Cooling technology is expanding across homes, buildings and industry while weather is increasing the need for cooling in many markets. The figures below separate observed survey results from modeled costs, pathway forecasts and broad cooling-appliance estimates.
Key Cooling Technology Statistics
The most useful cooling technology data points include:
- In 2022, 105 billion m² of global floor area was cooled in the IEA milestone series.
- The IEA pathway projects 250 billion m² of cooled floor area globally in 2050.
- Global installed space-cooling capacity was 850 GW in 2022.
- Space cooling represented 9% of global final electricity consumption in 2022 in the IEA milestone series.
- About 89% of U.S. homes used air conditioning in 2020.
- Central air conditioning was present in 67% of U.S. homes in 2020.
- The IEA milestone series estimated that 36% of global households had air conditioners in 2022.
- The 2015 RECS counted 102.8 million U.S. homes using air-conditioning equipment.
- Air conditioning used 19% of U.S. residential electricity, or 254 billion kWh, in 2020.
- Commercial-building cooling used 14% of U.S. commercial-building electricity, or 170 billion kWh, in 2018.
- Facility HVAC used 8% of U.S. manufacturing electricity, or 76 billion kWh, in 2018.
- The DOE hot-humid example ranged from 5,222 kWh to 9,159 kWh of annual energy use across the best-available and less-efficient models.
- In hot-humid states, modeled lifetime energy cost was $8,922 for the best-available model versus $15,646 for the less-efficient model.
- DOE’s selected room-AC standard scenario estimated 1.41 quads of national full-fuel-cycle energy savings.
- DOE estimated that 17% of room-AC consumers would experience a net cost under the selected standard scenario.
- Global cooling degree days were 6% higher in 2024 than in 2023.
- Global cooling degree days in 2024 were 20% above the 2000–2020 long-term average.
- UNEP estimated 3.6 billion cooling appliances were in use globally around its report baseline.
- UNEP reported that the global cooling-appliance stock was growing by up to 10 devices per second around its report baseline.
- UNEP estimated that combined efficiency and refrigerant action could avoid 210–460 GtCO2e over the following four decades.
Contents
- Key Cooling Technology Statistics
- Global Cooling Technology Statistics and Installed Capacity
- Air-Conditioning Adoption and Household Cooling Statistics
- Cooling Electricity Use Across Homes, Buildings and Industry
- Cooling Technology Efficiency, Costs and Lifetime Savings
- Room Air-Conditioner Standards, Consumer Impacts and Energy Savings
- Cooling Demand Trends, Climate Pressure and Emissions Outlook
Global Cooling Technology Statistics and Installed Capacity
The IEA milestone series describes a growing cooling footprint, but its future values are pathway milestones rather than observed market outcomes.
| Year | Cooled floor area | Installed space-cooling capacity | Space cooling share of final electricity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 105 billion m² | 850 GW | 9% |
| 2030 | 140 billion m² | 1,400 GW | 7% |
| 2035 | 170 billion m² | 1,750 GW | 6% |
| 2050 | 250 billion m² | 2,700 GW | 5% |
Source: IEA, Space cooling. The 2022 values are milestone estimates; the later values are IEA pathway projections.
The series puts cooled floor area at 105 billion m² in 2022, rising to 140 billion m² in 2030 and 170 billion m² in 2035. Its 2050 pathway value is 250 billion m², while installed capacity rises from 850 GW in 2022 to 2,700 GW in 2050.
The modeled electricity share moves in the opposite direction, from 9% in 2022 to 5% in 2050. That is a scenario result about system efficiency and demand, not evidence that absolute cooling activity will shrink.
Air-Conditioning Adoption and Household Cooling Statistics
U.S. household adoption increased substantially between the historical 1980 comparison and 2020, while global ownership remains lower in the IEA series.
| Measure | Earlier period | Later period |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. homes using air conditioning | 57% in 1980 | 89% in 2020 |
| U.S. homes with central air conditioning | 27% in 1980 | 67% in 2020 |
| Global households with air conditioners | — | 36% in 2022 |
Source: EIA, Electricity use in homes; IEA, Space cooling. The global household figure is not equivalent to all cooling access.
The IEA pathway projects global air-conditioner ownership at 45% of households in 2030, 50% in 2035 and 60% in 2050. These are scenario projections, not observed adoption rates.
The 2015 RECS counted 118.2 million U.S. housing units in its all-homes table, including 102.8 million using air-conditioning equipment and 76.1 million using central equipment. It also counted 20.7 million homes using central equipment with a heat pump and 32.1 million using individual units; equipment categories can overlap.
| 2015 U.S. RECS measure | Million housing units |
|---|---|
| All homes | 118.2 |
| Air-conditioning equipment | 102.8 |
| Central equipment | 76.1 |
| Central equipment with heat pump | 20.7 |
| Individual units | 32.1 |
| One individual unit | 15.9 |
| Two individual units | 9.6 |
| Three or more individual units | 6.6 |
Source: EIA, RECS Table HC7.4. Individual equipment includes window, wall or portable categories, and reported technology categories may overlap.
