Rising temperaturesare likely to boost residential demand for electricity in warm locationsdue toincreased use of air-conditioners, fans, and refrigeration. Yet the precise effect of temperatureson residential electricity use may vary by geographical area and with socio-economic conditions. Knowledge on this effectin developing countries is limited due to data availability and reliability issues. Using a high-quality provincial-level monthly datasetfor China and fixed-effect panel methods,we find aU-shaped and asymmetrical relationship between ambient temperature and monthly household electricity use.An additional day with a maximum temperature exceeding 34°C on average results in a 1.6% increase in monthlyper capita household electricity use relative to if that day’s maximum temperature had been in the 22–26°C range. The effect of an additional cold day is smaller. There are differencesin effectsfor the south and the north of China and in urban versus rural areas. We estimate that temperature increases associated with climate change will lead to about a 3–5% increase in annual household electricity consumption by the end of the century under different carbon emission trajectories according to the projectionsin the 2021IPCC report. The estimated effect is larger for summer months.