EUROSTAT
Directorate E : Sectoral and regional statistics
Unit E5: Energy
WP-HOUS/2009/9 (a)
Point 6.3
General remarks:
I think it makes sense to break down definitions into several sets, one set of ‘ideal’ definitions, and one or more others that are more realistic given where countries are at today: for that we need some knowledge of currently used definitions – an exercise in and of itself, unless it has already been done in 2008.
I think we need to name the units or the specific statistics we are interested in. For example, I presume that regarding floor space, we’d be interested in the national average m2 of dwellings.
It is not entirely clear for what items we want breakdowns of the energy consumption. End-use is one of them, but for the sake of international comparison a number of others would be interesting: dwelling type and number of occupants are particularly important determinants of heating and electricity consumption, respectively.
Also missing:
ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN HOUSEHOLDS
RECOMMENDED COVERAGE AND DEFINITIONS
1. Housing Stock Characteristics
Information on dwelling characteristics affecting energy consumption will be collected. These characteristics are: ownership type, dwelling type, age of building, insulation (wall, roof, window) availability, area heated / air-conditioned.
Dwelling: The physical structure (a house, an apartment, a group of rooms, or a single room) that is either occupied or intended for occupancy by the members of a household.
Owned/Rented: A dwelling is classified as "owned" when the owner or co-owner is a household member. Dwellings bought on mortgage are included under this heading. The ownership refers to the structure itself (not to the land). A dwelling is classified as rented when it is occupied or used in return for regular payments by the tenant or a third person.
Dwelling type[1]: While an elaborate classification of dwellings may be used, a simple typology could be limited to Single Houses and Apartments
Single house: A dwelling, detached or attached, that provides living space for one household.
Apartment: A dwelling in a building that contains living quarters for more than one household and in which households live above, below or beside other households.
From the elaborate dutch classification, two types are particularly important to know the shares of to put energy consumption into context: apartments and free-standing (detached?) single houses.
Urban/rural: Classification of dwellings as being located in a city / town / suburb or rural / open country.
Heated Floor space: The floor area of a dwelling heated during most of the winter months. Rooms that are unoccupied during the heating season, unheated garages or other unheated areas in the basement and / or the attic are not counted.
It is of course great to know, but I wonder if we should not satisfy with a definition of floor space that is more generic. In fact, the heated volume rather than the floor space is the key explaining factor. We do track that in NL.
Air-conditioned Floor space: The floor area of the dwelling that is cooled during most of the summer months.
Dwellings by period of construction: The period (e.g. 1950-1973) when the building in which the dwelling is placed was completed.
I think everyone would need to provide estimates of individual years (of course they are free to survey by decades if they like), otherwise it’s going to be a mess to compare.
Availability of Insulation: Presence of thermal insulation of external walls, floor, loft/roof or windows
This has so many variables, including especiallt thickness that I don’t think there is much chance of getting much comparable out of this.
2. Household characteristics
Household characteristics affecting energy consumption will be collected (household size, income, intensity of occupation of the dwelling)
Household: A family, an individual, or a group of unrelated persons occupying the same dwelling. Household members include all persons who usually live in the dwelling (even if they are temporarily absent at the time of the interview, as persons travelling, in hospital etc). Household members who are away from home on extended periods (as college students, members of the armed forces etc) do not count.
Number of occupants of a dwelling: The number of occupants of a dwelling is the number of people for whom the dwelling is the usual residence.
Household Income: The income combines the total income from all sources (before taxes and deductions) of all household members, during a twelve month period. Income comprises: wages, salaries, pensions, commissions, interest, dividends, rental income, social security, unemployment compensation or any other public assistance.
Economic activity: A home-based economic activity - practised by the household - that uses important amounts of energy. A broad classification (farming, other economic activity, both) might be adequate; further refinement of economic activities (according to NACE) may be pursued. While introducing uncertainties, energy consumption in households will be reported net of energy use in home-related economic activities.