Cooling Electricity Use Across Homes, Buildings and Industry
Cooling is a major U.S. residential end use, but the available building and manufacturing measures cover different surveys, populations and definitions.
| Sector and measure | Period | Share | Electricity |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. residential air conditioning | 2020 | 19% | 254 billion kWh |
| U.S. commercial-building cooling | 2018 | 14% | 170 billion kWh |
| U.S. commercial-building ventilation | 2018 | 18% | 213 billion kWh |
| U.S. manufacturing facility HVAC | 2018 | 8% | 76 billion kWh |
Source: EIA, How much electricity is used for air conditioning in the United States?. Commercial ventilation is not identical to cooling, and manufacturing HVAC includes heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Air conditioning was the largest individual end use in U.S. residential site electricity at 19% in 2020. For context, space heating and water heating each accounted for 12% of residential site electricity in that year.
Average U.S. household electricity consumption was about 10,500 kWh per year in the EIA estimate. The figure varies by region and housing type and excludes generation and delivery losses.
Cooling Technology Efficiency, Costs and Lifetime Savings
DOE/FEMP model examples show how equipment efficiency and regional operating assumptions affect annual use and modeled lifetime costs; they are not guarantees of household bills.
| U.S. region | Best available annual use | Less-efficient annual use | Best available lifetime cost | Less-efficient lifetime cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot-humid/Southeast | 5,222 kWh | 9,159 kWh | $8,922 | $15,646 |
| Hot-dry states | 2,450 kWh | 4,296 kWh | $4,185 | $7,339 |
| Northern states | 2,612 kWh | 4,581 kWh | $4,462 | $7,825 |
Source: DOE/FEMP, Purchasing Energy-Efficient Residential Central Air Conditioners. Costs are modeled in 2023 dollars using region-specific assumptions and stated lifetimes.
In the hot-humid example, the best-available, ENERGY STAR and less-efficient models had SEER2 ratings of 23.5, 15.2 and 13.4, respectively. DOE modeled $6,724 in lifetime energy-cost savings for the best-available model against the less-efficient comparison over an 18-year modeled life.
For hot-dry states—Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico—the modeled best-available lifetime saving was $3,154 over a 25-year life. In northern states, the corresponding modeled saving was $3,363 over a 24-year life.
Room Air-Conditioner Standards, Consumer Impacts and Energy Savings
DOE’s selected room-air-conditioner standard scenario combines national energy savings with modeled consumer and manufacturer effects.
- The analysis estimated 1.41 quads of national full-fuel-cycle energy savings over the standard lifetime.
- An estimated 17% of room-AC consumers would experience a net cost under the selected scenario.
- The modeled net-present-value benefit to consumers at a 7% discount rate was 96 times the maximum estimated manufacturer loss in INPV.
- The low-income subgroup analysis assumed 64% of the low-income sample were renters paying the first cost of a room AC; this is a modeling assumption, not a national renter statistic.
Source: DOE, Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Room Air Conditioners. These are regulatory-analysis projections, dependent on assumed prices, usage, discounting and market responses.
| Manufacturer effect under selected scenario | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Projected INPV change | -$57.7 million to +$85.6 million |
| Same range as percentage change in INPV | -4.8% to +7.1% |
| Manufacturer conversion costs | $24.8 million |
The manufacturer figures are projections rather than observed market results. Conversion costs were estimated in 2021 dollars, while the consumer energy-savings result is a full-fuel-cycle regulatory estimate.
Cooling Demand Trends, Climate Pressure and Emissions Outlook
Weather indicators point to changing cooling needs, but cooling degree days should not be treated as direct measures of equipment sales or electricity consumption.
Global cooling degree days were 6% higher in 2024 than in 2023 and 20% above the 2000–2020 long-term average. The IEA estimates that weather effects contributed about 15% of the overall increase in global energy demand in 2024, which is not a cooling-only attribution.
Source: IEA, Global trends – Global Energy Review 2025.
UNEP estimated 3.6 billion cooling appliances in use globally around its report baseline, covering cooling appliances broadly rather than air conditioners alone. It reported that the global stock was growing by up to 10 devices per second around that baseline, not as a current audited sales rate.
UNEP also estimated that combined efficiency and refrigerant action could avoid 210–460 GtCO2e over the four decades after the 2018 baseline. The range depends on efficiency, refrigerant and power-sector pathways.
Source: UNEP, Cooling Emissions and Policy Synthesis Report.