Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies International Atomic Energy Agency United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs International Energy Agency Eurostat European Environment Agency

METHODOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION 
(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Household energy use encompasses 
energy used in residential buildings, including urban and rural free-standing houses, 
apartment dwellings and most collective dwellings such as dormitories and barracks. 
These energy uses typically include cooking, water heating, space heating and 
cooling, lighting, major appliances for refrigeration, washing and drying, television 
and communications, computers, conveniences like food processing machines, 
vacuum cleaners, etc., as well as a myriad of small appliances. Household energy use 
should exclude energy for farm processes, small businesses or small industry. The 
household sector must be separated from the service/commercial sector. The energy 
fuel options should include not only commercial energy, but also non-commercial 
energy sources such as fuelwood and other biomass fuels. 
Changes in intensities are affected by factors other than energy efficiency; therefore, 
analysing intensity trends provides important insights into how energy efficiency and 
other factors affect energy use. Annex 3 includes a decomposition method for energy 
intensities. 
(b) Measuring Methods: 
Energy Use: Commercial energy for households is usually recorded in the energy 
statistics of countries based on data provided by electric, gas or heat utilities 
according to customer definitions that correspond to ‘households’. Data on purchases 
of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), other oil products, coal or similar fuels and wood 
are not always recorded correctly since suppliers may not know where or how these 
fuels are being used. 
More information on different end uses in the household sector can be obtained 
through household surveys. The most direct surveys collect detailed information on 
both fuels consumed and energy-using equipment owned or used. The most accurate 
surveys also collect data (with permission from households) from energy suppliers for 
quantities consumed, or they use fuel-use diaries for households to record what is 
consumed. The surveys measure usage in a variety of appliances and in heating 
equipment using miniature data loggers. Less-detailed surveys estimate the use of 
each fuel for each major purpose through regression analysis over a large number of 
households. 
Unit: toe for final energy and kWh for electricity. 
Activity: At the aggregate level, residential energy use is calculated on a per capita or 
per household basis, or if data are available, per unit of floor area. In general, energy 
use depends on both the physical size and characteristics of the dwelling, on the 

---

65 
number of people and on ownership levels of electric appliances. As the number of 
people in a household declines, energy use per household declines, while the energy 
use per capita increases. Energy use for water heating and cooking, and for many 
appliances tends to vary with the household size and the number of people per 
household. 
For developing countries with large rural sectors or large numbers of homes without 
access to electricity, the share of homes connected to the electricity grid is an 
important factor in total household energy use. The shares of homes using different 
kinds of combustible renewables and waste (CRW) are also important.