Home
	Databases
	NEUD Publications
	Data & Analysis Centres
	Glossary

2003 Survey of Household Energy Use (SHEU) – Detailed Statistical Report

III. Appendix A

Glossary

Appliance: Device used in a house during the year. Appliances at the disposal of the head of the household for regular use are to be counted. Appliances that are owned by the household but are not used are not to be counted, except for air-conditioning units. An appliance that is temporarily inoperable, but which is generally used, is included if a serviceperson has been called or if it has been transported to a repair shop.

Caulking: Material used to seal spaces to make them airtight.

Central ventilation system (air exchanger): Device that takes stale air from inside a dwelling and exchanges it with fresh air from outside a dwelling.

Chest freezer: A freezer that is accessible from the top through a lid.

Compact dishwasher: Dishwasher with a capacity of less than eight place settings and six serving pieces.

Compact fluorescent light: General term applied to smaller-diameter fluorescent lights that are compatible with standard light sockets.

Condensing furnace (high-efficiency furnace): This type of furnace extracts most of the heat remaining in the combustion by-products through a condensing heat exchange process.

Condominium: Individual ownership of a dwelling in a multi-dwelling structure (such as an apartment building) or on land owned in common (such as a row house complex).

Crawl space: Ventilated open low space between the ground and the lowest storey of a dwelling, or a ventilated low space between the roof and highest storey of a dwelling.

Double/row house: House connected to at least one other dwelling, which together form a building. For SHEU-2003, duplexes (two dwellings one above the other, not attached to any other structure) are included in this category.

Dwelling: A living space that is structurally separate from others, with a private entry that permits access to the exterior of the building or to a stairwell or common corridor.

Energy intensity: Total energy consumption of a dwelling divided by the number of heated units of floor area. In this report, energy intensity is expressed in gigajoules per square metre (GJ/m²).

ENERGY STAR^®: As an international symbol of energy efficiency, the ENERGY STAR mark helps consumers identify which appliances on the market are the most energy efficient in their class. Administered in Canada by Natural Resources Canada, the ENERGY STAR symbol is used mainly to identify products offering premium performance levels in energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR symbol can be found on product packaging, literature and advertising and on the products themselves. In some cases, you may also find it on the EnerGuide label. The following criteria are used to determine if an appliance qualifies for the ENERGY STAR mark:

• A standard-size refrigerator must exceed the minimum energy performance standard established by the Government of Canada by at least 10 percent in 2003 and at least 15 percent in 2004. A standard-size freezer must, in 2003, exceed these standards by at least 10 percent. Compact refrigerators and freezers must exceed these same standards by at least 20 percent.
  
  
• A standard-size dishwasher must exceed the minimum energy performance standards established by the Government of Canada by at least 25 percent in 2003. Only standard-size dishwashers can qualify for the ENERGY STAR mark.
  
  
• A clothes washer must use from 35 percent to 50 percent less water and at least 50 percent less energy per load than conventional washers.
  
  
• A television must use 3 watts or less when turned off, i.e., use 75 percent less energy than conventional televisions, which consume up to 12 watts when turned off.
  
  
• A video cassette recorder must use 4 watts or less when turned off, i.e., use 70 percent less energy than conventional video cassette recorders, which consume up to 13 watts when turned off.
  
  
• A DVD player must use 3 watts or less when turned off, i.e., use 75 percent less energy than conventional DVD players, which consume up to 10 watts when turned off.
  
  
• A stereo system must use 2 watts or less when turned off, i.e., use 70 percent less energy than conventional stereo systems, which consume up to 7 watts when turned off.
  
  
• A room air conditioner must exceed the minimum energy performance standards established by the Government of Canada by at least 10 percent in 2003. A central air conditioner must exceed these standards by 20 percent.
  
  
• A forced-air furnace must have an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating of 90 or higher. A furnace (boiler) with hot water or steam radiators must have an AFUE rating of 85 or higher.
  
  

Fluorescent tube: A linear (long, straight tube) fluorescent light bulb (lamp).

Gigajoule (GJ): Unit of measure for energy consumption, equal to 1 billion joules.

Halogen light bulbs: Incandescent lights containing halogen gases, which burn very hot while providing an intense white light.

Heat pump: Heating and cooling unit that draws heat from an outdoor source and transports it to an indoor space for heating purposes, or the inverse for cooling purposes.

Heated area: The total floor space of a dwelling, excluding the basement and the garage.

Household: Person or group of persons who occupy a dwelling. The number of households, therefore, is equal to the number of dwellings occupied.

Low-rise apartment: Dwelling located within an apartment building with fewer than five storeys.

Mobile home: Mobile dwelling designed and built to be transported by road on its own frame to a location where it may be placed on a temporary foundation, such as concrete blocks, pillars or other specifically designed foundation. It must be able to be moved again to another location, as required.

Moisture detector: A moisture detector is a sensor in a clothes dryer used to check the amount of moisture in the clothes and to terminate the dryer cycle automatically when the clothes are dry.

Ordinary (incandescent) light bulb: The standard incandescent light bulb is the original and most common type of bulb used in the house.

Penetration rate: Percentage of a sample population that used a given product during a specific period of time.

Programmable thermostat: A temperature-sensitive device that lets an individual choose the temperature to be maintained in one or several rooms of a dwelling during different times of the day.

Retrofit: Improvement of efficiency of energy-consuming appliances or thermal characteristics of a building.

Single detached house: House containing a single dwelling unit entirely separate from any other building or structure; generally known as a single-family house.

Supplementary heating: Heating system which can be used in addition to a main heating system, as desired, and which is flexible enough to respond to rapid variations in heating needs.

Thermal envelope: The facing materials that form the shell of a building, including walls, ceilings, roof, basement walls, windows and doors.

Upright freezer: A freezer that is accessible from the front through a door.

Weatherstripping: A felt or foam band, usually self-adhesive, placed at the joints of doors and windows to seal against air leaks and reduce heat loss.