COMMISSION DECISION
of 28 May 2014
establishing the criteria for the award of the EU Ecolabel for water-based heaters
(notified under document C(2014) 3452)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2014/314/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the EU Ecolabel (1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,
After consulting the European Union Ecolabelling Board,
Whereas:
(1)
Under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, the EU Ecolabel may be awarded to products which have a reduced environmental impact during their entire life cycle.
(2)
Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 provides that specific EU Ecolabel criteria are to be established according to product groups.
(3)
The Commission has drawn up a preliminary report on the technical, environmental, economic and legal aspects of the product group ‘water-based heaters’ typically used in the Union and made it publicly available for comment. The study on which this report is based (hereinafter ‘the study’) was devised together with stakeholders and interested parties from the Union and third countries.
(4)
The results of the study, presented in the preliminary report, have shown that energy consumption in the use phase contributes most significantly to the overall environmental impact of water-based heaters. Therefore, the use of energy-efficient and low greenhouse gas-emitting water-based heaters should be promoted and, in addition, such heaters using more environmental friendly technologies and proven to be safe for consumers should be supported.
(5)
It is appropriate to establish EU Ecolabel criteria for the product group ‘water-based heaters’.
(6)
The criteria, as well as the related assessment and verification requirements, should be valid for four years from the date of adoption of this Decision.
(7)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established by Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 66/2010,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. The product group ‘water-based heaters’ shall comprise products that are used to generate heat as part of a water-based central heating system, where the heated water is distributed by means of circulators and heat emitters in order to reach and maintain the indoor temperature of an enclosed space such as a building, a dwelling, or a room, at a desired level. The heat generator generates heat by means of one or more of the following processes and technologies:
(a)
combustion of gaseous, liquid or solid fossil fuels;
(b)
combustion of gaseous, liquid or solid biomass;
(c)
use of the Joule effect in electric resistance heating elements;
(d)
capture of ambient heat from air, water or ground source, and/or waste heat;
(e)
cogeneration (the simultaneous generation in one process of heat and electricity);
(f)
solar energy (auxiliary).
2. The maximum output power of the water-based heaters shall be 400 kW.
3. Combination heaters are included in the scope of this product group, provided that their primary function is to provide space heat.
4. The following products are excluded from the scope of this product group:
(a)
heaters whose primary function is to provide hot drinking or sanitary water;
(b)
heaters for heating and distributing gaseous heat transfer media such as vapour or air;
(c)
cogeneration space heaters with a maximum electrical capacity of 50 kW or above;
(d)
space heaters that combine both indirect heating, using water-based central heating system, and direct heating, by direct emission of heat into the room or space where the appliance is installed.
Article 2
For the purpose of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:
1.
‘heater’ means a space heater or combination heater;
2.
‘space heater’ means a device that
(a)
provides heat to a water-based central heating system in order to reach and maintain at a desired level the indoor temperature of an enclosed space such as a building, a dwelling or a room; and
(b)
is equipped with one or more heat generators;
3.
‘combination heater’ means a water-based space heater that is designed to also provide heat to deliver hot drinking or sanitary water at given temperature levels, quantities and flow rates during given intervals, and is connected to an external supply of drinking or sanitary water;
4.
‘package of space heater, temperature control and solar device’ means a package offered to the end-user containing one or more space heaters combined with one or more temperature controls and/or one or more solar devices;
5.
‘package of combination heater, temperature control and solar device’ means a package offered to the end-user containing one or more combination heaters combined with one or more temperature controls, and/or one or more solar devices;
6.
‘solar device’ means a solar-only system, a solar collector, a solar hot water storage tank or a pump in the collector loop, which are placed on the market separately;
7.
‘water-based central heating system’ means a system using water as a heat transfer medium to distribute centrally generated heat to heat emitters for the space heating of buildings, or parts thereof;
8.
‘heat generator’ means the part of a heater that generates the heat using one or more of the following processes:
(a)
combustion of fossil fuels and/or biomass fuels;
(b)
use of the Joule effect in electric resistance heating elements;
(c)
capture of ambient heat from an air source, water source or ground source, and/or waste heat;
9.
‘gas heater’ means a space heater or combination heater equipped with one or more heat generators fuelled with gaseous fuels of fossil origin or from biomass;
10.
‘liquid fuel heater’ means a space heater or combination heater equipped with one or more heat generators fuelled with liquid fuels of fossil origin or from biomass;
11.
‘solid fuel heater’ means a space heater or combination heater equipped with one or more heat generators fuelled with solid fuels of fossil origin or from biomass;
12.
‘boiler space heater’ means a space heater that generates heat using the combustion of fossil fuels and/or biomass fuels, and/or using the Joule effect in electric resistance heating elements;
13.
‘gas boiler space heater’ means a boiler space heater equipped with one or more heat generators using the combustion of gaseous fuels of fossil origin or from biomass;
14.
