Document ID: 31992L0042

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 92/42/EEC of 21 May 1992 on efficiency requirements for new hot-water boilers fired with liquid or gaseous fuels
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
In cooperation with the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas Decision 91/565/EEC (4) provides for the promotion of energy efficiency in the Community under the SAVE programme;
Whereas it is important to promote measures aimed at the progressive establishement of the internal market in the period up to 31 December 1992; whereas the internal market encompasses an area without internal frontiers, in which the free circulation of goods, persons, services and capital is assured;
Whereas the Council resolution of 15 January 1985 on the improvement of energy-saving programmes in the Member States (5) invites Member States to pursue and where necessary increase their efforts to promote the more rational use of energy by the further development of integrated energy-saving policies;
Whereas the Council resolution of 16 September 1986 concerns new Community energy-policy objectives for 1995 and convergence of the policies of the Member States (6), and in particular the objective of improving the efficiency of final energy demand by at least 20 %;
Whereas Article 130r of the Treaty provides that action by the Community relating to the environment shall have the objective of ensuring a prudent and rational utilization of natural resources;
Whereas it is appropriate to take as a base a high level of protection in proposals for the approximation of the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States and concerning health, safety, environmental protection and consumer protection;
Whereas the Council resolution of 21 June 1989 declares 'that the Community should take proper account of potential climatic change linked to the greenhouse effect' (7) and the Council's conclusions of 29 October 1990 state that CO2 emissions in the year 2000 should be stabilized throughout the Community at their 1990 level;
Whereas the importance of the domestic and tertiary sector, which absorbs a major proportion of the final consumption of energy in the Community, is considerable;
Whereas this sector will become even more important through trends towards more central heating and a general increase in thermal comfort;
Whereas better boiler efficiency is in the consumer's interest; whereas energy saving will be reflected in fewer imports of hydrocarbons; whereas reduction in the Community's energy dependence will have a positive impact on its trade balance;
Whereas Council Directive 78/170/EEC of 13 February 1978 on the performance of heat generators for space heating and the production of hot water in new or existing non-industrial buildings and on the insulation of heat and domestic hot-water distribution in new non-industrial builings (8), has given rise to the establishment of substantially different efficiency levels between one Member State and another;
Whereas the requirement of high efficiency for hot-water boilers will reduce the range of technical properties of equipment placed on the market, thus facilitating series production and making for economies of scale; whereas the absence of a measure laying down energy requirements at a sufficiently high level may result, with the completion of the internal market, in a significant drop in the efficiency levels of heating installations through the spread on the market of low-efficiency boilers;
Whereas local climatic conditions and the energy and occupancy characteristics of buildings differ greatly within the Community; whereas Member States must take this diversity into account when determining the conditions for putting boilers into service in implementation of this Direcitve; whereas these circumstances justify the fact that Member States where back-boilers and boilers designed to be installed in the living space are widely installed at the date of the adoption of this Directive should continue to authorize, within specific limits, the placing on their markets and the putting into service of such boilers; whereas these arrangements should be subject to particular surveillance by the Commission;
Whereas this Directive, which is aimed at eliminating technical barriers with regard to boiler efficiency, must follow the new approach established by the Council resolution of 7 May 1985 (9) which specifically lays down that legislative harmonization is limited to the adoption, by means of directives based on Article 100 of the EEC Treaty, of the essential requirements with which products put on the market must conform and that 'these essential requirements shall be worded precisely enough in order to create legally binding obligations which can be enforced and to enable the certification bodies to certify products as being in conformity, having regard to those requirements in the absence of standards';
Having regard to Directive 83/189/EEC (10) laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations;
Having regard to Decision 90/683/EEC (11) concerning the modules for the various phases of the conformity assessment procedures which are intended to be used in the technical harmonization directives;
Whereas boilers complying with the efficiency requirements should bear the CE mark and, where appropriate, signs in order to enable them to move freely and to be put into service in accordance with their intended purpose within the Community;
Having regard to Directive 89/106/EEC (12) on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products;
