Heating by borough
Each figure is the share of households using that kind of central heating alone in March 2021, except the renewable column, which also counts renewable heating alongside another type.
| Borough | Mains gas | Electric | Heat network | Oil or LPG | Renewable | None |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wigan | 83.9% | 5.2% | 0.20% | 0.61% | 0.37% | 1.0% |
| Bury | 83.1% | 6.1% | 0.25% | 0.50% | 0.31% | 1.3% |
| Stockport | 82.1% | 6.8% | 0.91% | 0.47% | 0.51% | 1.2% |
| Tameside | 82.0% | 5.7% | 0.36% | 0.50% | 0.46% | 1.5% |
| Trafford | 81.9% | 7.9% | 0.58% | 0.35% | 0.37% | 1.2% |
| Rochdale | 81.5% | 5.6% | 0.35% | 0.76% | 0.36% | 1.3% |
| Bolton | 81.0% | 6.8% | 0.54% | 0.55% | 0.32% | 1.5% |
| Oldham | 80.7% | 5.2% | 1.28% | 0.75% | 0.40% | 1.2% |
| Salford | 69.4% | 18.1% | 0.73% | 0.52% | 0.68% | 1.7% |
| Manchester | 67.0% | 18.3% | 1.09% | 0.57% | 0.60% | 2.3% |
| England and Wales | 73.8% | 8.5% | 0.89% | 4.54% | 0.94% | 1.5% |
Eight gas boroughs
Outside the core, every borough heated more than four households in five with gas alone, from 80.7% in Oldham to 83.9% in Wigan. A heat pump there replaces a gas boiler, and the question that matters is how its running cost compares with gas once it is properly designed.
The electric core
Manchester and Salford are different. Only 67.0% and 69.4% of their households used gas alone in 2021, below the national figure, while 18.3% and 18.1% used electricity alone, more than twice the England and Wales share of 8.5%. Together the two boroughs held 54% of Greater Manchester's electric-only households. For these homes a heat pump is a change in how electricity is used, and often a much cheaper way of getting the same heat than storage heaters or panel heaters, though fitting radiators may be part of the job.
Heat networks
7,894 households across the ten were on a district or communal heat network alone, 0.7% of the total. Oldham had the highest share (1.28%), followed by Manchester (1.09%). Heat networks usually serve blocks of flats from one plant room, and a household on one does not choose its own heating.
Oil and LPG
Oil and LPG together heated 6,587 households alone, a tiny share in a city region that is almost entirely on the gas network. The higher £9,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme band for oil and LPG homes with no mains gas, which runs to 31 March 2027, will apply to very few homes here.
Renewable heating in 2021
The census listed renewable energy, giving solar thermal and heat pumps as examples. 5,381 Greater Manchester households had renewable heating, alone or with another type, in March 2021. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme opened in May 2022, after the census, and has since paid for 1,993 heat pumps across the ten boroughs.
No central heating
17,440 households, 1.5%, had no central heating at all. Installing a heat pump in such a home means fitting the pipes and radiators as well. For lower-income households in selected areas, Greater Manchester's Warm Homes: Local Grant can pay for the whole job.
Using the census
The census shows what households reported on 21 March 2021, not how well their heating worked or what it cost. The government's off-gas estimates measure something different, the share of properties without a gas meter in 2024. Used together, they describe each borough; neither describes your own home.
What the split means for a heat pump
In the eight gas boroughs, the case for a heat pump rests on careful design: a modern gas boiler is cheap to run, so radiator sizes, flow temperature and controls decide whether the heat pump matches it. In Manchester and Salford, where electric heating is common, the case often rests on the building instead: whether a flat has room for a cylinder and radiators, and whether the block's owner will allow an outdoor unit.