‘liquid fuel boiler space heater’ means a boiler space heater equipped with one or more heat generators using the combustion of liquid fuels of fossil origin or from biomass;
15.
‘solid fuel boiler space heater’ means a boiler space heater equipped with one or more heat generators using the combustion of solid fuels of fossil origin or from biomass;
16.
‘solid biomass boiler space heater’ means a boiler space heater equipped with one or more heat generators using the combustion of solid fuels from biomass;
17.
‘electric boiler space heater’ means a boiler space heater that generates heat using the Joule effect in electric resistance heating elements only;
18.
‘electric boiler combination heater’ means a boiler combination heater that generates heat using the Joule effect in electric resistance heating elements only;
19.
‘heat pump space heater’ means a space heater using ambient heat from an air source, water source or ground source, and/or waste heat for heat generation; a heat pump space heater may be equipped with one or more supplementary heaters using the Joule effect in electric resistance heating elements or the combustion of fossil and/or biomass fuels;
20.
‘heat pump combination heater’ means a heat pump space heater that is designed to also provide heat to deliver hot drinking or sanitary water at given temperature levels, quantities and flow rates during given intervals, and is connected to an external supply of drinking or sanitary water;
21.
‘fuel-driven heat pump heater’ means a heat pump heater equipped with one or more heat generators fuelled with gas or liquid fuel of fossil origin or from biomass;
22.
‘electrically-driven heat pump heater’ means a heat pump heater equipped with one or more heat generators using electricity as a fuel;
23.
‘cogeneration space heater’ means a space heater simultaneously generating heat and electricity in a single process;
24.
‘temperature control’ means equipment that interfaces with the end-user regarding the values and timing of the desired indoor temperature, and communicates relevant data, such as actual indoor and/or outdoor temperature(s), to an interface of the heater such as a central processing unit, thus helping to regulate the indoor temperature(s);
25.
‘seasonal space heating energy efficiency’ (ηs) means the ratio between the space heating demand for a designated heating season, supplied by a heater and the annual energy consumption required to meet this demand, expressed in percentage %;
26.
‘water heating energy efficiency’ (ηwh) means the ratio between the useful energy in the drinking or sanitary water provided by a combination heater and the energy required for its generation, expressed in percentage %;
27.
‘rated heat output’ means the declared heat output of a heater when providing space heating and, if applicable, water heating at standard rating conditions, expressed in kW; for heat pump space heaters and heat pump combination heaters the standard rating conditions for establishing the rated heat output are the reference design conditions, as set out in Commission Regulation (EU) No 813/2013 (2);
28.
‘standard rating conditions’ means the operating conditions of heaters under average climate conditions for establishing the rated heat output, seasonal space heating energy efficiency, water heating energy efficiency, sound power level, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, organic gaseous carbon (OGC) emissions and particulate matter;
29.
‘average climate conditions’ mean the temperature conditions characteristic for the city of Strasbourg;
30.
‘seasonal space heating emissions’ means:
-
for automatically stoked solid fuel boilers, a weighted average of the emissions at rated heat output and the emissions at 30 % of the rated heat output, expressed in mg/m3,
-
for manually stoked solid fuel boilers that can be operated at 50 % of the rated heat output in continuous mode, a weighted average of the emissions at rated heat output and the emissions at 50 % of the rated heat output, expressed in mg/m3,
-
for manually stoked solid fuel boilers that cannot be operated at 50 % or less of the rated heat output in continuous mode, the emissions at rated heat output, expressed in mg/m3,
-
for solid fuel cogeneration space heater, the emissions at rated heat output, expressed in mg/m3;
31.
‘global warming potential’ means global warming potential as defined in Article 2(4) of Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3);
32.
‘Nm (3)’ means normal cubic metre (at 101,325 kPa, 273,15 K).
Article 3
The criteria for awarding the EU Ecolabel for a product falling within the product group ‘water-based heaters’ defined in Article 1 of this Decision, as well as the related assessment and verification requirements, are set out in the Annex to this Decision.
Article 4
The criteria for the product group ‘water-based heaters’ and the related assessment and verification requirements set out in the Annex shall be valid for four years from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 5
For administrative purposes the code number assigned to the product group ‘water-based heaters’ shall be ‘045’.
Article 6
1. Applications for the EU Ecolabel for heat pumps which provide heat to a water based central heating system falling within the product group ‘electrically driven, gas driven or gas absorption heat pumps’ submitted within two months from the date of adoption of this Decision may be based either on the criteria set out in Commission Decision 2007/742/EC (4), or on the criteria set out in this Decision. Applications shall be evaluated in accordance with the criteria on which they are based.
2. EU Ecolabel licences awarded to heat pumps which provide heat to water based central heating system in accordance with the criteria set out in Decision 2007/742/EC may be used for 12 months from the date of adoption of this Decision.
Article 7
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 28 May 2014.