What is the average gas consumption per Dutch household?
Average gas consumption per household depends largely on the type of home. The type and size of your home have a significant impact on your average gas consumption.
Here is the average gas consumption per type of home:
| Type of home | Average annual gas consumption |
|---|---|
| Apartment | 750 m³ |
| Townhouse | 990 m³ |
| Corner house | 1,160 m³ |
| Semi-detached | 1,320 m³ |
| Detached house | 1,740 m³ |
The average gas consumption for all homes in the Netherlands is approximately 1,169 m³ per household per year. You can find your household’s gas consumption on your annual statement.
But as you can see in the table, the type of home makes a big difference in how much gas you use.
Important to know about your gas consumption:
- The number of people in your household is less important when estimating gas consumption.
- Most households use the majority of their gas to heat their homes.
- Showering and cooking account for only a small portion of gas consumption, unless you don’t use gas to heat your home.
All factors considered, your gas usage depends on the following:
Type of home:
A flat, apartment, or townhouse is partially enclosed between other homes, resulting in less heat loss than a corner house or detached home.
Size of your home:
The larger the home, the harder the heating system has to work to heat it.
Insulation:
A home with poor insulation loses a lot of heat, meaning the central heating has to run more often and for longer to keep the temperature high enough.
In a well-insulated home, heat is retained better, so it takes longer before the central heating needs to kick in again.
A home’s insulation is a key factor in its energy rating. Further down this page, you can see how the energy rating affects gas usage.
How you use hot water (for showering):
Most people use a gas boiler for this, but you can also use a (solar) water heater. For three people, hot water use averages about 150 m³ of gas per year.
Cooking with gas or induction:
Cooking with gas consumes an average of about 37 m³ per year. This has little impact on your total gas consumption.
Average gas consumption by municipality
Although the Netherlands consumes an average of 1,169 m³ of gas per household per year, there are significant regional differences in average gas consumption.
Look up your municipality and see if you use more or less gas than the average in your region.
About average gas consumption by region:
- Drenthe has the highest average gas consumption at 1,372 m³ per household.
- South Holland has the lowest average gas consumption at 1,063 m³ per household.
- In the eastern part of the Netherlands, average gas consumption is higher.
What is the average monthly gas consumption?
Average monthly gas consumption varies greatly depending on the season. The graph below clearly shows that monthly gas consumption varies significantly throughout the year:
Here’s what you need to know about your average monthly gas usage:
- In an average year, you use the most gas (for heating) during the coldest months of December, January, and February.
- During the summer months of June, July, and August, you typically use very little gas, almost exclusively for cooking on the stove and for hot water.
- The weather has a major impact on this distribution throughout the year. In a cold winter, the amount used in a month like January or February will be significantly higher than during a mild winter.
The table below shows the exact amount of gas per month.
| Month | Gas consumption |
|---|---|
| January | 18.4% |
| February | 15.7% |
| March | 13.2% |
| April | 7.1% |
| May | 2.9% |
| June | 1.6% |
| July | 1.4% |
| August | 1.4% |
| September | 2.0% |
| October | 6.7% |
| November | 12.2% |
| December | 17.2% |
Calculate monthly gas consumption
You can see above what the average annual consumption is for your situation, and then use the percentages in this table to calculate how much gas you consume in each month.
For example: If you use 1,100 m³ of gas per year, you’ll use about 202 m³ of gas in January (18.4% of 1,100 m³). In July or August, you’ll use only 16 m³ for the entire month (1.4%).
What is the average daily gas consumption?
An average family home consumes about 3 cubic meters of gas per day. That is the average over the entire year, though. Daily consumption can vary greatly.
Especially in winter, daily gas consumption depends heavily on the outside temperature. A household that consumes 1,100 cubic meters per year can expect an average of 6.5 cubic meters per day in winter and 0.5 cubic meters per day in summer.
What is the average gas consumption per person?
Average gas consumption per person varies widely and depends, for example, on how often you shower and cook, as well as how often you turn on the heat.
Here is the average gas consumption per person (based on an average home):
| Number of people | Annual gas consumption |
|---|---|
| 1 person | 1,000 m³ |
| 2 people | 1,100 m³ |
| 3 people | 1,500 m³ |
| 4 people | 1,700 m³ |
| 5 people | 1,800 m³ |
Average household gas consumption
Although average gas consumption is primarily determined by the type of home you have, gas consumption increases when you live with more people.
This is mainly because the heating is on more often and for longer periods, and because you use slightly more gas for hot water and showers.
