Compiled List of Quick Facts
Facts List Contents
The following is a compiled list of facts that go with the tips on what actions you can take at home, on the road, at work, and at play. Reading through these facts will help you to understand just how much your actions will help to reduce air pollution.
Home Facts
Home Heating, Wood Heating, Water Heating, Major Appliances, Electronic and Home Office Equipment, Air Conditioning, Lighting, Yard Equipment
Home Heating
Insulating basement and attic walls can reduce your energy bill by as much as 30%.
Air leaks in your home could add up to the equivalent of leaving a window open.
A well maintained furnace or boiler uses 10-15% less energy.
For every degree you lower your thermostat in the winter, you can save 3% on your heating bill.
Improperly sealed/caulked windows can account for up to 25% of total heat loss from a house.
Air ducts can leak up to 20% of air that passes through them if not sealed properly.
Tree planting around your home can result in average energy cost savings of 20-25%, as compared to an unsheltered house.
The average home heating system was built to be only 60% efficient when maintained regularly. This means that 60 cents goes to heating your house and the other 40 cents pays for heat lost.
An ENERGY STAR qualified furnace that is properly sized and installed can save you 30-40% on your heating bills.
ENERGY STAR boilers are 85% energy efficient or better.
Condensing furnaces are 90-97% efficient, compared to the average home heating system which is only 60% efficient.
Installing one of today's highly energy-efficient furnaces can save you up to 25% of your home heating costs and will pay you back for its higher initial cost in only a few years.
In Canada, residential wood heating is responsible for 29% of the fine particle emissions associated with human activities. This makes it the third most important source overall.
Wood smoke contains over 100 pollutants. These pollutants not only negatively impact the environment but are also linked to a wide range of health problems.
Residential wood combustion is a major contributor to winter smog.
Burning wood in a conventional wood stove for 9 hours emits as many particulates into the atmosphere as a certified stove does in 60 hours or as car traveling 18000 km.
Spending money on the insulation of your home rather than on fuel is better for the environment and your health.
Certified wood stoves produce less emission and are more energy efficient. They consume up to a third less wood!
The combustion of treated and salvaged wood causes the formation of dioxins, furans and other extremely toxic substances.
If you're using clean, dry wood and there's still a lot of wood smoke, your appliance is not functioning properly or you are not using it correctly.
When you buy logs from commercial dealers you may need to split some of the wood again. The pieces sold commercially are often larger than needed for advanced stoves.
Storing wood inside your home can cause mould and mildew to develop. Only bring in enough wood for your immediate (day's worth) use.
Insulating basement and attic walls can reduce your energy bill by as much as 30%.
Water Heating
Insulating your water tank can reduce energy losses by 25-40%.
A demand (tankless) water heater uses 10-15% less energy than conventional storage water heaters, where water is kept hot all the time as opposed to only when it is needed.
Setting your water heater temperature down 5ΊC can save 3% of your energy costs.
Energy efficient showerheads and faucet aerators can reduce your water use 30 to 50% and as a result save energy needed to heat water.
Switching to a high-efficiency water heater could save you up to $100 in energy costs every year.
Solar systems can supply up to 50 percent of the energy needed to heat water for an average household.
Reducing a hot-water pipe from 10 to 3 metres will save enough energy in one month to heat water for 10 showers.
Major Appliances
Refrigerators and Freezers
Refrigerators account for about 11-13% of your total energy costs each month.
A refrigerator built 20 years ago uses 70% more energy than today's energy efficient models.
A chest freezer is 10-25% more energy efficient than an upright model because they are better insulated and cold air does not spill out when the door is opened.
Freezers made in 2002 use less than half the electricity consumed by those made 10 years ago.
For each degree below a freezer's ideal temperature of 18ΊC, the freezer will use almost 2 percent more energy.
Stoves
Convection ovens are more energy efficient than standard ovens, since the heat is continuously circulated, reducing temperatures and cooking time by up to 30%.
Keeping lids on pots when you are cooking will use up to 20% less energy and your food will also cook more quickly and evenly.
Dishwashers
About 80% of the energy needed to operate a dishwasher is used to heat the water: a machine that uses less water is more efficient.
ENERGY STAR qualified dishwashers are at least 25% more energy efficient than the minimum regulated standard in Canada.
Using a dishwasher saves energy. Five minutes of pre-rinsing dishes under the tap can use up to 115 litres of water.
