Electrolux calculator measures energy consumption in 660 cities

Ever wonder how much less carbon dioxide your household would produce if you replaced all of your appliances with the latest energy-efficient models? Electrolux has begun the roll-out of an online calculator that has the answer.

Initially aimed at journalists, the calculator allows members of the media to calculate the savings in water, energy, CO2 and money if consumers replaced their old appliances with new ones. The website uses a simple slider to show what would happen if a household, city, country or Europe as a whole replaced 10-year-old appliances with new ones.

Covering 660 cities in 22 European countries, the site is an Electrolux environmental initiative. “Climate change and green issues are such a hot topic right now so this is one way for Electrolux to convey the green side of its business,” says Mattias Rådström, Director Media Relations.

It took two months to complete the research and during summer 2007 the website will be rolled out across 22 European countries. So far, the site has gone live in Germany, Sweden and the UK, with Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey to follow in the coming weeks.

“This is a very solid survey which is very thorough – we have covered 660 cities which is quite impressive,” says Rådström.

One of the most complex parts of the project was compiling all of the data for the 22 countries, including data for the 30 largest cities in each one. Another challenge was translating all the information into 22 different languages.

“The population figures are easy to get,” explains Rådström. “But making calculations involving energy and water consumption for household appliances in different countries is not.”

“Dishwasher penetration is 9% in Hungary but 30% in the UK, for example. It was also difficult to find the data on energy consumption for 10-year-old appliances.”

If all households in Stockholm, Sweden, replaced their more than 10 year old appliances, it would save:

  • EUR 15 million
  • 82,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide
  • 573 million liters of water
  • 93 million kWh

For more information, please contact Electrolux Press Hotline, +46 8 657 6507 or press@electrolux.com