2003 Survey of Household Energy Use (SHEU) – Summary Report

II. Survey Findings

Analytical Summary

• Data from SHEU-2003 found that the average heated area of a Canadian dwelling was 1321 square feet (sq. ft.) in 2003. The average heated area of a Canadian dwelling has increased with each Survey of Household Energy Use (SHEU).
  
  
• Dwellings constructed after 1979 were, on average, larger and more energy efficient than dwellings constructed before 1980.
  
  
• The energy source used by households for space and water heating was primarily based on the location of the household within the country. The majority of households located west of Quebec used natural gas, while the majority of households in Quebec used electricity. Most households in the Atlantic region used either electricity or oil.
  
  
• The penetration rate² for condensing (high-efficiency) furnaces was 62 percent among dwellings constructed during 1990-2003 that used a natural gas, propane or oil furnace.
  
  
• An increasing number of basements / crawl spaces, attics / crawl spaces and attached garages are being insulated.
  
  
• SHEU-2003 found that more households used both a main and a secondary refrigerator than did the previous SHEUs. These additional refrigerators were also increasing in capacity. These trends have also coincided with a decrease in the penetration rate for freezers.
  
  
• Nearly one quarter of Canadian households used three or more television sets in 2003.
  
  
• The penetration rate for both central and window/room air conditioners increased from SHEU-1997 to SHEU-2003. Also, Ontario households accounted for 60 percent of all air-conditioning systems used in Canada in 2003.
  
  
• Almost 25 percent of the light bulbs used by the average Canadian household were energy-efficient light bulbs, such as halogen light bulbs, fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lights.
  
  
• ENERGY STAR^® qualified products, which are among the most energy-efficient products on the market, have had a high penetration since the inception of the ENERGY STAR Initiative in Canada. However, a significant number of households did not know if their products were ENERGY STAR qualified, which may have resulted in an underestimation of the penetration rate of ENERGY STAR qualified products.

² Penetration rate is the percentage of a sample population that used a given product during a specific time. For the purposes of this report, the sample population is Canadian households (unless otherwise stated) during 2003.

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