Today's dishwashers are about 95% more energy-efficient than those bought in 1972: your old one may be costing you more money than buying a new one.
Washing machines
Water heating accounts for 90% of the energy used by your washing machine: a machine that uses less water is more efficient.
Front-loading or horizontal axis washing machines use 40% less water and 50% less energy than top-loading machines since they spin clothes faster, removing more water so that less drying time is needed.
Electronic and Home Office Equipment
ENERGY STAR qualified TVs, VCRs, DVD players, and computers go into deep sleep mode when turned off, consuming 60-70% less energy than non-certified models.
More than half of the energy used by a computer is associated with the monitor. LCD monitors use 80-90% less energy than conventional cathode ray tube monitors (CRT).
A computer that runs 24 hours a day uses between $75 and $120 worth of electricity each year - more power than an energy-efficient refrigerator. In standby mode, your PC's energy use can be reduced to $15.
Air Conditioning
For every degree your air conditioner is set below 27ΊC, you use 3-5% more energy.
Tree planting around your home can result in average energy cost savings of 20-25%, as compared to an unsheltered house.
Older room air conditioners use 30-70% more energy than newer ENERGY STAR qualified models.
Lighting
Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, while providing the same amount of light.
Halogen lighting has light output that is similar to a regular incandescent bulb but uses up to 40% less energy.
Incandescent bulbs only use 5% of the electricity you pay for to produce light, while the other 95% ends up as waste heat.
If every Canadian household replaced one standard 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent light bulb, we could prevent 400,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere (same as removing 66,000 cars from the road) and save $73 million a year in energy costs.
Yard Equipment
Depending on the year, make and model, lawnmowers emit as much pollution in one hour as driving a car from 20 to 200 miles.
Electric mowers reduce pollution by 90%.
Four-stroke engines are 70% more efficient than two-stroke engines.
On the Road
Driving Habits, Driving Time, Car Maintenance, Purchasing a Car, Cleaner Fuels, Alternatives to Driving
Adopt fuel-efficient driving habits
Decreasing your highway cruising speed from 120 to 90km/hr will decrease fuel consumption by about 20%.
Tests show that rapid starts and hard braking reduce travel time by only 4%. However, fuel consumption increases by 39% and emissions of toxic air pollutants are more than five times higher.
An idling engine releases twice as many exhaust fumes than a vehicle in motion.
If every driver in Canada avoided idling for 5 minutes a day, we could prevent 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted.
No more than 30 seconds of idling is needed for oil to circulate through your engine. Many components, such as the wheel bearings, tires and suspension system will only warm up once the vehicle is moving.
Restarting your car many times has little impact on engine components, adding only around $10 per year to the cost of driving, money that is recovered in fuel savings.
Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine.
Idling can damage your engine since it is not operating at its peak temperature where fuel is completely burned. Fuel residue from incomplete burning can damage engine parts.
Idling a vehicle for 10 minutes a day uses an average of 100 litres of gas a year. If gas costs 70 cents a litre, you will save $70 per year, just by turning your key.
During the winter, Canadians idle their vehicles for a combined total of 75 million minutes/day. This is equal to a vehicle idling for 144 years. Although we idle our vehicles about 40% less in summer, we still waste an enormous amount of fuel and money.
A block heater warms the oil and engine coolant, making it easier to start your vehicle and improving winter fuel economy by as much as 10%.
Using your air conditioner in stop-and-go traffic can increase fuel consumption by as much as 20%.
Reducing Driving Time
Studies have shown that employees that work from home (telecommute) are happier and at least 30% more productive.
Maintain your car
Driving your vehicle with just one tire under inflated by 6 psi can reduce the life of the tire by 10,000km and increase the your vehicle's fuel consumption by 3%, costing you extra money and releasing more pollution into the air.
Two-thirds of personal vehicles in Canada have at least one tire under or over-inflated. Improper tire maintenance practices cost Canadians collectively around $500 million/year and wastes 643 million litres of fuel.
Improper maintenance can shorten the life of your tires, costing you money and resulting in more tires in landfills, requiring the use of greater amounts of energy to recycle and produce new tires.
A tune-up can improve the fuel efficiency of your car by 15% and up to 50% if your car has not been regularly maintained.
A clogged air filter can increase fuel consumption by 10%.
A poorly maintained vehicle can consume 50% more fuel than one that runs properly.
