COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 641/2009  
of 22 July 2009  
implementing Directive 2005/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to 
ecodesign requirements for glandless standalone circulators and glandless circulators integrated in 
products  
(Text with EEA relevance)  
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,  
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Community,  
Having regard to Directive 2005/32/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2005 establishing a 
framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy- 
using products and amending Council Directive 92/42/EEC and 
Directives 96/57/EC and 2000/55/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council (  1 ), and in particular 
Article 15(1) thereof,  
After consulting the Ecodesign Consultation Forum,  
Whereas:  
(1) Under Directive 2005/32/EC ecodesign requirements 
should be set by the Commission for energy-using 
products representing significant volumes of sales and 
trade, having a significant environmental impact and 
presenting significant potential for improvement in 
terms of their environmental impact without entailing 
excessive costs.  
(2) Article 16(2), first indent, of Directive 2005/32/EC 
provides that, in accordance with the procedure 
referred to in Article 19(3) and the criteria set out in 
Article 15(2) of that Directive, and after consulting the 
Ecodesign Consultation Forum, the Commission will, as 
appropriate, introduce an implementing measure for 
appliances in electric motor systems and heating 
equipment, such as for circulators.  
(3) The Commission has carried out a preparatory study to 
analyse the technical, environmental and economic 
aspects of circulators typically used in buildings. The 
study has been developed together with stakeholders 
and interested parties from the Community and third 
countries, and the results have been made publicly 
available.  
(4) Circulators consume much of the energy used in heating 
systems in buildings. Furthermore, most standard circu ­
lators operate continuously, regardless of heating needs. 
Circulators are therefore one of the priority products for 
which ecodesign requirements should be established.  (5) The environmental aspect of circulators that is identified 
as significant for the purposes of this Regulation is elec ­
tricity consumption in the use phase.  
(6) The preparatory study shows that approximately 14 
million circulators are placed on the Community 
market annually and that their most significant environ ­
mental impact out of all life-cycle phases is the use phase 
energy consumption amounting to 50 TWh in 2005, 
corresponding to 23 million tonnes of CO  2 emissions. 
If no specific measures are taken, electricity consumption 
is predicted to increase to 55 TWh by 2020. The 
preparatory study shows that use phase electricity 
consumption can be significantly improved.  
(7) The preparatory study shows that requirements regarding 
other ecodesign parameters referred to in Annex I, Part 1, 
of Directive 2005/32/EC are not necessary as power 
consumption of circulators in use phase is by far the 
most important environmental aspect.  
(8) Circulators should be made more efficient by applying 
existing non-proprietary cost-effective technologies that 
can reduce the total combined costs of purchasing and 
operating circulators.  
(9) Ecodesign requirements should harmonise electricity 
consumption requirements for circulators throughout 
the Community, thus contributing to the functioning of 
the internal market and to improving the environmental 
performance of these products.  
(10) To increase the re-use and recycling of circulators, manu ­
facturers should provide information on the assembly 
and dismantling of circulators.  
(11) The ecodesign requirements should not have a negative 
impact on the functionality of circulators and should not 
negatively affect health, safety or the environment. In 
particular, the benefits of reducing electricity 
consumption during the use phase should more than 
offset any additional environmental impacts during the 
production phase.EN 23.7.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 191/35  
( 1 ) OJ L 191, 22.7.2005, p. 29.(12) The ecodesign requirements should be introduced 
gradually in order to provide a sufficient timeframe for 
manufacturers to re-design products subject to this Regu ­
lation as appropriate. The timing for the introduction of 
these requirements should be such as to avoid negative 
impacts on the functionalities of circulators on the 
market, and to take into account cost impacts for manu ­
facturers, in particular small and medium-sized enter ­
prises, while ensuring timely achievement of the 
objectives of the Regulation.  
(13) Conformity assessment and measurements of the relevant 
product parameters should be performed using reliable, 
accurate and reproducible measurement methods, which 
take into account the generally recognised state of the art 
measurement methods including, where available, 
harmonised standards adopted by the European standard ­
isation bodies, as listed in Annex I to Directive 98/34/EC 
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the 
provision of information in the field of technical 
standards and regulations and of rules on Information 
Society services (  1 ). 
(14) This Regulation should quickly ensure the placing on the 
market of technologies that reduce the life-cycle environ ­
mental impact of circulators, leading to estimated elec ­
tricity savings of 23 TWh by 2020, corresponding to 11 
Mt of CO  2 equivalent, compared with the situation, 
where no action is taken.  
(15) In accordance with Article 8 of Directive 2005/32/EC, 
this Regulation should specify the applicable conformity 
assessment procedures.  
(16) In order to facilitate compliance checks, manufacturers 
should provide information in the technical documen ­
tation referred to in Annexes IV and V to Directive 
2005/32/EC.  
