The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations 2021

Jurisdiction: GB

Commencement: 1^st July 2021

Mini Summary

Summary

These Regulations provide ecodesign requirements for energy-related products placed on the market or put into service in Great Britain (GB). They mirror the ecodesign requirements with EU Regulations which apply within the EU and Northern Ireland.

N.B. the EU Regulations continue to apply in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol. 

These Regulations apply to the following energy related products:

• welding equipment;
• refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function;
• household dishwashers;
• household washing machines and washer dryers;
• refrigerating appliances;
• electric motors and variable speed drives; and
• electronic displays.

For electric motors, household washing machines / washer-dryers, household dishwashers, household refrigeration and electronic displays, these Regulations increase the minimum energy performance and set material efficiency standards set under previous EU Regulations, whereas for welding equipment and commercial refrigeration minimum energy performance and material efficiency standards are set for the first time.

Duties

Ecodesign requirements

Ecodesign requirements are provided for certain energy-related products; products must conform to these requirements when being placed on the market or put into service in Great Britain. The specific ecodesign requirements for each type of energy related product can be found within the relevant Schedule hyperlinked below:

• welding equipment;
• refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function;
• household dishwashers;
• household washing machines and washer dryers;
• refrigerating appliances;
• electric motors and variable speed drives; and
• electronic displays.

The ecodesign requirements include energy efficiency requirements, material / resource efficiency requirements, design for repair and reuse (including availability of spare parts and repair information) and technical documentation requirements. There are also product specific exemptions listed within the Schedules.

Where measurements and calculations are required, they must be made in accordance with designated standards where they are available. If designated standards are not available the methods must be reliable, accurate and reproducible as well as taking in to account the generally recognised state of the art.

Products must not be designed to be able to detect that they are being tested and then react specifically by automatically altering their performance to more favourable levels. Energy consumption or compliance of the product and other parameters must not deteriorate when software or firmware is updated, unless with explicit consent from the end-user prior to the update. The performance of a product must not change as a result of rejecting a software update.

Verification of products

When assessing whether a product conforms with these Regulations, a manufacturer must use the internal design control or management system procedures set out in Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 1A of The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010.

The market surveillance authority (Office for Product Safety and Standards) is required to verify products’ compliance. The verification procedure to be used for each product is detailed within the relevant Schedule hyperlinked below:

• welding equipment;
• refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function;
• household dishwashers;
• household washing machines and washer dryers;
• refrigerating appliances;
• electric motors and variable speed drives; and
• electronic displays.

Energy labelling of refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function

Energy labelling requirements are introduced for refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function, to enable consumers to identify the most energy efficient products on the market in Great Britain.

Refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function means appliances intended for displaying and selling foodstuffs and other items at specified temperatures below the ambient temperature to customers e,g. commercial fridges within a supermarket.

N.B. Energy labelling requirements for the other energy related products are already in force in Great Britain via GB retained versions of EU Regulations.

Suppliers must ensure that:

• each appliance is supplied with a printed energy label to the format specified in Schedule 23;
• dealers are supplied with an electronic energy label to the format specified in Schedule 23;
• the values and parameters of the product information sheet are available on a publicly available website;
• an electronic product information sheet in the format in Schedule 24 is made available to dealers for each model, as well as in paper form if requested by the dealer; and
• the content of the technical document is made available for inspection.

The energy efficiency class displayed on the energy label must be based on the energy efficiency index calculated in accordance with Schedule 22.

Dealers must ensure that:

• appliances bare the label provided by the supplier at the point of sale in a way that is clearly visible; and
• the label and product information sheet are provided for distance selling.

Dealers and sellers must ensure that:

• visual adverts and technical promotional material contain the energy efficiency class of the model and the range of energy classes available; and
• customers are able to access the product information sheet.

There is an obligation for internet hosting platforms allowing the direct sale of appliances on their website to enable electronic labels and the product information sheet to be shown. They are also required to inform the dealer of their obligation to supply the label and product information sheet for display.

Link to full government text

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