Neglecting to replace worn-out oil and air filters results in poor engine performance, higher fuel consumption, and, possibly severe engine damage.
Inadequate maintenance may result in emission levels 2-10 times higher than they should be.
If all drivers maintained their cars regularly, NOx emissions could be reduced by 12% and VOCs by 30%.
Purchasing a car
Car sharing is less expensive than buying a new car. You can save on insurance costs, licensing fees and repair costs.
The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) estimates it costs about $8,700 per year to keep an average car on the road (or 72.5’ per km). This is based on figures using a new Chevy Cavalier Z24, driven 12,000km per year. It takes it account: purchase cost, depreciation, financing charges, insurance, license and registration, regular maintenance, tires and major repairs, roadside assistance plans, fuel and parking.
Sport utility vehicles (SUVs), mini-vans, and pick-up trucks are built on light truck frames, which do not have strict fuel efficiency standards like other passenger cars. They consume 50-70% more fuel than other passenger vehicles, and as such, emit more pollution.
A 10% decrease in vehicle weight results in a 6% improvement in fuel consumption on flat terrain.
Hybrid vehicles provide the same speed, performance, and convenience of a regular car, with better fuel-efficiency. The Honda Insight, Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid are all examples of hybrid that offer high fuel-efficiency.
Between 10% and 15% of Canada's car fleet is made up of older, pre-1988, or poorly maintained vehicles that generate up to 50% of total vehicle emissions. Removing these vehicles from the road would make a large contribution to reducing air pollution.
Use cleaner fuels
Ethanol is a non-corrosive and relatively non-toxic alcohol made from renewable plant sources. In Canada, ethanol is used as a blending ingredient in gasoline at concentrations of 5% to 10%.
All gas powered vehicles can run using fuel blends containing 5% to 10% ethanol.
Using ethanol will not affect your car's warranty.
Ethanol blended fuel helps to reduce engine knock, increasing the performance of your vehicle.
Consider alternative forms of transport
Walking and cycling can improve your health. You can burn up to 350 calories per hour! Walking also helps to reduce blood pressure, strengthen bones and regulate your appetite.
Taking the bus to work, school or the store can reduce pollution, rush-hour stress, and save gallons of gas money and parking fees.
One busload of passengers takes 40 vehicles off the road during rush hour, saves 70,000 litres of fuel, avoids more than 175 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions for that trip, and prevents 9 tonnes of air pollutants a year.
On average, a carpool saves 2,000 litres of gasoline a year.
One person using public transit for a year instead of car can save nearly one tonne of pollutants from being emitted into the atmosphere.
At Work
Office Equipment and Lighting, Transportation
Office Equipment and Lighting
ENERGY STAR labelled computers automatically enter a low-power sleep mode after a set period of time, reducing energy consumption by around 60%.
More than 50% of the energy used by a desktop computer is used to power the monitor.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, while providing the same amount of light.
Transportation
Carpooling with one other person automatically reduces your car emissions by half and saves 2,000 litres of gasoline each year.
Single passenger driving could be reduced by as much as 30% by removing parking subsidies or charging for parking where it is free.
Employers can save between $30,000 and $200,000 (depending on location) by eliminating 50 employee parking spots.
Studies have shown that employees who work from home are happier and at least 30% more productive.
At Play
Swimming Pools, Recreational Vehicles
Swimming Pools
Solar pool covers can reduce water loss by up to 50%. The less water lost, the less energy you will need to use to heat your water. You will also reduce the amount of chemicals that you need to use.
It takes 9 kilowatt-hours of electricity to heat one pound of pool water from 10 to 27ΊC. Your pool loses 35 times this amount of heat when a pound of water evaporates.
Without a solar blanket, winds as low as 12 km/h on the surface of your pool can increase heat loss by up to 300%.
Using a solar blanket on a hot water tub can reduce energy use by up to 33%.
Recreational Vehicles
Using a two-stroke, 70 horsepower motor for 1 hour emits the same amount of hydrocarbons as driving 8,047km in a car, together with high levels of carcinogens.
One-quarter of the fuel and oil that conventional two-stroke engines use is unburned and emitted directly into the water and air.
Four-stroke engines emit less than 4 grams/Kwh of hydrocarbons, while two-stroke engines emit more than 150 grams/Kwh. Even the latest direct fuel-injected, two-stroke engines emit 10 times as many hydrocarbons as four-stroke engines.
