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Energy Consumption of Major Household Appliances Shipped in Canada, Summary Report –
Trends for 1990–2009

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Highlights

The Energy Consumption of Major Household Appliances Shipped in Canada, Summary Report contains an analysis of the shipment data for major household appliances (refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, electric ranges, clothes washers and electric clothes dryers) between 1990 and 2009.

Highlights of this summary report include the following:

  • The reduction in average annual unit energy consumption (UEC) ranged from 6 percent (electric clothes dryers) to 81 percent (clothes washers) during the study period. These energy efficiency improvements can be attributed to a variety of factors, including

    • the research and development carried out by manufacturers²
    • consumer demand for more energy-efficient products;
    • standards that limit the amount of energy each appliance may consume, such as the minimum energy performance standards (MEPS);³
    • information initiatives such as the EnerGuide for Equipment program and the ENERGY STAR® Initiative in Canada,4 which help consumers identify the most energy-efficient products on the market; and
    • various incentives and rebates offered by the federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments and utilities.

  • A household operating an average set of major household appliances purchased in 2009 might expect them to consume fewer than 2800 kilowatt hours per year (kWh/yr) of electricity—approximately half as much as a set purchased in 1990.

  • To illustrate the significance of energy efficiency improvements on overall energy consumption, this summary report quantified energy savings from all shipped appliances in Canada between 19925 and 2009. In 2009, the estimated energy savings reached 54 petajoules (PJ) (or 15 billion kWh), the equivalent of one year’s energy for approximately 510 000 households.

  • The majority of appliances in Canada (between 81 and 96 percent) were shipped to retailers in 2009.

  • The share of ENERGY STAR qualified appliance shipments in Canada increased to 90 percent of all dishwashers, 69 percent of all clothes washers and 53 percent of all refrigerators in 2009.

² For more information on the role of the members of the Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association (CAMA), refer to the Energy Consumption of Major Household Appliances Shipped in Canada, Trends for 1990–2008 (Ottawa: 2010), p. 9. Available at oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/statistics/cama10/chapter1.cfm.

³ For more information on the MEPS and the Energy Efficiency Regulations, refer to Energy Consumption of Major Household Appliances Shipped in Canada, Trends for 1990–2008 (Ottawa: 2010), p. 3. Available at oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/statistics/cama10/chapter1.cfm.

4 For more information on the ENERGY STAR Initiative in Canada, including qualifying criteria for major household appliances, visit oee.nrcan.gc.ca/energystar.

5 Note that even though the MEPS did not come into effect until 1995, the baseline year used for all estimates of energy savings was 1992. This is because energy efficiency began to improve almost immediately after the Energy Efficiency Act came into force in 1992.

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