The average gas consumption for a family ranges between 1,500 and 1,800 m³ per year. An average family with two children can expect an average gas consumption of 1,700 m³ per year.
Gas Consumption Energy Label
Since 2008, an energy label has been mandatory when selling or renting homes. Effective 2021, the energy label has been updated, and from now on, energy labels issued in 2021 and later will also take into account the amount of fossil fuel energy.
You can use your home’s energy label to find out how much gas your home consumes on average. This specifically refers to the amount of gas (primary fossil fuel consumption) used for heating the home, excluding the gas used for showering and cooking.
On the energy label, primary fossil fuel consumption is expressed in kWh. In the table below, we have converted this to cubic meters of gas (m³).
| Energy Label | Fossil fuel energy consumption | Annual gas consumption |
|---|---|---|
| A++++ | 0 kWh per m² | 0 m³ |
| A+++ | 0–50 kWh per m² | 0 - 5.1 m³ per m² |
| A++ | 50–75 kWh per m² | 5.1–7.7 m³ per m² |
| A+ | 75–105 kWh per m² | 7.7–10.7 m³ per m² |
| A | 105–160 kWh per m² | 10.7–16.4 m³ per m² |
| B | 160–190 kWh per m² | 16.4–19.4 m³ per m² |
| C | 190–250 kWh per m² | 19.4–25.6 m³ per m² |
| D | 250–290 kWh per m² | 25.6–29.7 m³ per m² |
| E | 290–335 kWh per m² | 29.7–34.4 m³ per m² |
| F | 335–380 kWh per m² | 34.3–38.9 m³ per m² |
| G | > 380 kWh per m² | > 38.9 m³ per m² |
The table shows the energy requirement per square meter. To calculate the consumption for your home, take the value from the table and multiply it by the floor area of your home.
For example: if you have a home with a floor area of 115 m² and an energy label of C, according to the table, you would need between 19.4 and 25.6 m³ of gas per square meter. That amounts to gas consumption between 2,231 and 2,944 m³ per year.
The floor area and the exact amount of fossil energy calculated by the inspector can be found on your energy label (in the notes on page 2).
Average gas consumption with district heating
Is your home connected to district heating or building heating? If so, your average gas consumption will look very different.
The table below shows the average amount of gas used in combination with district heating:
| Number of people | Annual gas consumption |
|---|---|
| 1 person | 110 m³ per year |
| 2 people | 183 m³ per year |
| 3 people | 256 m³ per year |
| 4 people | 329 m³ per year |
| 5 people | 402 m³ per year |
In most cases, the home is heated exclusively by district heating. You will, however, use gas for cooking and showering. Sometimes hot water is also supplied by the district heating network, in which case you only use gas for cooking.
Cooking with gas costs you about 37 m³ per year. Showering with gas costs, depending on the size of your household, between 146 and 292 m³ per year.
This assumes that you use gas for both hot water and cooking. If you cook with electricity, your consumption will be even lower.
How much does cooking with gas cost?
Milieu Centraal has calculated that cooking with gas consumes approximately 37 m³ per year. Based on the recent average gas price (around 1.30 per m³), cooking with gas costs just under 50 euros per year.
If you look purely at the costs for electricity and gas, there isn’t much difference in energy costs between cooking with gas and cooking with induction.
If you use an average electricity price of 27 cents per kWh and assume that an induction cooktop uses 175 kWh per year, you’ll also spend just under 50 euros per year.
If you currently cook with gas, you’ll hardly save anything on your energy bill by switching to induction. But if you’re replacing your kitchen and buying new appliances anyway, or if you’re installing a heat pump and only use gas for cooking, it might still be worth making the switch.
How much gas do you use when showering?
How much gas you use when showering depends on the number of people in your household. You can assume that a 5-minute shower uses about 0.2 m³ of gas (based on a high-efficiency boiler).
Using this, you can calculate how much gas you use per person per year:
| Number of people | Gas consumption |
|---|---|
| 1 person | 73 m³ per year |
| 2 people | 146 m³ per year |
| 3 people | 219 m³ per year |
| 4 people | 292 m³ per year |
| 5 people | 365 m³ per year |
How much gas you use while showering depends largely on how long you shower. If you showered for 10 minutes every day, you would need twice as much gas. That could save you nearly 100 euros a year!
By showering a little shorter or turning the tap a little colder, you can save on your gas usage. A shower timer can help you keep track of how long you shower.
Are you also curious to see how your electricity usage compares to the average?
Sources & expertise:
- Dataset Keuze.nl
- Milieu Centraal:
- Nibud: Average gas consumption by housing type