Spinning Grumbler National Energy Efficiency Program
General objective
Purpose of the Spinning Grumbler campaign
Campaign figure: Spinning Grumbler
Everyone is interested
Spinning Grumbler refrigerator campaign 2006
Spinning Grumbler washing machine campaign 2007
Spinning Grumbler electric stove campaign 2007
Sponsors of the Hungarian energy efficiency program 2007:
In Hungary, a country-wide energy efficiency campaign has been launched by CECED Hungary Society and ELECTRO-COORD Magyarország Kht.
Did you know that more than 188 million appliances more than 10 years old are being used in households across Europe? - Their proportion is almost 40% in Hungary.
Did you know that in Hungary, 3,200,000 household refrigerators are in use, and of these, about 1,000,000 are more than 10 years old?
Many people are unaware that these old appliances cause considerable extra cost to households because of their high energy consumption, and heavily pollute the environment.
In general, a 10-year-old refrigerator uses about twice and a 20-year refrigerator uses three times the energy consumed by a modern energy-efficient one; if consumers replaced the above-mentioned 1,000,000 old refrigerators with modern ones, this would mean, because of lower energy consumption, that the reduction in CO2 emission would have the same effect as using 40,000 cars less on the roads in Hungary.
How old is your refrigerator? Click here and calculate.
Generally speaking, Hungarian consumers are highly price-sensitive; this partly explains the high proportion (37%) of household equipment more than 10 years old. In Hungary, old appliances still capable of being used but no longer needed are typically passed on to grandmother or taken to the family holiday home; no wonder Hungary ranks this high on the list of countries using obsolete machines.
Unfortunately, the average consumer in Hungary is not usually interested in environmental considerations when making purchase decisions, and is unwilling to buy products that are environmentally friendly but cost a bit more.
Similarly, the relative cost of a product is not taken into account, in other words, when benefits offered by its use, for example, the energy saved or lower water consumption in the case of washing machines outweigh the higher price to be paid at the time of purchase.
The initiative launched by CECED Hungary Society aims to change this buyer attitude, primarily through the development of an environmentally aware consumer approach and the promotion of modern energy-efficient technologies.
General objective
Energy efficiency and environmental protection are now treated as priority issues in the EU and its member states. Member states had to prepare an energy efficiency plan for the European Union in 2007. CECED Hungary Society believes that as a result of this national energy efficiency initiative, all state and market operators will be able to contribute to the development of this program, since finding effective solutions to this problem as soon as possible is everyone’s interest.
Therefore, CECED Hungary Society takes pride in its role initiating this project, and is launching an energy efficiency program to foster an environmentally aware consumer attitude. Electro-Coord Magyarország Kht. is committed to supporting this program actively in order to attain these objectives, and strengthening this campaign as a collector, so that the largest possible amount of collected e-waste should be disposed of and recycled, and the secondary raw material obtained in this way can be fed back into the industrial process.
Purpose of the Spinning Grumbler campaign
The purpose of the campaign is to further the replacement of old household appliances, which are not environmentally friendly and waste energy, with modern, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient machines as soon as possible.
Recycling: the emphasis is on returning appliances, as processing obsolete devices in an environmentally safe manner, by using modern technology, is now indispensable. Appliances abandoned on the edge of a forest and those taken apart by non-professionals also contaminate the environment.
Therefore, in addition to improving energy efficiency, the Spinning Grumbler campaign aims to increase public awareness of e-waste collection (Hungary was the first country in Central Eastern Europe to organize this). ELECTRO-COORD Magyarország Kht, set up by the CECED members and the biggest organization coordinating the disposal of e-waste in Hungary, plays a large part in the organization and management of this campaign.
Campaign figure: Spinning Grumbler
The symbol of this campaign is “Spinning Grumbler” who appears as an “energy consultant” in all communication materials. The idea is that, through its positive personality, Spinning Grumbler should direct consumer habits toward environmental awareness, and emphasize the importance of saving energy.
/Come at once, we’re losing energy!/
Everyone is interested
Everyone has an interest in the campaign to promote energy efficiency:
· the state – because energy efficiency is an urgent issue requiring daily efforts, and market restructuring resulting from the successful implementation of this campaign may make a significant contribution to the energy efficiency plan required by EU. CECED Hungary Society is pleased to contribute data, measurement results and other information to this.
