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Heating equipment and fuel

  1. Furnaces were the most common type of heating system used by Canadian households (56%).
  2. Electric baseboard systems were most prevalent in Quebec (61%).
  3. Boilers were used by half of the households in Prince Edward Island (51%).
  4. Natural gas was used in almost half (47%) of households in Canada, primarily by those in Alberta (88%), Saskatchewan (80%), Ontario (68%), Manitoba (56%) and British Columbia (56%).
  5. Electricity was the second most common fuel source (37%) used by Canadian households.
  6. Electricity was most frequently reported by households in Quebec (77%), Newfoundland and Labrador (61%) and New Brunswick (59%).
  7. Heating oil was used most frequently by households in Prince Edward Island (68%) and Nova Scotia (55%).

Energy consumption 1

  1. Canadian households used almost 1.4 million terajoules (TJ) of energy in 2007.
  2. An average household's energy consumption in 2007 was 106 gigajoules (GJ).
  3. Households in Alberta (129 GJ) and Saskatchewan (126 GJ) had the highest average energy consumption.
  4. Households in Quebec (94 GJ) and British Columbia (98 GJ) had the lowest average energy consumption.

Characteristics of households and dwellings

  1. Average household energy consumption was lower for apartment dwellers (44 GJ) than those in single-family dwellings (137 GJ).
  2. Households that rented their dwelling used less (56 GJ) energy than households that owned their dwelling (126 GJ).
  3. Energy use increased with income.

Energy-saving and retrofitting practices

  1. The most common practice was closing drapes or blinds during the day (85%).
  2. One-third of households used five or more energy-saving compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).
  3. Programmable thermostats were more common in dwellings with larger heated areas.
  4. Between 2003 and 2007, 50% of households that owned their dwelling and were not in apartments made at least one improvement to their dwelling intended to reduce energy consumption.
  5. Households in Prince Edward Island (60%), Ontario (58%) and Manitoba (55%) were most likely to have made at least one retrofitting improvement.
  6. Dwellings built before 1996 were much more likely to have been retrofitted compared to newer dwellings.