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May/June 2001 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Editor’s Notebook Inside Story Feature: Solar power À la carte Reverberations

Power Switch | À la carte: Mapping the Wind | Home Costs | Windiest City | Facts and Figures

Appliances can consume up to 14 percent of a household’s total energy, according to Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Just how much they devour depends on their energy-efficiency rating — the lower the number, the better the rating.

Based on a national average energy cost of 8.14 cents per kilowatt hour, NRCan reports that the difference in operating costs between the most and the least efficient household washing machines, for example, could be $955 a year. The potential annual savings for other major appliances include: dishwasher, $377; oven, $321; refrigerator, $288; clothes dryer, $76; and freezer, $62.

Another factor in what NRCan calls an appliance’s "second price tag" is life expectancy. Average estimates in years are: freezers, 21; ovens and clothes dryers, 18; fridges, 17; washers, 14; and dishwashers, 13.

To calculate the total savings offered by any appliance, multiply its EnerGuide rating (in kilowatt hours per year) by the number of years it is expected to last by the local electricity costs (in dollars per kilowatt hour).

Cost of a cozy home
Historically, canadians have enjoyed relative stability in the cost of home-heating fuel and electricity. While the average cost per household increased 234 percent from 1978 to 1999, according to Statistics Canada, this expense, relative to average gross household income, remained virtually the same over the two decades. On the other hand, residential energy consumption per capita actually decreased 14 percent in the same period.

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