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

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Introduction

The Energy Consumption of Major Household Appliances Shipped in Canada, Trends for 1990–2008 outlines changes in the energy consumption and other characteristics of major household appliances shipped in Canada between 1990 and 2008.

The report is based on the shipments of the six major household appliance categories: refrigerators, freezers,⁴ dishwashers, electric ranges, clothes washers and electric clothes dryers. The data are collected with the co-operation of the Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association (CAMA). Throughout this report, the term “appliance” should be interpreted as “major household appliance.”

Most retailers rely on a distribution strategy called just-in-time inventory, which responds quickly to consumer demand. In fact, retailers keep inventory as low as possible. For this reason, the Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) believes that the shipment data in this report closely reflect the purchasing behaviour of consumers.

Note that these data show the region or province to which the appliances were originally shipped. It is possible that some appliances were eventually sold in a different province, and although the extent of this redistribution is unknown, the OEE believes it to be small.

While this report deals exclusively with shipment data, the OEE also has reports that provide additional information about appliances, such as the Survey of Household Energy Use (SHEU). This national survey collects data on energy consumption and factors affecting energy consumption, such as the age of household appliances and their use. Some of the findings of SHEU are related to the analysis and discussions in this report. The latest SHEU–2007 can be downloaded free of charge from oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/statistics/sheu-summary07/sheu.cfm.

Contents of this report

This report is structured as follows:

• Chapter 1 provides background on the Energy Efficiency Regulations, the ENERGY STAR^® Initiative in Canada and CAMA.
  
  
• Chapters 2 to 7 cover shipment data for each appliance category (refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, electric ranges, clothes washers and electric clothes dryers).
  
  
• Chapter 8 compares the energy efficiency improvements among all appliance categories and quantifies the resulting energy savings, on both a household and national level.
  
  
• Chapter 9 provides conclusions about the analysis of the findings.
  
  
• Appendix A describes the database preparation process conducted by Electro-Federation Canada and the methodology used in this report.
  
  
• Appendix B is a glossary of key terms.
  
  
• Appendix C provides detailed tables to support the charts and figures.

At the beginning of each chapter on one of the major household appliances (chapters 2 to 7), a box such as the one provided here summarizes key facts about the energy consumption and penetration of those appliances in Canadian households in 2007.⁵ These data are taken from tables in NRCan’s Comprehensive Energy Use Database and the Energy Use Data Handbook, 1990 to 2007 and from the 2007 Survey of Household Energy Use Detailed Statistical Report. Note that the data from these sources reflect ownership and energy consumption only in the residential sector, although some of the appliances contained in the data provided by CAMA are shipped to commercial customers.

⁴ Because of restrictions in the market information available, the freezer shipment data are not as comprehensive as data for the other appliances and should be used with caution.
⁵ This is the last year for which data were available at the time of analysis for this report.
⁶ Excluding hot water requirements for dishwashers and clothes washers.
⁷ Natural Resources Canada, 2009, Energy Use Data Handbook, 1990–2007, Residential Sector, Table 15, oee.nrcan.gc.ca/corporate/statistics/neud/dpa/tableshandbook2/res_00_15_e_4.cfm.

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