· consumers – because at the present time only a few know, and even fewer believe, that old devices consume very much energy, and that households can save a lot of money by replacing these with efficient ones
· producers and distributors – because over the past 10 years, 10 billion euros have been spent on improving the energy efficiency and performance of devices
· dealers – because in addition to supporting a program of high standards, they can participate in campaigns intended to boost sales; and
· electricity providers and utility companies – because, consistent with the Kyoto Agreement, the EU expectations and the liberalization of the energy market, they can no longer stand aside from taking an active part in the battle for energy efficiency, which has been made compulsory in different forms in many EU member states.
Spinning Grumbler refrigerator campaign 2006
Campaign objective: The opening event of the campaign and its two key components focused on refrigerators partly because climate change is now a primary issue, and partly because, of the large household appliances, refrigerators consume the most energy – almost 25-30% - in households.
In 2006, climate change was the focal issue of the European Mobility Week; this is closely linked to energy efficiency on the one hand and the collection and environmentally sound recycling of electronic waste, particularly refrigerators, on the other hand.
Campaign opening: Both these topics are of current concern in Hungary: because of the crisis in the energy sector, the increase in energy prices, the increased focus on energy efficiency and the need for disposal of electronic waste. Accordingly, the campaign’s spectacular opening event was held on Car-Free Day (September 17) organized within the framework of the EU Mobility Week: the difference between the energy consumption of 100 old and 100 new* refrigerators in Andrássy út was shown on a Spinning Grumbler display. With its scale and message, this event was intended to call the attention of consumers, politicians and the media to, and actively involve them in, this campaign.
*At the end of the day, the new energy-efficient refrigerators were donated to hospitals by the members of ELECTRO-COORD Magyarország Kht. and CECED Hungary.
Two programs were announced as part of this campaign:
1) A contest called “Let’s find Hungary’s oldest working refrigerator!”, the winner of which was a “ZIL Moszkva” refrigerator in operation for 50 years! Its owner received a EURONICS purchase ticket for HUF 200,000 at the awards ceremony held together with a slalom quiz at the skating rink in Városliget, Budapest.
2) A special energy-efficient refrigerator purchase campaign; those who purchased a refrigerator of A, A+ or A++ energy class, and returned their old device at the time of purchase, were given a reduction of HUF 5000 from the purchase price displayed at the shop. Up to December 16, almost 3,000 old refrigerators were replaced with new cost- and energy saving ones.
Also, a website was launched during the campaign, where the savings to be made from replacing an old device with a new one could be calculated; the website at www.energiakalkulator.hu provides detailed information about the campaign.
Spinning Grumbler washing machine campaign 2007
Campaign objective: In its initial period in 2007, this campaign aimed at making consumers aware of the excess power and water consumed by old devices compared to energy-saving ones currently available on the market. This campaign has demonstrated that it is worth replacing old washing machines in use for many years, and an energy-saving machine is less expensive than an old one in the long run. In addition, when a new machine is bought, the old one is taken away by the distributor at no cost, and then recycled in an environmentally sound manner.
Our purpose was to persuade people not to wait until their 15-20 year-old washing machines finally break down; due to technological advances, it is well worth replacing them now.
Campaign opening: the Spinning Grumbler campaign sets out to persuade everyone that a new efficient appliance will help households save money. On the Water World Day, the “Contest of Washing Machines” was organized at the Water Reservoir on Gellérthegy, Budapest, with the assistance of Budapest Water Company in order to bring this to people’s attention. In this contest, washing by hand in a traditional wash-tub required the least energy, but consumed plenty of water. The second contestant, a 50-year-old agitator-type ‘Hajdu’ washing machine, had consumed so much electricity during its operating life that from the price of the wasted energy, 28 new energy-efficient washing machines could have been purchased. The champion was an energy class ‘A’ washing machine consuming only 1.24 kWh electricity during its most energy-efficient program cycle, and compared to an old machine, saving 50,000 liters of water, sufficient to fill a small pool during its average lifetime of 7 years.
Three programs were announced as part of the washing machine campaign 2007:
1. In view of its success in 2006, the contest “Let’s find Hungary’s oldest operating washing machine” was re-introduced in 2007 to make consumers aware by offering prizes that is was worth buying a new washing machine now rather than waiting for the old one to finally break down.
In this contest, participants entered a total of 110 old but still functioning washing machines; the first three winners were:
First place: An AEG washing machine dating from 1951, owned by Dénes Dobi who was awarded a purchase ticket to the value of HUF 200,000
Second place: An Edy Squire baby washing machine dating from 1953, owned by Tibor Bajzák who was awarded a purchase ticket to the value of HUF 100,000
Third place: A washing machine type Hm2, owned by Tibor Stefancsik who was awarded a purchase ticket to the value of HUF 50,000
The winners received the prizes at a ceremony announcing the winners, held at Noe’s Arena at Budapest Zoo on June 2, 2007.
