From 1990 through 2009, RECS estimated consumption and expenditures for four end-use categories: space heating, air conditioning, water heating, and refrigerators; the remainder was aggregated as other. As certain appliances and equipment have become more prevalent in homes, this remainder category became a larger share of residential energy consumption, especially for electricity.
In 2015, nearly half of residential electricity consumption fell into the other category. Adding several new characterizations of end uses provides a better accounting of energy use in homes, and now RECS attributes only 13% of residential electricity consumption to end uses not elsewhere classified.
These end uses and several other itemized estimates collectively cover 87% of residential electricity use. The remaining category not elsewhere classified combines a number of end uses that are not publishable individually, such as computers, smartphones, and small kitchen appliances, as well as consumption from end uses not captured on the RECS Household Survey.