(17) In addition to the legally binding requirements laid down 
in this Regulation, indicative benchmarks for best 
available technologies should be identified to ensure 
wide availability and easy accessibility of information 
on the life-cycle environmental performance of circu ­
lators.  
(18) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in 
accordance with the opinion of the Committee estab ­
lished by Article 19(1) of Directive 2005/32/EC,  HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING REGULATION:  
Article 1  
Subject matter and scope  
1. This Regulation establishes ecodesign requirements for the 
placing on the market of glandless standalone circulators and 
glandless circulators integrated in products.  
2. This Regulation shall not apply to:  
(a) drinking water circulators, except as regards information 
requirements of Annex I, point 2(4);  
(b) circulators integrated in products and placed on the market 
not later than 1 January 2020 as replacement for identical 
circulators integrated in products and placed on the market 
no later than 1 August 2015. The replacement product or 
its packaging must clearly indicate the product(s) for which 
it is intended.  
Article 2  
Definitions  
In addition to the definitions set out in Article 2 of Directive 
2005/32/EC, the following definitions shall apply:  
1. ‘circulator’ means an impeller pump which has the rated 
hydraulic output power of between 1 W and 2 500 W 
and is designed for use in heating systems or in secondary 
circuits of cooling distribution systems;  
2. ‘glandless circulator’ means a circulator with the shaft of the 
motor directly coupled to the impeller and the motor 
immersed in the pumped medium;  
3. ‘standalone circulator’ means a circulator designed to operate 
independently from the product;  
4. ‘product’ means an appliance that generates and/or transfers 
heat;  
5. ‘drinking water circulator’ means a circulator specifically 
designed to be used in the recirculation of drinking water 
as defined in Council Directive 98/83/EC (  2 ). 
Article 3  
Ecodesign requirements  
The ecodesign requirements for circulators are set out in 
Annex I.EN L 191/36 Official Journal of the European Union 23.7.2009  
( 1 ) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37.  (  2 ) OJ L 330, 5.12.1998, p. 32.Compliance with ecodesign requirements shall be measured in 
accordance with requirements set out in Annex II, point 1.  
The calculation method for the energy efficiency index of circu ­
lators is set out in Annex II, point 2.  
Article 4  
Conformity assessment  
The procedure for assessing conformity referred to in Article 8 
of Directive 2005/32/EC shall be the internal design control 
system set out in Annex IV to that Directive or the management 
system for assessing conformity set out in Annex V to that 
Directive.  
Article 5  
Verification procedure for market surveillance purposes  
When performing the market surveillance checks referred to in 
Article 3(2) of Directive 2005/32/EC, for the requirements set 
out in Annex I to this Regulation, the authorities of the Member 
States shall apply the verification procedure described in Annex 
III to this Regulation.  
Article 6  
Benchmarks  
The indicative benchmarks for best-performing circulators 
available on the market at the time of entry into force of this 
Regulation are set out in Annex IV.  Article 7  
Revision  
The Commission shall review the methodology for calculating 
the energy efficiency index, set out in Annex II, point 2 to this 
Regulation, for glandless circulators integrated in products 
before 1 January 2012.  
It shall review this Regulation before 1 January 2017, in the 
light of technological progress. The review will include the 
assessment of design options that can facilitate re-use and 
recycling.  
The results of the reviews shall be presented to the Ecodesign 
Consultation Forum.  
Article 8  
Entry into force  
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day 
following that of its publication in the  Official Journal of the 
European Union . 
It shall apply in accordance with the following timetable:  
1. from 1 January 2013, glandless standalone circulators shall 
meet the efficiency level defined in Annex I, point 1(1), with 
the exception of those specifically designed for primary 
circuits of thermal solar systems and of heat pumps;  
2. from 1 August 2015, glandless standalone circulators and 
glandless circulators integrated in products shall meet the 
efficiency level defined in Annex I, point 1(2).  
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  
Done at Brussels, 22 July 2009.  
For the Commission  
Andris PIEBALGS  
Member of the CommissionEN 23.7.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 191/37ANNEX I  
ECODESIGN REQUIREMENTS  
1. ENERGY EFFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS  
1. From 1 January 2013, glandless standalone circulators, with the exception of those specifically designed for primary 
circuits of thermal solar systems and of heat pumps, shall have an energy efficiency index (EEI) of not more than 
0,27, calculated in accordance with Annex II, point 2.  
2. From 1 August 2015, glandless standalone circulators and glandless circulators integrated in products shall have an 
energy efficiency index (EEI) of not more than 0,23, calculated in accordance with Annex II, point 2.  
