Natural Resources Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Office of Energy Efficiency Links

 

Office of Energy Efficiency

Menu

Energy Consumption of Major Household Appliances Shipped in Canada, Summary Report – Trends for 1990–2007

PDF Version | Table of Contents | Next Page

Chapter 6 / Electric Clothes Dryers

As shown in Table 8, electric clothes dryers exhibited relatively minor improvements in energy efficiency between 1990 and 2007.10 A consumption level of more than 1050 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year had dominated the market (66.5 percent) in 1990. That consumption level had disappeared by 1996. In 2007, 67.8 percent of electric clothes dryers consumed between 900 and 949 kWh per year.

Table 8 Distribution of Electric Clothes Dryers by Average Annual Unit Energy Consumption

Model
Year
kWh/yr
<800 800–
899.9
900–
949.9
950–
999.9
1000–
1049.9
≥1050
  (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
1990 4.7 7.8 14.4 0.0 6.6 66.5
1991 5.3 0.2 30.0 22.6 15.4 26.5
1992 4.4 28.9 37.5 13.6 4.6 11.0
1993 4.1 28.9 53.6 0.1 7.1 6.1
1994 4.3 24.0 54.6 0.0 14.9 2.2
1995 3.2 16.2 68.5 0.8 10.0 1.3
1996 4.2 11.8 82.8 1.1 0.2 0.0
1997 4.9 12.9 80.7 1.4 0.0 0.0
1998 3.2 8.8 87.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1999 2.7 7.2 88.3 1.8 0.0 0.0
2000 2.7 7.7 84.6 5.0 0.0 0.0
2001 2.3 4.3 87.1 6.3 0.0 0.0
2002 2.5 5.2 85.5 6.7 0.0 0.0
2003 2.7 10.0 77.0 10.3 0.0 0.0
2004 4.0 4.4 75.3 16.3 0.0 0.0
2005 6.1 3.2 74.1 16.6 0.0 0.0
2006 6.1 2.8 69.8 21.2 0.0 0.0
2007 4.9 2.9 67.8 24.4 0.0 0.0
Total
Change
+0.2 -4.9 +53.4 +24.4 -6.6 -66.5

6.1 Energy Savings

It is estimated that from 1993 to 2007, the annual energy consumption of electric clothes dryers was lower than it would have been had manufacturers not met the minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) or improved energy efficiency. Figure 9 illustrates how much energy might have been consumed annually by electric clothes dryers without the contributing factors described in the Foreword (top line) and how much energy they actually consumed (bottom line).

Annual Energy Savings for Electric Clothes Dryers, 1992–2007.

On average, electric clothes dryers would have consumed 0.13 petajoules (PJ) more per year. The largest annual savings occurred in the last three years, when electric clothes dryers consumed approximately 0.19 PJ less than they might have otherwise. That amount is the equivalent of one year’s energy for approximately 1700 households.

In 2007, cumulative energy savings for electric clothes dryers reached 1.97 PJ (547 million kWh). Dollar savings for electric clothes dryers for the study period were estimated to be $52 million (calculated at 9.5 cents/kWh).

10 Analysis of the electric clothes dryer data revealed that although the size of clothes dryers increased slightly from 2006 to 2007, the average energy consumption per litre of capacity decreased.

Previous Page | Table of Contents| Next Page