I don’t think we can get a complete picture here. I think the first step is knowing whether farms are counted as households for the purpose of energy consumption.
Primary Residence: A dwelling which is the usual place of residence of the householder; it is occupied for at least half of the year by the householder. Secondary homes (occupied for less than six months of the year by the householder) will not be counted in the survey.
3. Consumption / expenditure of energy commodities
Consumption and associated cost per type of energy commodity (electricity, heat, major fuels) will be collected.
Consumption: The amount of electricity or natural gas consumed by a household during a twelve-month period. For fuels that may be stocked, consumption represents fuel purchased, not fuel consumed, over this twelve-month period.
Expenditure: Money spent for the energy used in, or delivered to, a dwelling on an annual basis. The amount comprises VAT and other taxes. Electricity and natural gas expenditures cover the amount of these energy commodities that are consumed. For fuels that may be stocked, expenditure covers the amount of fuel purchased, which may differ from the amount of fuel consumed.
Energy commodities: Electricity, heat from district heating plants and major fuels (such as natural gas, LPG, kerosene, heating gasoil, heavy oil, hard coal, coke, solar, fuelwood etc) will be covered. Definitions are those of the Energy Statistics Regulation.
4. Space Heating
Information on the main / supplementary space heating system will be collected (fuel type, type of heating equipment, age of equipment); availability and type of temperature control instruments (thermostats).
Space Heating: The use of energy to provide heat in a dwelling. Space heating is one of the five major end-uses of energy in households (see point 12).
Main / Supplementary: The main space-heating system provides most of the heat to the dwelling. The supplementary space-heating equipment is used less often than the main space-heating system.
Collective / Individual: The main space-heating system may be a collective system, serving more than one households. An individual system provides heat to a single household. District heating forms a separate type of main space-heating systems.
Here I’d like to know the shares at a national level of particularly district heating.
Type of Heating Equipment: The following types of heating equipment may be considered:
Central steam / hot water space-heating system, providing steam or hot water to radiators / convectors or pipes (under-floor heating) in a dwelling
Built-in electric system, a system of electrical resistances (usually as under-floor heating) providing heat to individual rooms; the system is part of the building electrical installation.
Central warm-air space-heating system, providing warm air through ducts to the dwelling
Heat pumps, a device that brings heat in the dwelling from the environment using a compressor (mechanical work)
Stove, a non-portable apparatus that furnishes heat using solid or liquid fuels
Fireplace
Electric storage heaters, portable electric heaters
Portable kerosene / LPG heaters
Cooking equipment, equipment used normally for cooking purposes
Other
Age of the Heating Equipment, the age of the main heating system of the household
Availability and type of temperature control instruments (thermostats).
I don’t think these are realistic
Thermostat: A device that turns on or off the heating system so that a desired temperature is reached in a heated space.
Availability: Number of thermostats controlling the main heating system.
Thermostat types: Manual on-off thermostat, allowing the manual control of the heating period during the day. Programmable thermostat, designed to adjust automatically the temperature at different times of the day or night and days of the week.
5. Hot Water
Information on water heating equipment (fuel type, tank size, age) will be collected. The use of combi boilers (fuel type, age) will be examined.
Water Heating: The use of energy to heat water for hot running water, bathing, cleaning and other non-cooking applications. Water heating is one of the five major end-uses of energy in households (see point 12).
Combi boiler: A combi boiler is a high-efficiency water heater and a central heating boiler, combined within one compact unit. No separate hot water vessel is required, heating water on demand. Type of fuel (according to the ESR) and age (in broad classes) will be examined.
Water Heater: A thermally insulated vessel designed for heating and storing hot water
Tank size, age: The volume (litres) and age of the water heater. Broad classes may be used for reporting tank size and age.
Seems unrealistic to me.
Fuel: The energy commodities used for providing hot water; definitions according to the ESR
Information on the Main Water Heating equipment (equipment providing most of the hot water to the dwelling) as well as on any secondary water heating equipment may be collected.
