The Energy Related Products (ErP) Directive has been divided into four types of Regulations:
1. Ecodesign for Space Heaters and Combination Heaters– this regulation is for heating products with a rated output of up to 400kW.
2. Energy Labelling for Space Heaters and Combination Heaters – this regulation covers products with a rated output of up to 70kW.
For both regulations 1 and 2, the heaters covered are:
3. Ecodesign for Water Heaters and Hot Water Storage Tanks – this regulation is for water heaters with a rated output equal to or below 400kW, and storage tanks with a storage volume of up to 2000 litres.
4. Energy labelling for Water Heaters and Hot Water Storage Tanks – this regulation is for water heaters with a rated output equal to or below 70kW, and storage tanks with a volume of up to 500 litres.
For both regulations 3 and 4, the products covered are:
Please note that biomass and gas or liquid fuels derived from biomass are excluded from these regulations.
The ErP Directive has been designed to aid the EU in achieving reductions in energy usage: carbon, NOx and SO² emissions and other environmental issues such as noise and the use of refrigerants in heat pumps. The Directive is also designed to help consumers identify the most energy efficient products on the market with energy efficiency labelling.
Q. In a nutshell, what changes does the ErP directive implement?
A. The ErP details energy efficiency requirements which appliances must meet and preferably exceed. Manufacturers must ensure that their products are prepared for the new legislation changes, incorporating product updates to improve efficiency levels (eg. fitting high efficiency circulating pumps). The manufacturers are also responsible for applying product fiches (data table) and the compliant energy labels within their product packaging, labels which must detail a product’s energy efficiency rating.
Q. Which products are affected?
A. Some appliances, such as washing machines and fridges, are already required to display their efficiency rating via clearly displayed energy labels. The new ErP legislation affects the majority of heating products from oil and gas boilers through to cylinders, heat pumps and solar thermal kits. Biomass boilers are exempt from this round of changes, but will be included at future date.
All of these Warmhaus products already met the ErP energy efficiency requirements. The only difference merchants and installers will notice on Warmhaus products will be the addition of the relevant product fiche and energy efficiency label within the packaging, and of the ‘ErP ready’ labels on display on the product cartons.
Q. What does the energy efficiency label look like?
A. No doubt the label will be familiar to you as it is already used on a wide range of household appliances, from televisions through to dishwashers. Pictured right is a sample of the labels which appear on most of the heating appliances that you may install. This is a typical product energy label that is applied to Warmhaus oil-fired boilers. The dimensions are approximately 200mm x 105mm, in accordance with the minimum dimension requirements. This label is placed within the product packaging of Warmhaus products.
Q. Which labels are visible on Warmhaus product cartons?
A. The logo pictured below is applied to the product cartons of Warmhaus Vortex oil boilers, Aerona heat pumps, Solar Thermal systems and Wave cylinders.
Q. When was the ErP deadline?
A. 26th September 2015. Non-ErP Ready Products placed on the market* before this date can continue to be legally sold without any time constraints. Products placed on the market on or after 26th September 2015 must comply with the ErP Directive, and boilers, heat pumps, solar thermals, cylinders etc. will have to have their energy label and product fiche incorporated within the product’s packaging.
*”Placed on the market” means ordered, shipped, invoiced and paid for by one minute to midnight on 25th September 2015.
Q. When did energy efficiency labels start to appear on Warmhaus product packaging?
A. In order to comply with the ErP Directive and to enable stocks to be rotated before 26th September 2015, Warmhaus incorporated an energy label and product fiche in all of the packaging of the technologies listed above from the end of the summer 2015. We hope that this allowed merchant stocks to rotate within the intervening months, with the energy labelled goods filling their stock levels from before 26th September 2015.
Q. Will any changes be noticeable in advertising and product literature?
A. The ErP Directive specifies that advertising and technical promotional material for energy-related products must include a reference to the product’s seasonal efficiency class. Therefore, you will see an increase in ErP related logos and energy efficiency classes present in Warmhaus UK product brochures, advertising material and also our website.
Q. Can merchants sell unlabelled heating products after 26th September 2015?
A. Yes, as long as the unlabelled product was already in stock. It is not an offence for a merchant to sell a product without an ErP label after 26th September 2015 as long as that product was in stock prior to the ErP Directive deadline. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to ensure that their products fully comply with the legislation from the ErP deadline date; therefore, manufacturers must make sure that all of the aforementioned products that they place on the market place after 26th September 2015 have an ErP label. This is why Warmhaus began to rotate stock with energy labels from the end of the summer 2015, allowing for full rotation in merchants to have taken place in time for 26th September 2015.
Q. What requirements will affect display products in showrooms?
A. The ErP Directive stipulates that dealers shall ensure that, at the point of sale, space and water heaters bear the labels (provided by suppliers) on the outside of the front of the appliance in such a way as to be clearly visible. This means that products in showrooms require their energy label to be clearly displayed to end-users. If you have Warmhaus products in your showroom and require the appropriate labels, please contact your local Warmhaus Sales Representative.
Q. How will Energy Labels affect installers?
A. Installers can be assured that all products manufactured after 26th September 2015 will be sold with the required ErP labels which will aid installers with their paperwork. While it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to issue their products with the required labels, the installers need to calculate and issue an efficiency label for the entire heating system. Whether installing a new heating system or installing new boilers, controls or renewables into an existing system, it was, and continues to be, the installer’s responsibility to calculate and issue efficiency labels.
Q. What is required for heating systems that contain different products?
A. If a heating appliance is combined with a control and/or cylinder or solar device etc., then a package label needs to be supplied. Depending on the circumstances, this could be the responsibility of the merchant (if the merchant supplies a complete package under one part number), whereas if the items are bought under separate part numbers, the responsibility will lie with the installer. Each product has a fiche and a package label is made from the information on each product fiche. The merchant or installer will need to produce a fiche along with a label that details the combined energy efficiency rating of all of the installed products, rather than the rating of each individual component. A calculator which will help with this process will be available from Warmhaus UK later this year – keep an eye on this webpage for further updates.
Q. Can installers fit products that they purchased before 26th September 2015?
A. Yes. Installers can install heating products that they bought prior to the ErP deadline, but rather than referring to an energy label to source a product’s efficiency rating, installers will need to refer back to the manufacturer (eg. their website) in order to find the necessary product rating information.