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In 2009, Canadians spent $26.8 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 secondary energy use-related GHGs emitted in Canada (Figure 3.2). Specifically, residential energy use was 1,422.3 PJ, emitting 67.9 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. Because of Canada’s cold climate, 63 percent of Canada’s residential energy use was for space heating in 2009, while water heating accounted for 17 percent. Appliances were also major energy users in Canadian dwellings, followed by lighting and space cooling.
Between 1990 and 2009, the population grew 22 percent (6.0 million people) and the number of households increased 36 percent (3.5 million). The rise in the number of households, combined with increased average living space and higher penetration rate of appliances, contributed to the increase of 11 percent, or 140.2 PJ, in residential energy use, from 1,282.1 PJ to 1,422.3 PJ. As homeowners gradually switched to cleaner energy sources, the associated GHG emissions decreased 0.8 percent, from 68.4 Mt to 67.9 Mt, during the 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 heating oil use declined (Figure 3.4). Natural gas and electricity together accounted for 87 percent of all residential energy use in 2009, compared with 78 percent in 1990, while heating oil saw its share decrease from 15 percent to 4 percent over the period. The increase in natural gas and electricity share largely reflected increased availability of natural gas and lower natural gas prices relative to oil. It was also in part the result of relatively higher efficiency ratings for gas and electric furnaces.
The choices Canadians made with respect to their living space also contributed to an increase in energy use. Average living space in 2009 was 11 percent greater than that in 1990. Specifically, average occupied living space in 1990 was 116 square metres (m²) compared with 129 m² of living space in 2009 (Figure 3.5). At the same time, the number of individuals per household fell to 2.5 in 2009 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 2009. The decrease in space heating intensity from 0.66 gigajoules per square metre (GJ/m²) to 0.50 GJ/m² (Figure 3.6) was mainly driven by energy efficiency gains, despite heating degreedays in 2009 being 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 2009, the proportion of medium- and high-efficiency gas furnaces installed in Canadian houses climbed from 10 percent to 86 percent of the gas heating system market. Although there were few medium-efficiency oil heating systems in 1990, almost all oil heating systems were medium-efficiency by 2009.
Although space heating intensity decreased 24 percent, this was not enough to compensate for the fact that the number of households increased 36 percent. Additionally, the average Canadian home was larger in 2009 than it was in 1990. Consequently, the energy required to heat all the dwellings in Canada increased 13 percent, from 792.3 PJ in 1990 to 893.2 PJ in 2009, which accounted for 63 percent of all residential energy use.
More 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, combined with a decrease in household size, resulted in a 26 percent decrease in the energy used per household for heating water (from 24.7 GJ per household in 1990 to 18.3 GJ per household in 2009).
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 0.5 percent in residential water heating energy use, from 244.6 PJ to 245.8 PJ. In 2009, 17 percent of the residential energy demand was used for water heating.
The number of major appliances operated in Canada between 1990 and 2009 increased 49 percent (Figure 3.8). However, the total amount of energy that households used to power major appliances decreased 16 percent over the same period due to energy efficiency improvements. In fact, the average unit energy use of all major household appliances decreased noticeably from 1990 to 2009.
The largest percentage decrease was in the unit energy use of clothes washers (Figure 3.9), which in 2009 used 73 percent less energy than in 1990 (from 134 kilowatt hours per year [kWh/yr] to 37 kWh/yr).4 A new refrigerator in 1990 used an average of 956 kWh/yr versus 430 kWh/yr in 2009, a decrease of 55 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 (+158 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 2009 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 757 million m² in 2009, from 267 million m² in 1990. The percentage of occupied floor space cooled rose from 23 percent in 1990 to 44 percent in 2009. As a result, even though the summer in 2009 was not as hot as in 1990, the energy required to cool Canadian homes rose 68 percent (Figure 3.10), from 10.4 PJ to 17.4 PJ, over the same period.
The increase in energy used for space cooling would have been more profound if not for efficiency improvements associated with room and central air conditioners. Compared with 1990, the stock of room and central air conditioners in 2009 were 48 and 26 percent more efficient, respectively.
Despite a drop in lighting energy use per household, the energy required to light all the households in Canada increased 18 percent, from 51.4 PJ to 60.6 PJ (Figure 3.11). This was entirely due to the 36 percent increase in the number of households, as the energy required to light each household in Canada decreased 10 percent, from 5.2 GJ to 4.7 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 before 2000, but CFLs represented around 24 percent of light bulbs used in 2009.
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 18 percent, from 129.6 GJ per household in 1990 to 106.0 GJ in 2009 (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 25 percent, from 1.06 GJ to 0.79 GJ.
Energy efficiency improvements in the residential sector resulted in significant savings between 1990 and 2009. 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 37 percent from 1990 to 2009, allowing Canadians to save 470.6 PJ of energy (Figure 3.14) and $8.9 billion in energy costs in 2009.
Figure 3.15 illustrates the influence that various factors had on the change in residential energy use between 1990 and 2009. These effects are as follows:
4 Excludes hot water requirements.