6. Cooking
Information on cooking equipment (fuel type, equipment type, age) will be collected.
Cooking: The use of energy to prepare meals and hot drinks
Cooking Equipment: The following equipment types may be considered: Cooker, oven, hob, cooking stove, microwave oven
Availability of cooking equipment will be examined along with types of fuels used for cooking in main and secondary cooking equipment. Age (in broad classes) of primary cooking equipment may be also examined.
7. Electrical Appliance
This one is really tough to get a grip on because there is such a huge number and diversity of appliances (read: very expensive surveys). In many cases technology changes so fast that old categories become irrelevant (VCR recorders, fax machines to name a couple). Why not stick to a small number of big energy hungry appliances (such as those that are right now required to have energy labels).
Availability of electrical appliances (type, number, age) will be examined.
The availability (number) of the following electrical appliances (type) will be examined:
Dishwasher, refrigerator, separate freezer, fridge-freezer, iron, clothes washer, clothes dryer, clothes washer-dryer, ceiling fans
Colour televisions, cable networks, satellite antennas, VCR / DVD and music equipment
Personal computer, printer, internet/modem, fax, photocopier
Hot-water boiler, electric toaster, coffee machine, blender, grills
The age (in broad classes) examination may be limited to the main ones.
8. Air conditioning
Information on air-conditioning equipment (type, age) will be collected.
Air conditioning: The cooling and dehumidification of a dwelling by refrigeration equipment (compressor unit)
Air conditioning equipment type: A central system that has ducts to bring cooled air in the individual rooms of the dwelling or electrically driven individual units providing cooled only to single rooms.
Age: The age, in broad classes, of the central air-conditioning system or the oldest individual unit.
Thermostat types: Manual on-off thermostat, allowing the manual control of the cooling period during the day. Programmable thermostat, designed to adjust automatically the temperature at different times of the day or night and days of the week
Availability of air conditioning equipment will be examined (central system, number of individual units), its age as well as the availability of a thermostat for central system.
9. Penetration of energy efficiency technologies
· Penetration of labelled appliances / equipment will be determined ( by appliance type)
Energy efficiency (classes A to G, according to labelling) will be examined for
· Refrigerators, freezers and combined appliances
· Washing machines, tumble dryers and combined appliances
· Dishwashers
· Ovens
· Air conditioners
· Improvement work (by type) carried out in the dwelling and the heating / air-conditioning equipment with a view to improved energy saving will be examined.
Improvement work carried-out over the last year to reduce energy consumption may be investigated. Improvement work may concern the roof and its insulation, exterior wall insulation, windows, heating system and air conditioning equipment.
· Penetration of high-efficiency condensing boilers will be examined
A condensing boiler is designed to recover energy normally discharged to the atmosphere through the flue. This extra energy is recovered cooling the exhaust gases so that steam condenses to liquid water, recovering the latent heat of vaporization.
The availability of such efficient boilers in the central heating systems will be examined.
· Diffusion of high efficiency bulbs will be examined
The use of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) in the dwelling will be examined
What’s the indicator? By now we must include LED lamps as well. But it quickly becomes a major task. I might have 100 bulbs in my home, most different. I guess we’re interested in the fraction of LED, CFL, halogen, and traditional bulbs. I do think the more efficient use of statistical resources is to look into sales figures of bulbs, possibly even at a EU level, rather than try to establish this by surveys.
10. Energy service demand
We have a little on this in NL, but who else?
Intensity of use of heating system and thermostat set points during the heating period
Intensity of using the central heating during the winter period (days per week, hours per day)
Temperature the dwelling is kept during the winter months (a) during the day when people are present (b) during the night or in the absence of people[2].
· Intensity of use of air-conditioning system and thermostat set points during the cooling period:
· Intensity of using the central air-conditioning system during the summer months (days per week, hours per day) and temperature the dwelling is kept during the summer months (a) during the day when people are present (b) during the night or in the absence of people.