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In 2008, Canadians spent $30.6 billion on household energy needs. Total household energy use was 17 percent of all energy used (Figure 3.1), and total household GHG emissions were 15 percent of all GHGs emitted in Canada (Figure 3.2). Specifically, residential energy use was 1,465.3 PJ, emitting 74.2 Mt of GHGs.
Natural gas, electricity, wood, heating oil and propane were the sources of energy being used. Within a household, these forms of energy were used for a variety of activities, as seen in Figure 3.3. Space and water heating accounted for 80 percent of Canada’s residential energy use in 2008, followed by appliances, lighting and air conditioning.
Between 1990 and 2008, the population grew 20 percent (5.6 million people) and the number of households increased 33 percent (3.3 million). The rise in the number of households, combined with increased average living space, contributed to the increase of 14 percent, or 183.1 PJ, in residential energy use from 1,282.2 PJ to 1,465.3 PJ. As homeowners gradually switched to cleaner energy sources, the associated GHG emissions grew only 8 percent, from 68.8 Mt to 74.2 Mt during the same period.
The mix of energy used in the residential sector changed slightly over the period. Specifically, natural gas and electricity became even more dominant while the use of heating oil declined (Figure 3.4). Natural gas and electricity together accounted for 87 percent of all residential energy use in 2008, compared to 78 percent in 1990. These increases were largely the result of increased availability of natural gas and lower natural gas prices relative to oil.
The choices Canadians made with respect to their living space also contributed to an increase in energy use. Average living space in 2008 was 10 percent greater than that in 1990. Specifically, average occupied living space in 1990 was 116 square metres (m²), compared to 128 m² of living space in 2008 (Figure 3.5). At the same time, the number of individuals per household fell to 2.5 in 2008 from 2.8 in 1990. This trend, coupled with population growth, has meant more dwellings built and therefore more energy consumed.
Since 1990, Canadians use more devices that consume energy. In addition, more Canadians choose to cool their homes during the summer months. These choices increased residential energy use. The impact of these changes and the choices made by Canadians are further discussed in the following section, where each end-use is examined.
The amount of energy used by the residential sector to heat each square metre of living space decreased significantly between 1990 and 2008. The decrease in space heating intensity from 0.66 gigajoules per square metre (GJ/m²) to 0.52 GJ/m² (Figure 3.6) was mainly driven by energy efficiency gains, despite heating degree-days in 2008 being marginally higher than in 1990.
Energy efficiency gains were realized, to a large extent, by the replacement of less efficient systems with regulated medium-and high-efficiency systems. From 1990 to 2008, medium- and high-efficiency gas systems increased their share of the gas market from 10 percent to 83 percent. While few medium-efficiency oil heating systems were in the market in 1990, almost all oil heating systems were medium efficiency in 2008.
While space heating intensity decreased 20 percent, this was not enough to compensate for the fact that the number of households increased 33 percent. Additionally, the average Canadian home was larger in 2008 than it was in 1990. Consequently, the energy required to heat all the dwellings in Canada increased 16 percent, from 794.6 PJ in 1990 to 920.8 PJ in 2008.
Canadians shifted from using oil-fired water heaters to those that use natural gas and that are, on average, more energy efficient (Figure 3.7). In addition, current minimum energy performance standards mean that new water heaters use less energy than older models. As older stock is replaced by new stock, energy efficiency gains are realized. These changes resulted in a 21 percent decrease in the energy used per household for heating water (from 24.5 GJ per household in 1990 to 19.4 GJ per household in 2008).
Although there was a decrease in per household energy used to heat water, the total number of households grew more quickly than energy efficiency improvements from new equipment. The result was an overall increase of 5 percent in residential water heating energy use, from 242.9 PJ to 255.9 PJ.
The number of major appliances operated in Canada between 1990 and 2008 increased 46 percent (Figure 3.8). However, the total amount of energy that households used to power major appliances decreased 16 percent over the same period. In fact, the average unit energy use of all major household appliances decreased noticeably from 1990 to 2008.
The largest percentage decrease was in the unit energy use of dishwashers (Figure 3.9), which in 2008 used 71 percent less energy than in 1990 (from 277 kilowatt hours [kWh] per year to 82 kWh per year).4 A new fridge in 1990 used an average of 956 kWh per year versus 467 kWh per year in 2008, a decrease of 51 percent. These improvements in efficiency were due mainly to the introduction of minimum efficiency standards in the 1990s.
In contrast to trends for major appliances, energy use for smaller appliances such as televisions, VCRs, DVDs, stereo systems and personal computers more than doubled (+150 percent). This increase more than outweighed the energy use reduction from major appliances. One example of the rapid growth in minor appliances is the increased penetration of personal computers. In 1990, computers were present in less than one out of six households, but by 2008 they were present in more than four out of five households in Canada. Furthermore, the rapid penetration of digital TVs, DVDs and digital cable boxes also contributed to the increase.
The amount of occupied floor space with air conditioners rose to 749 million m² in 2008, from 267 million m² in 1990. The percentage of cooled occupied floor space rose from 23 percent in 1990 to 44 percent in 2008. As a result, although also influenced by variations in cooling degree-days, the energy required to cool Canadian homes rose 119 percent (Figure 3.10), from 10.4 PJ to 22.9 PJ over the same period.
The increase in energy used for space cooling would have been more pronounced if not for efficiency improvements associated with room and central air conditioners. Compared to 1990, the stock of room and central air conditioners in 2008 were 36 percent and 24 percent more efficient, respectively.
Despite a drop in lighting energy use per household, the energy required to light all the households in Canada increased 21 percent, from 51.8 PJ to 62.7 PJ (Figure 3.11). This was entirely due to the 33 percent increase in the number of households, as the energy required to light each household in Canada decreased 9 percent, from 5.2 GJ to 4.8 GJ.
Some of the decrease in lighting energy use per household can be associated with the increased use of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), also known as compact fluorescent light bulbs (Figure 3.12), which use less energy to produce a certain level of light. The use of CFLs was marginal in the residential lighting market in 2000, but CFLs represented around 21 percent of light bulbs used in 2008.
In the residential sector, energy intensity is usually expressed as energy consumed per household. It can also be expressed as energy consumed per square metre of house area. Energy intensity decreased 14 percent, from 129.6 GJ per household in 1990 to 111.3 GJ per household in 2008 (Figure 3.13). This occurred despite the average household operating more appliances, its living space becoming larger, and increasing its use of space cooling. Energy use per square metre decreased 21 percent from 1.06 GJ to 0.83 GJ.
Energy efficiency improvements in the residential sector have resulted in significant savings between 1990 and 2008. These improvements include changes to the residential thermal envelope (insulation, windows, etc.) and changes to the efficiency of energy-consuming items in the home, such as furnaces, appliances, lighting and air conditioning.
Energy efficiency in the residential sector improved 31 percent from 1990 to 2008, allowing Canadians to save 391.6 PJ of energy (Figure 3.14) and $8.2 billion in energy costs in 2008.
Figure 3.15 illustrates the influence that various factors had on the change in residential energy use between 1990 and 2008. These effects are as follows:
4 Excludes hot water requirements.