Absorption heating has attracted increased attention due to its irreplaceable advantages in energy conservation and pollution reduction in heating and domestic hot water supplies. This paper presents the classifications and principles of different absorption heating cycles and comprehensively reviews their statuses and development in different application fields. Civil applications include direct-fired chiller/heaters, fuel-driven absorption heat pump water heaters, the latent heat recovery of vapors, hybrid compression-absorption heating, solar-assisted absorption heat pumps, absorption-based district heating, thermal energy storage and transportation, ground source absorption heat pumps and thermal imbalances in cold regions. Industrial applications include absorption-assisted drying, absorption-assisted evaporation, absorption-assisted distillation, and absorption-assisted waste heat recovery. Additionally, several rural application concepts are also provided. Based on the reviews, essential summaries and suggestions are presented, which are expected to extend the absorption heating technologies for additional contributions to energy conservation and environmental protection. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.