Energy use in the Mexican residential sector is steadily increasing. Important factors contributing to the increase include changes in the types of housing built, heating, cooling, water-heating equipment and other appliances. In this paper, the development of household equipment in Mexico is described between 1984 and 2006. Trend in energy consumption by end use is reviewed over the same period. Methodology based on energy end-uses shows that cooking is the main end use while water heating and appliances are the end uses with the greatest rates of growth. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.