 2016 and 2022, more than 30% had solar panels.
Households using a heat pump in 2022: 57,198 air source and 13,958 ground source
Source: cso.ieA heat pump takes heat from the outside air or ground and moves it indoors, using electricity. Census 2022 did not list heat pumps as a separate heating fuel. Nearly half of homes built between 2016 and 2022 used electricity for central heating, compared with 10% of older homes.
Since 2022: heat pumps in most homes built since 2020
Newer data comes from Building Energy Rating (BER) certificates. A BER rates a home's energy use from A (best) to G. Among all homes rated since 2009, a heat pump was present in 15%, and in 84% of rated homes built since 2020, according to the CSO.
Across all homes rated since 2009, the main heating fuel was gas in 34%, oil in 34% and electricity in 26%, the CSO said in August 2026. Census 2022 showed the same shift: oil heated 9% of homes built from 2016 on, compared with 41% of older homes.
The same 2024 survey found that 48% of people in urban areas mainly used natural gas, against 5% in rural areas. In rural areas, 54% used heating oil and 21% used solid fuel.
Age also plays a part. In 2022, 49.0% of households where the main householder was aged 65 or over used oil for heating.
How to read these numbers
- The county figures come from Census 2022. The next census will take place on Sunday 9 May 2027.
- Shares here leave out households that did not state their heating type, so they add up to 100%.
- Dublin combines Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. Cork and Galway combine the city and county council areas.
- The census asked about the main fuel for central heating. Many homes also use a stove or fire.
- BER figures cover only homes that got a BER, often because they were built, sold or let, or got a grant. They are not a full count of all homes.
Most Irish homes are now heated by gas.
In Census 2022, more homes used oil (714,177) than natural gas (601,339). Gas leads only in Dublin and Kildare.
CSO Domestic Building Energy Ratings Quarter 3 2026 (the Quarter 2 edition came out on 26 August 2026)
CSO Domestic Building Energy Ratings Quarter 4 2026, with heat pump figures for all of 2026
Census 2027, which will give new county figures for central heating (results will follow later)
- CSO PxStat: SAP2022T6T5CTY, Permanent private households by central heating and administrative county, Census 2022
- CSO PxStat: F2060, Households by type of central heating and age group of reference person, 2011 to 2022
- CSO: Census of Population 2022 Profile 2, Housing in Ireland, Occupied Dwellings
- CSO: Domestic Building Energy Ratings Quarter 2 2026
- CSO: Household Environmental Behaviours, Energy Use 2024, Fuel or energy source used for heating
- CSO: Press Statement, Census 2027 date approved by Government
