The full table
The census dataset TS046 sorts every occupied household into one of twelve heating categories, plus "no central heating". Here are all of them for Liverpool, beside England and Wales.
| Main heating | Liverpool households | Liverpool | England and Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mains gas only | 161,443 | 77.8% | 73.8% |
| Electric only | 20,288 | 9.8% | 8.5% |
| Two or more types, no renewable | 15,212 | 7.3% | 8.5% |
| No central heating | 4,822 | 2.3% | 1.5% |
| Other central heating only | 2,894 | 1.4% | 0.9% |
| District or communal heat network only | 1,107 | 0.5% | 0.9% |
| Tank or bottled gas only | 986 | 0.5% | 1.0% |
| Two or more types, including renewable | 386 | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| Renewable energy only | 175 | 0.1% | 0.4% |
| Oil only | 111 | 0.1% | 3.5% |
| Solid fuel only | 44 | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Wood only | 23 | 0.0% | 0.1% |
Reading the table
Mains gas: the city's default
161,443 households, 77.8%, used mains gas and nothing else, four points above the national share. DESNZ estimates that only 15.65% of the city's domestic properties have no gas meter, and the census found very few oil- or LPG-heated households, the group that pulls the national gas figure down. For most Liverpool households thinking about a heat pump, the comparison is with a gas boiler: the running cost on their tariff, where the cylinder goes, and whether radiators need changing.
Electric only: the second group
20,288 households, 9.8%, used electric heating alone. That covers storage heaters, panel heaters and electric boilers. For these homes a heat pump replaces direct electric heat with a system that moves heat from outside air, so the electricity used for the same warmth falls, which is why the Boiler Upgrade Scheme accepts electric heating as well as fossil fuel as the system being replaced.
Two or more types
15,212 households, 7.3%, reported more than one type of central heating without any renewable. Often that is gas plus an electric system, or gas plus a solid-fuel stove. The census does not split the combinations.
Heat networks
1,107 households, 0.5%, were on a district or communal heat network only, where heat comes from a shared plant room. A household on a network does not usually change its own heat source; the operator does.
No central heating
4,822 households, 2.3%, had no central heating at all, against 1.5% nationally. Where such a home is rated EPC D to G and the household meets an income, benefits or postcode test, the council's Warm Homes: Local Grant is the scheme to look at.
Renewables
The census groups heat pumps under "renewable energy". In Liverpool, 175 households used renewable energy only and 386 used it alongside another type: 561 in all, 0.27%. Across England and Wales the combined share was 0.94%. A share that small means very few Liverpool households had a heat pump to show a neighbour in 2021.
Since census day
The census is a snapshot. The best local measure of change since then is the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which publishes installations by local authority: 184 heat pumps paid for in Liverpool between May 2022 and September 2026. That counts only grant-funded installations, so the full number is higher. Set against 207,491 households, gas is still the city's main fuel by a wide margin.
A second measure, DESNZ's estimate of properties without a gas meter, put Liverpool at 15.65% in 2024. It counts meters rather than heating systems, so it is not directly comparable with the census; the homes without gas page explains the difference.