Gödöllő Climate Club

16 February 2011

Minutes – English summary

People present:

Márta and István Kaszap, Csaba Laurán, Móni and Pali Simó, Róbert Simó, Dorina Berkes, Lívia Benke, Edina Vadovics, Gabi Baranyi

1. Introduction of our new club members: Róbert Simó, who is the son of Móni and Pali and studies to be a cook, and his girlfriend Dorina Berkes.

2. News about our twin club. Edina shared a few interesting pieces of information about our twin club in Fownhope, UK:

· Campaign: Let’s save our buses!

· Biomass project

· The Gambia project

3. Edina’s presentation about their energy metering. In 2006 there was a complete energy-metering survey in their house. Every electricity consuming equipment and light bulbs was metered and the results have been evaluated. At that time the main consumer was their old monitor and the water heater right after that. A few interesting things from their current measurement:

• Washing machine: There was much less energy consumption difference between washing at 30 and 40 degrees than in Gabi and Gabor’s results (see the notes for the January meeting). The consumption saving was only 0.1 kWh less at the lower temperature. It seems that the type (and age) of the machine is more important than we thought. Besides, the rpm of the spin dryer does not seem to have a big effect on the consumption either. The only way to achieve significant energy saving is using the wool or sensitive items programme.
• Regarding their A++ fridge, it had a 2-2.5W average power even if it did not operate directly. The average power was about 90W while it was cooling.
• Surprisingly, their old freezer consumed similarly. The only difference was that it did not consume any energy while it was not cooling.
• The consumption of the pump of the gas heating system depended mostly on the outside temperature. The result (~100 Watt average power) was similar to Gabi and Gabor’s although the type of the two systems was completely different.
• It turned out that if they switched off the underfloor heating, the energy consumption was much less. Although many people say that it is harmful to the pipes to switch it off for a long time, but for a shorter period it seems to be more climate-friendly to do so. The consumption was less than the third of the usual, although it obviously depends on the outside temperature as well.
• Edina measured the energy consumption of their new mice and ants repellent device, which uses electromagnetic waves to keep away mice. It consumed negligible amount of energy, about 1kWh in a month.

4. Related to our reading about the eco-products, GreenDependent prepared a little game for the participants. We spread printed materials with several eco-friendly product labels and their names mixed, and club participants had to match them. Among the labels, there was one, which was not a certified label, it is used by any company on a more or less arbitrary basis. People had to find this as well. Here are the labels with their right names:

The last one is not a certified label. Robi and Lívia managed to solve the problem correctly, so they got a little present.

Meanwhile, a few issues emerged:

• Our forests are full of rubbish, it is very disappointing. It would be good to do something against that.
• Drinking water pollution is also a serious problem in many places. Lately, there was a scandal about how the pollution of the drinking water in Gödöllő was concealed. People have been drinking this water for months when it turned out that it contains carcinogenic materials. It makes things more surprising, that our drinking water standards and limit values are very strict, so it is hard to believe that things like this can happen. Interesting information: Hungary has great drinking water supplies, but most of them owned by foreign companies.
• Móni told us about that their water consumption is about half as much as previously, since they use their “grey water” (leftover from showering, etc.) to flush the toilet.
• It emerged that we could organise some programmes in the spring, for example cooking outside, planting trees, outdoor activities – or a seeds and seedlings swap J as there is a growing interest in exchanging plants

Next meeting: 16 March

Planned schedule:

• Kinga from the Regina Foundation will tell us about their new initiative, the Regina Forum
• The Kaszap Family will talk about their initiative, the Bokorliget Foundation.
• Watching the “Story of Electronics” short film.
• It emerged, that Livia could give us a little presentation about the Gödöllő Green Kindergarten in one of the following club meetings