2. PRODUCT INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS  
From 1 January 2013:  
1. the energy efficiency index of circulators, calculated in accordance with Annex II, shall be indicated on the name 
plate and packaging of the product and in the technical documentation as follows: ‘EEI ≤ 0,[xx]’; 
2. the following information shall be provided: ‘The benchmark for most efficient circulators is EEI ≤ 0,20.’;  
3. information concerning disassembly, recycling, or disposal at end-of-life of components and materials, shall be 
made available for treatment facilities;  
4. the following information shall be provided on the packaging and in the technical documentation of drinking water 
circulators: ‘This circulator is suitable for drinking water only.’.  
Manufacturers shall provide information on how to install, use and maintain the circulator in order to minimise its 
impact on the environment.  
The information listed above shall be visibly displayed on freely accessible websites of the circulator manufacturers.EN L 191/38 Official Journal of the European Union 23.7.2009ANNEX II  
MEASUREMENT METHODS AND METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY INDEX  
1. MEASUREMENT METHODS  
For the purposes of compliance and verification of compliance with the requirements of this Regulation, 
measurements shall be made using a reliable, accurate and reproducible measurement procedure that takes into 
account the generally recognised state of the art measurement methods, including methods set out in documents 
the reference numbers of which have been published for that purpose in the Official Journal of the European Union.  
2. METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY INDEX  
The methodology for calculating the energy efficiency index (EEI) for circulators is as follows:  
1. Where a circulator has more than one setting of head and flow, measure the circulator at the maximum setting.  
‘Head’ (H) means head (in metres) produced by the circulator at the specified point of operation.  
‘Flow’ (Q) means the volume flow rate of water through the circulator (m  3 /h). 
2. Find the point where  Q · H is maximum and define the flow and head at this point as:  Q  100 %  and H  100 %  . 
3. Calculate the hydraulic power  P hyd at this point.  
‘Hydraulic power’ means an expression of the arithmetic product of the flow (Q), Head (H) and a conversion factor 
that aligns the units used in the calculation.  
‘P hyd ’ means hydraulic power delivered by the circulator to the fluid being pumped at the specified point of 
operation (in watts).  
4. Calculate the reference power as:  
P ref = 1,7 · P hyd + 17 · (1 –  e –0,3 · P hyd ), 1 W ≤ P hyd ≤ 2 500 W  
‘Reference power’ means a relation between hydraulic power and power consumption of a circulator, taking into 
account the dependency between circulator efficiency and size.  
‘P ref ’ means the reference power consumption (in watts) of the circulator.  
5. Define the reference control curve as the straight line between the points:  
(Q 100 %  , H 100 %  ) and ( Q 0 % , H 100 %  
2 )
EN 23.7.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 191/396. Select a setting of the circulator ensuring that the circulator on the selected curve reaches  Q · H = max point.  
7. Measure  P 1 and H at the flows:  
Q 100 %  , 0,75 · Q 100 %  , 0,5 · Q 100 %  , 0,25 · Q 100 %  . 
‘P 1 ’ means the electrical power (in watts) consumed by the circulator at the specified point of operation.  
8. Calculate at these flows  
P L ¼ H ref 
H meas · P 1,meas  , if H  meas ≤ H ref 
P L = P  1,meas  , if H  meas > H  ref 
where  H ref is the head on the reference control curve at the different flows.  
9. Using  P L and this load profile:  
Flow 
[%] Time 
[%] 
100  6  
75 15  
50 35  
25 44
  
Calculate the weighted average power  P L,avg as: 
P L,avg  = 0,06 · P L,100 %  + 0,15 · P L,75 %  + 0,35 · P L,50 %  + 0,44 · P L,25 %  
Calculate the energy efficiency index (  1 ) as:  
EEI ¼ P L;avg 
P ref · C 20 %  , where  C 20 %  = 0,49EN L 191/40 Official Journal of the European Union 23.7.2009  
( 1 ) C  XX %  means a scaling factor that ensures that at the time of defining the scaling factor only XX % of circulators of a certain type have 
an EEI ≤ 0,20.ANNEX III  
VERIFICATION PROCEDURE  
For the purposes of checking conformity with the requirements laid down in Annex I, the authorities of the Member 
States shall use the measurement and calculation procedure set out in Annex II.  
Member States authorities shall test a single circulator. If the energy efficiency index exceeds the values declared by the 
manufacturer by more than 7 %, the measurements shall be made on three more circulators. The model shall be 
considered to comply if the arithmetical mean of the measured values for the latter three circulators do not exceed 
the values declared by the manufacturer by more than 7 %.  
Otherwise, the model shall be considered not to comply with the requirements of this Regulation.  
In addition to the procedure set out in this Annex, Member States authorities shall use reliable, accurate and reproducible 
measurement methods, which take into account the generally recognised state of the art, including methods set out in 
documents the reference numbers of which have been published for that purpose in the  Official Journal of the European 
Union . 
ANNEX IV  
INDICATIVE BENCHMARKS  
At the time of the adoption of this Regulation, the benchmark for the best available technology on the market for 
circulators is EEI ≤ 0,20.EN 23.7.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 191/41