How to Double the Annual Sales of CFLs with Energy Label A

Peter Karbo and Johanne Boelskov, Danish Electricity Saving Trust
Palle Andersen, Pragmatic Consulting

Keywords

Abstract

Market transformation programs in cooperation between manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and Danish energy authorities have shown substantial progress in changing the market from mere availability of efficient appliances to high-volume sales. Strategic use of markets power and a priority to organise straightforward programs have, with limited costs to all participants, produced a substantial reduction of CO2 emissions and created a win-win solution.

October 1, 2000, marked the launch of a combined program to:

double the annual sales of CFLs with energy label A from 1.2 to 2.4 million per year within three years
lower their prices
increase the quality of the CFLs offered
increase the availability of the products

Program participants include the Danish Energy Agency, the Danish Electricity Utilities, more than 1,000 shops, manufacturers and importers, Delta (an accredited testing institute), the Danish Illuminating Engineering Society, and lamp suppliers.

The program includes:

a website at www.a-paere.dk, with a list of CFLs meeting the EU Quality charter and recommended by the Danish Electricity Saving Trust (DEST)
information on the use of CFLs
a list of fixtures recommended for the use of CFLs, etc.

This paper describes the program, specifically the campaign addressed to the public in the autumn of 2000. The total budget in 2000 was $ 2 million, of which the DEST spent $1.2 million.

Findings from an external evaluation of the campaign, which was finished in September 2001, are described in the paper. To summarize, the CFL campaign resulted in increased sales of 850.000 CFLs and yielded energy savings of almost 1 TWh and CO₂ reductions of 700.000 tons.