Based on the results of the 2011 Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS), electricity remains as the most common source of energy used by households in the Philippines.  About 87 percent of 21.0 million households used electricity from March to August 2011. The other sources used by a significant proportion of households include fuelwood, charcoal, LPG  and kerosene with at least one-third of the total households using any of these types of fuel in 2011 (Table 1).

In 2011, electricity was mostly used for lighting purposes with 74 percent of households reporting the use of electricity for such purpose.  This is followed by kerosene which was used for lighting by 30 percent of households.  In the 2004 round of the survey, electricity was used for lighting by about 78 percent of households.  A greater proportion of households used kerosene for lighting in 2004 (43%) than in 2011 (30%) [Table 2A].

For cooking, fuelwood was most commonly used by more than half of households in the country (54% of the total households in 2011 and 55% in 2004).  Next to fuelwood were LPG (41% of households in 2011), charcoal (35%) and biomass residues (20%) [Table 2B].

In 2011, fuelwood was also most commonly used for heating water for bathing (20% of the total households).  About one in ten of households used charcoal (11%) for heating water.  Six percent used biomass residues for the same purpose (Table 2C).

With regard to the types of fuel for the vehicles used by households, gasoline was the most popular.  Almost nine in ten households with vehicles (88%) used gasoline in 2011, while eight in ten households (82%) in 2004. Diesel was used by nearly two in ten households (16% in 2011 and 21% in 2004) [Table 2D].

Regarding the types of lamps used, in 2011, compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) was the most popular with 77 percent of households using electricity for lighting (Table 3).  This type of lamp was most commonly used regardless of the income of the family (Table 4). 

Electricity was also popularly used for recreation and space cooling about 79% and 66% of the households using electricity, respectively. For recreation, about three in four households (75%) used electricity for TV viewing, one in three households (34%) used it for their radio/tape recorder/stereo, and one in four households (26%), for their VCR/karaoke/videoke.  At least one in three households with an average monthly income of P10,000 or more consumed electricity for their VCR/karaoke/videoke (Table 4). 

For space cooling, two in three households (65%) used electricity for electric fan, while one in 10 households (9%), for an air conditioning unit (Table 3). 

The other uses of electricity were for ironing clothes (46% of total households), laundry (29%), cooking and food preparation (20%), computer activity (15%), water heating for bathing (4%) and water pumping (3%) [Table 3].

       (Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA                                        (Sgd.) CARLOS JERICHO L. PETILLA

         Administrator                                                                    Secretary of Energy

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TECHNICAL NOTES

The data presented in this press release were taken from the 2011 Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS).  The 2011 HECS is a nationwide survey of households, which is a joint undertaking of the  Department of Energy (DOE) and National Statistics Office (NSO). It gathers data on household energy consumption, application and other relevant factors affecting such consumption.  This is the fourth in a series of HECS conducted by the office since 1989.  The second and third surveys were conducted in 1995 and 2004, respectively.

The 2011 HECS adopted the 2003 New Master Sample (MS).  The 2003 MS consists of 2,826 primary sampling units (PSUs).  The entire MS with approximately 50,000 sample households was divided into four sub-samples or independent replicates.  The survey, being a half-sample, covered not less than 25,000 households nationwide.