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Energy Consumption of Major Household Appliances Shipped in Canada, Trends for 1990–2008

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Appendix B Glossary

Average annual unit energy consumption (UEC) The annual energy consumption of all major household appliances shipped in Canada in a category, divided by the number of shipments in that category.
 
Channel The categorization of shipments according to recipient:
  • Builder shipments are delivered to Canadian home builders, motels, governments, trailer manufacturers and property management.
  • Retail shipments are delivered from Canadian manufacturers and importers and/or their branches and distributors to Canadian retailers and other consumers, but do not include sales to branches or to other Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association member companies.
 
Clothes washer An appliance that cleans clothes using a water solution of soap or detergent or both and mechanical agitation or other movement.

Canada’s Energy Efficiency Regulations apply to standard or compact electrically operated household clothes washers that are top- or front-loading and that have an internal control system that regulates the water temperature without the need for user intervention after the machine starts.
 
Dishwasher A cabinet-like appliance, either built-in or portable, that, with the aid of water and detergent, washes, rinses and dries (when a drying process is included) dishware, glassware, eating utensils and most cooking utensils by chemical, mechanical and electrical means and then discharges the water into the plumbing drainage system.

The Energy Efficiency Regulations apply to electrically operated automatic household dishwashers that are not commercial, industrial or institutional machines.
 
Electric clothes dryer A cabinet-like appliance that dries clothes in a tumble-type drum with forced-air circulation. The heat source is electricity, and the drum and the blower(s) are driven by electric motor(s).

The EnerGuide Appliance Directory groups electric clothes dryers into two categories:
  • compact – a clothes dryer with a drum volume of less than 125 litres (L)
  • standard – a clothes dryer with a drum volume of at least 125 L
The Energy Efficiency Regulations apply to household tumble-type clothes dryers that are standard and compact size, electrically operated and electrically heated.
 
Electric range A major household cooking appliance that uses electric resistance heating. The product may consist of a cook top, one or more ovens, or a combination of the two, and may be built-in or free-standing.

The Energy Efficiency Regulations apply to the following styles of household ranges:
  • free-standing appliance equipped with one or more surface elements and one or more ovens
  • built-in appliance equipped with one or more surface elements and one or more ovens
  • built-in appliance equipped with one or more ovens and no surface elements
  • wall-mounted appliance equipped with one or more ovens and no surface elements
  • counter-mounted appliance equipped with one or more surface elements and no ovens
but do not include the following appliances:
  • microwave cooking appliance
  • portable appliance that uses an electrical supply of 120 volts
  • household appliance with one or more tungsten-halogen heating elements
 
Electricity Electric energy measured by a meter, typically distributed by a public utility company to a dwelling through overhead or underground power lines. in this report, electricity is measured in petajoules and/or kilowatt hours per year.
 
Energy consumption In this report, energy consumption generally refers to electricity consumption and is measured in petajoules and/or kilowatt-hours per year.
 
Energy efficiency Energy efficiency refers to how effectively energy is being used for a given purpose. For example, providing a similar (or better) level of service with less energy comsumption on a per-unit basis is considered to be an improvement in energy efficiency.
 
Energy Efficiency Act (1992) An act giving the Government of Canada the authority to make and enforce regulations on performance and labelling requirements for energy-using products (including major household appliances) imported into Canada or shipped across provincial or territorial borders.
 
Energy Efficiency Regulations Regulations authorized under Canada’s Energy Efficiency Act that include minimum energy performance standards, the labelling of energy-using products and the collection of data on energy use. The Energy Efficiency Regulations came into effect in February 1995 and are amended on a regular basis to strengthen existing performance standards or to introduce standards for new products.
 
ENERGY STAR® qualified appliance ENERGY STAR is the international symbol of premium energy efficiency. Appliances that are ENERGY STAR qualified have been tested according to prescribed procedures and meet or exceed higher energy efficiency levels without compromising performance.
 
Freezer An appliance used for the extended storage of food frozen at an average temperature of -17.8°C (0°F) or lower that has a minimum freezing capability of two kilograms per 100 litres in 24 hours.

In 2008, freezers were typically built as upright or chest models and grouped into the following types:
  • Type 8 – Upright freezers with manual defrost
  • Type 9 – Upright freezers with automatic defrost
  • Type 10 – Chest freezers and all other freezers not defined as Type 8 or Type 9
  • Type 16 – Compact upright freezers with manual defrost
  • Type 17 – Compact upright freezers with automatic defrost
  • Type 18 – Compact chest freezers and all other compact freezers
The Energy Efficiency Regulations apply to household freezers whose capacity does not exceed 850 litres (30 cubic feet).
 
Kilowatt hour (kWh) The commercial unit of electricity equivalent to 1000 watt hours. A kilowatt hour is the amount of electricity consumed by ten 100-watt bulbs in one hour.
 
Major household appliance Major household appliances include refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, electric ranges, clothes washers and electric clothes dryers. in this report, “appliance” means “major household appliance.”
 
Minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) Standards in the Energy Efficiency Regulations that ensure new appliances imported into Canada, or manufactured in Canada and shipped from one province or territory to another, meet a minimum level of performance for energy efficiency.
 
Moisture detector An automatic sensor in clothes dryers that detects the amount of moisture in clothing and automatically stops the dryer when the clothes are at a predetermined level of dryness. it is not a timed function.
 
Petajoule (PJ) A unit of energy that is equal to 1015 joules, or 2.78 x 108 kilowatt hours. One joule is the energy exerted by a force of one Newton acting to move an object a distance of one metre.
 
Refrigerator An appliance that consists of one or more compartments, with at least one compartment for the refrigerated storage of food at temperatures above 0°C (32°F). if the model is a refrigerator-freezer, at least one of the compartments is for the freezing and storage of frozen foods at or below an average temperature of -15°C (5°F) and typically can be adjusted by the user to a temperature of ≤17.8°C (0°F). A refrigerator with a freezer compartment can maintain simultaneously an average freezer temperature of ≤15°C (5°F) and an average fresh food compartment temperature of between 0°C and 5°C (32°F and 41°F).

In 2008, the EnerGuide Appliance Directory grouped refrigerators under the following main categories:
  • Type 1 – refrigerators and refrigerator-freezers with manual defrost
  • Type 2 – refrigerator-freezers with partial automatic defrost
  • Type 3 – refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost and top-mounted freezer, but without through-the-door ice service; also all-refrigerators with automatic defrost
  • Type 4 – refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost and side-mounted freezer but without through-the-door ice service
  • Type 5 – refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost and bottom-mounted freezer but without through-the-door ice service
  • Type 5A – refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost, bottom-mounted freezer and through-the-door ice service
  • Type 6 – refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost, top-mounted freezer and through-the-door ice service
  • Type 7 – refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost, side-mounted freezer and through-the-door ice service
  • Type 11 – Compact refrigerators and refrigerator-freezers with manual defrost
  • Type 12 – Compact refrigerators and refrigerator-freezers with partial automatic defrost
  • Type 13 – Compact refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost and top mounted freezer; also compact all-refrigerators39 with automatic defrost
  • Type 14 – Compact refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost and side-mounted freezer
  • Type 15 – Compact refrigerator-freezers with automatic defrost and bottom-mounted freezer
The Energy Efficiency Regulations apply to household refrigerators or combination refrigerator-freezers whose capacity does not exceed 1100 litres (39 cubic feet), with the exception of refrigerators that employ an absorption refrigeration system.
 
Standby power The energy used while an appliance is idle.
 

39 Natural Resources Canada, EnerGuide Appliance Directory 2009 (Ottawa: 2009), p. 13.

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