Whereas efficiency requirements to encourage the rational use of energy as laid down in Council Directive 90/396/EEC of 29 June 1990 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to appliances burning gaseous fuels (13) should be established for the gas boilers referred to in this Directive,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
This Directive, which comes under the SAVE programme concerning the promotion of energy efficiency in the Community, determines the efficiency requirements applicable to new hot-water boilers fired by liquid or gaseous fuels with a rated output of no less than 4 kW and no more than 400 kW, hereinafter called 'boilers'.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive:
- boiler: the combined boiler body-burner unit, designed to transmit to water the heat released from burning,
- appliance:
- the boiler body designed to have a burner fitted,
- the burner designed to be fitted to a boiler body,
- effective rated output (expressed in kW): the maximum calorific output laid down and guaranteed by the manufacturer as being deliverable during continuous operation while complying with the useful efficiency indicated by the manufacturer,
- useful efficiency (expressed in %): the ratio between the heat output transmitted to the boiler water and the product of the net calorific value at constant fuel pressure and the consumption expressed as a quantity of fuel per unit time,
- part load (expressed in %): the ratio between the effective output of a boiler operating intermittently or at an output lower than the effective rated output and the same effective rated output;
- average temperature of the boiler water: the average of the water temperatures at the entry and exit of the boiler,
- standard boiler: a boiler for which the average water temperature can be restricted by design,
- back-boiler: a boiler designed to supply a central-heating system and to be installed in a fireplace recess as part of a back boiler/gas fire combination,
- low-temperature boiler: a boiler which can work continuously with a water supply temperature of 35 to 40o C, possibly producing condensation in certain circumstances, including condensing boilers using liquid fuel,
- gas condensing boiler: a boiler designed to condense permanently a large part of the water vapour contained in the combustion gases,
- boiler to be installed in the living space: a boiler with an effective rated output of less than 37 kW, designed to provide heat to the part of the living space in which it is installed by means of the emission of heat from the casing having an open expansion chamber, supplying hot water using gravity circulation; such boilers shall bear on their casings the explicit indication that they must be installed in living space.
Article 3
1. The following shall be excluded from this Directive:
- hot-water boilers capable of being fired by different fuels including solid fuels,
- equipment for the instantaneous preparation of hot water,
- boilers designed to be fired by fuels the properties of which differ appreciably from the properties of the liquid and gaseous fuels commonly marketed (industrial waste gas, biogas, etc),
- cookers and appliances designed mainly to heat the premises in which they are installed and, as a subsidiary function, to supply hot water for central heating and sanitary hot water,
- appliances with rated outputs of less than 6 kW using gravity circulation and designed solely for the production of stored sanitary hot water,
- boilers manufactured on a one-off basis.
2. In the case of boilers with a dual function, that of heating premises and also providing sanitary hot water, the efficiency requirements referred to in Article 5 (1) concern the heating function only.
Article 4
1. Member States may not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market or entry into service within their territories of appliances and boilers which satisfy the requirements of this Directive, save as otherwise laid down in the Treaty or other Directives or Community provisions.
2. Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that boilers cannot be put into service unless they satisfy the efficiency requirements set out in Article 5 (1) and the conditions for entry into service which the Member States lay down on the basis of local climatic conditions and the energy and occupancy characteristics of the buildings.
3. However, Member States where back-boilers and/or boilers that are to be installed in the living space, are widely installed at the date of the adoption of the present Directive, shall continue to authorize their entry into service, provided that their efficiency both at rated output and at 30 % part load is not more than 4 % below the requirements laid down in Article 5 (1) for standard boilers.
4. The effects of the provisions in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be constantly monitored by the Commission and analysed in the report to be submitted under Article 10. To this end the Member States shall forward to the Commission any information it requires to submit to the Council the proposed amendments, provided for in that Article, designed to ensure at all events the energy efficiency and free movement of boilers in the Community.
Article 5
1. Boilers must comply with the following useful efficiency requirements:
- at rated output, i.e. operating at rated output Pn expressed in kW, at an average boiler-water temperature of 70 oC,
and
- a part load, i.e. operating at 30 % part load, at an average boiler-water temperature which varies according to the type of the boiler.
