Regional Energy Profile

MOUNTAIN APPLIANCE REPORT  2001

Return to Regional Energy Profiles Return to Appliance Reports Subscribe to Our Listserv for Notice of New Products CONTENTS OF THIS REPORT Air-Conditioning Electric Appliances Gas Appliances U.S. Data Table Mountain Data Table LINKS TO RELATED DATA PRODUCTS Mountain Residential Energy Map Mountain Renewable Potential Map Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2001 Regional Energy Data Sources U.S. Census Regions and Divisions Map Mountain State Pages: Arizona Colorado Idaho Montana Nevada New Mexico Utah Wyoming

Eight States--Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming--comprise the Mountain Census Division on the Rocky Mountain range in the western United States. The Mountain States extend from the northern border with Canada to the southern border with Mexico, resulting in a wide range of typical winter and summer temperatures within the Division. On average, however, the Mountain Division experiences somewhat colder winters than does the United States as a whole, while Mountain Division and U.S. summer temperatures are normally about the same. The Mountain Division is the driest Division in the United States. It averages only 14 inches of precipitation per year, compared with a U.S. average of 30 inches per year. Households in the Mountain States consumed 0.58 quadrillion Btu of energy in 1997 (the most recent year for which data are available). That consumption accounted for about 6 percent of the nationwide total of 10.2 quadrillion Btu. About 30 percent of Mountain household energy was used to operate appliances (including refrigerators) and to run electric air-conditioning. That share is about the same as share for the United States as a whole (31 percent). Among the 7 million households in the Mountain Division in 2001, electric appliances, particularly evaporative coolers, were more common than among U.S. households, and gas appliances and air-conditioning were less common. AIR-CONDITIONING Air-conditioning is less common in the Mountain Division than in any other U.S. Census Division except the Pacific. It is found in just two out of four households, whereas nationwide it is found in three out of four. In all U.S. households, the prevalence of air-conditioning increased significantly from 57 percent of households in 1980 to 77 percent of households in 2001 (U.S. Data Table). Over the same period, the prevalence of air-conditioning in Mountain households increased from 43 percent in 1980 to 51 percent in 2001 (Mountain Data Table).

In Mountain households, central air-conditioning was even more dominant, when compared with room units, than nationally. By 2001, 41 percent of Mountain households had central air-conditioning, and only 10 percent had room units only. (Households with both central air-conditioning and room units are counted as "central.") By comparison, 55 percent of U.S. households overall had central air-conditioning in 2001 and 23 percent had room units only. ELECTRIC APPLIANCES The dry climate of the Mountain States allows for the use of evaporative coolers, which are found in 26 percent of households, compared with only 3 percent of households nationwide. With so little precipitation in the Mountain Division, there is little call for dehumidifiers, and they were found in only 1 to 2 percent of Mountain households throughout the 1980-2001 period. Nationwide, the frequency of dehumidifiers ranged1 from 9 to 12 percent of households. Some kitchen appliances were more common in households in the Mountain States than in the country as a whole throughout the 1980-2001 period. In 2001, ranges were found in 72 percent of Mountain households, compared with 60 percent of U.S. households, and dishwashers were found in 62 percent, compared with 53 percent. Of the utility appliances, clothes washers were found about as often in Mountain households as in U.S. households (80 percent and 79 percent, respectively). Clothes dryers, however, were much more common in Mountain households. Seventy percent of households in the Mountain States had clothes dryers in 2001, compared with 57 percent of U.S. households. GAS APPLIANCES Appliances that use natural gas or, less frequently, liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), are referred to as "gas appliances." Nationwide, and in the Mountain Division, about three out of four homes have access to natural gas in their neighborhoods. However, gas appliances are found much less frequently in Mountain households than in U.S. households on average. Gas clothes dryers, for example, were found in 17 percent of U.S. households but in only 4 percent of Mountain households in 2001. Similarly, gas ranges were found in 39 percent of U.S. households and only 28 percent Mountain households. ________________     1Ranges are determined by using rounded values for shares.

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File last modified: July 17, 2003

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