On this occasion, CECED Hungary Society and Electro-Coord Magyarország Kht “adopted” Mosó Masa, a raccoon, as mascot of the campaign.
2. Within the framework of a campaign encouraging people to buy energy-efficient washing machines, commercial companies were invited in a newspaper on the internet to support this campaign. Support this campaign with active involvement and commitment was required (e.g. posters, wobblers, training of staff, financial support, sales campaign documentation). In this campaign, those who bought a refrigerator of A, A+ or A++ energy class during the campaign period at a participating shop and returned their old devices at the time of the purchase, received financial compensation for the old devices.
Number of washing machines returned during the campaign: 10104.
3. A drawing competition was announced for pre-school and school children. Children were asked to draw what they thought Spinning Grumbler would do and suggest in the interest of protecting the environment. The winners were given prizes which were presented to the winners by Róbert Alföldi, actor, director and painter:
Age group I (oldest children): S. Tóth Nóra, Irimiás Zoltán, Buzás Aliz, Age group II (seniors): Árva Dávid, Tóth Mária, Kubriczky Viktória, Age group III (juniors, preschool children): Szandavári Fanni, Bakó Anna, Oblat Rudolf.
Prizes given in each age group:
First place: HUF 50,000
Second place: HUF 30,000
Third place: HUF 20,000
In view of the high standards of the drawings submitted, the jury distributed an additional 15 special prizes.
Media campaign
The campaign objectives, the contest and the campaign were made known to the general public by a social marketing media campaign.
The symbol of this campaign is “Spinning Grumbler”, the character of a TV commercial, who appears as an “energy consultant” in all communication materials. Our purpose is that through its positive personality, Spinning Grumbler should change consumer habits toward environmental awareness, and emphasize the importance of saving energy.
Spinning Grumbler electric stove campaign 2007
The purpose of this campaign was to show consumers that old appliances, this time electric stoves, consume a lot more energy than the energy-efficient ones currently available on the market. In this campaign, we encouraged people to return old appliances for recycling.
Campaign start: On September 16, 2007, at the opening ceremony of the European Mobility Week, Spinning Grumbler appeared in Zrínyi street, which was closed to vehicle traffic, in the inner city of Budapest, and announced a pizza and pancake baking competition to call the attention of passers-by on energy efficiency.
Aunt Panni and her fellow competitor, Lázár Kovács, a professional cook, used an old 30-year-old electric stove in the contest. They made 500 pancakes and 4 pans of pizza. It was a good opportunity to compare the consumption of an old energy-wasting appliance with a modern one: the thirty-year-old energy-wasting electric stove had consumed about 36,000 kWh energy during 30 years; if a modern stove had been used instead, the same amount of food could have been prepared with 16,500 kWh energy, thereby saving 19,500 kWh energy which would be HUF 740,000 at the current electricity prices. - This means that 5-10 new stoves could be purchased with the difference in cost.
Contest: In view of the highly successful contest of old refrigerators in 2006 and old washing machines in 2007, a contest called “Let’s find Hungary’s oldest working electric stove” was announced at the campaign opening ceremony. Its purpose was to call consumers’ attention, by offering prizes, that rather than waiting for their old electric stove to go wrong completely, it was worth replacing them earlier, and returning them to one of the collection points.
65 stoves were entered in the contest, and the prizes were presented at a ceremony announcing the winners on November 24:
1st place: a 70 year-old stove, its owner was given a purchase ticket to the value of HUF 200,000 (Károlyné Gulyás, Kunszentmárton),
2nd place: an Elekthermax T3 stove manufactured in 1954, its owner was given a purchase ticket to the value of HUF 100,000 (István Kondor, Veszprém)
3rd place: an Elekthermax Nova 221 stove manufactured in 1956, its owner was given a purchase ticket to the value of HUF 50,000 (Imre Bokori, Kapuvár)
Media campaign:
the campaign objectives, the contest and the event was made known to the wide public by a social marketing media campaign. The symbol of this campaign is “Spinning Grumbler”, the character in a TV commercial, who appears as an “energy consultant” in all communication materials. The idea is that, with its positive personality, Spinning Grumbler should direct consumer habits toward environmental awareness, and emphasize the importance of saving energy.
Sponsors of the Hungarian energy efficiency program 2007:
CECED Magyarország Egyesülés (www.cecedhu.hu)