The useful efficiency requirements to be complied with are set out in the following table:
Type of boiler
Range of
power output
Efficiency at rated output
Efficiency at partload
kW
Average
boiler-water
temperature
(in oC)
Efficiency
requirement
expressed (in %)
Average
boiler-water
temperature
(in oC)
Efficiency
requirement
expressed (in %)
Standard
boilers
4 to 400
70
& {Ì8}; 84 + 2
logPn
& {Ì8}; 50
& {Ì8}; 80 + 3
logPn
Lowtemperature
boilers (*)
4 to 400
70
& {Ì8}; 87,5 + 1,5
logPn
40
& {Ì8}; 87,5 + 1,5
logPn
Gas condensing
boilers
4 to 400
70
& {Ì8}; 91 + 1
logPn
30 (**)
& {Ì8}; 97 + 1
logPn
(*) Including condensing boilers using liquid fuels.
(**) Temperature of boiler water-supply.
2. The harmonized standards relating to the requirements of this Directive drawn up under mandate from the Commission in accordance with Directive 83/189/EEC and 88/182/EEC (14) shall determine, inter alia, the verification methods valid for production and measurements. Appropriate tolerances must be incorporated in the efficiency levels.
Article 6
1. Under the procedures laid down in Article 7, Member States may decide to apply a specific system of labels enabling the energy performance of boilers to be clearly ascertained. This system shall apply to boilers the efficiency of which is superior to the requirements for standard boilers set out in Article 5 (1).
If its efficiency at rated output and its efficiency at part load are equal to or greater than the relevant values for standard boilers, a boiler shall be awarded an '& {ÌK};' as set out in Annex I, section 2.
If its efficiency at rated output and its efficiency at part load are three or more points higher than the relevant values for standard boilers a boiler shall be awarded '& {ÌK};& {ÌK};'.
Every extra step of efficiency of three points at rated output and at part load will allow the attribution of an extra '& {ÌK};' as set out in Annex II.
2. Member States may not authorize any other label likely to be confused with those referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 7
1. Member States shall deem that boilers which comply with the harmonized standards, the reference numbers of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities and for which the Member States have published the reference numbers of the national standards transposing those harmonized standards, to be in conformity with the essential efficiency requirements stipulated in Article 5 (1). Such boilers must bear the CE mark referred to in Annex 1, section 1, and be accompanied by the EC declaration of conformity.
2. The conformity of series-produced boilers shall be certified by:
- examination of the efficiency of a boiler type in accordance with module B as described in Annex III,
- a declaration of conformity to the approved type in accordance with module C, D or E as described in Annex IV.
For boilers burning gaseous fuels, the procedures for assessing the conformity of their efficiency shall be those used to assess conformity to the safety requirements laid down in Directive 90/396/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to appliances burning gaseous fuels.
3. When appliances marketed separately are placed on the market, they must bear the CE mark and be accompanied by the EC declaration of conformity, which defines the parameters enabling them after assembly to achieve the useful efficiency levels laid down in Article 5 (1).
4. The CE mark of conformity to the requirements of this Directive and to the other provisions concerning the granting of the CE mark, and also the inscriptions specified in Annex I, shall be affixed on boilers in a visible, easily legible and indelible manner. The affixing on such products of any other mark, sign or indication liable to create confusion with the CE mark both as regards its significance or in its appearance shall be prohibited.
Article 8
1. Each Member State shall notify the Commission and the other Member States of the bodies it has appointed to carry out the tasks relating to the procedures referred to in Article 7, hereinafter called 'notified bodies'.
The Commission shall allocate identification numbers to those bodies and shall inform the Member States thereof.
Lists of the notified bodies shall be published by the Council in the Official Journal of the European Communities and shall be continually updated.
2. Member States shall implement the minimum criteria laid down in Annex V for the appointment of such bodies. Bodies which satisfy the criteria laid down in the corresponding harmonized standards shall be deemed to comply with the criteria laid down in that Annex.
3. A Member State which has notified a particular body must withdraw that notification if it finds that the body concerned no longer satisfies the criteria referred to in paragraph 2. It shall immediately inform the other Member States and the Commission accordingly and shall withdraw the notification.
Article 9
1. By 1 January 1993, Member States shall adopt and publish the provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
They shall apply those provisions form 1 January 1994.
When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a reference shall be laid down by the Member States.
2. Until 31 December 1997, Member States shall permit the placing on the market and putting into service of appliances complying with the national rules and schemes in force within their territories on the date of the adoption of this Directive.
Article 10
Three years after the implementation of this Directive the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the results achieved. That report shall be accompanied by proposals for any changes to be made to this Directive in the light of those results and of advances in technology.
Article 11
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 21 May 1992.

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