Ecodesign Directive (ErP)

After setting energy efficiency requirements for fans (regulation 327/2011, also known as ErP 2013-2015), the Commission set under regulation 1253/2014 the thresholds for all ventilation units, provided that power consumption is greater than 30 watts by air flow.

All ventilation units are not subject to the same requirements. There are two major categories of devices according to their airflow and for which the requirements are different: Residential Ventilation Units or RVU (airflow < 250 m³/h) and Non-Residential Ventilation Units or NRVU (airflow > 1000 m³/h). Devices with between 250 and 1000 m³/h flow can belong as well to the UVR than to the UVNR. However, the manufacturer must specify the category to which they belong. Among the UVNR, a distinction is also planned between the units to simple UVSF (insufflation or air extraction) and double flow UVDF (blowing and extraction of air).

Exceptions to this regulation are ventilation units designed specifically to work in case of emergency, to be used in a potentially explosive atmosphere or designed to move air to “extreme” temperatures (above 100 °C or below -40 °C). Kitchen range hoods are exempted as well since they are the subject of another regulation. Same for air handling units aimed to heat and/or conditioning (LOT 21).

The implementation of the requirements takes place in two tiers, first scheduled for January 2016 and the second for January 2018.

What are the Lot 6 requirements ?

As announced here above, the requirements depend on the category of the ventilation unit.

For Residential Ventilation Units RVU

Concerning residential ventilation the main requirement appears as a particular coefficient: the Specific Energy Consumption SEC. It is an energy-efficiency indicator which reflects the annual energy consumption for ventilation per m² heated floor area, taking into account the annual energy savings thanks to the heat recovery and expressed in kWh/m²a.

In other words a SEC value of 0 kWh/(m²a) means that the annual energy consumption of the unit is exactly balanced by the heat gains due to the heat recovery system (by the way 0 is the 2016’s threshold imposed by the Commission). Energy classes have been defined depending on this value, in order to set up an eco-labelling as already done for other products. There are eight categories RVU can belong to, from A+ (the more efficient one) to G.

So starting from 2016 all RVU will be sold with the following label:

For Bidirectional Non-Residential Ventilation Units

In addition to a list of parameters and technical information that must be published, a minimum set of criteria to be achieved have been set:

• Bidirectional units must have heat recovery.
• The units must be equipped with stepper motors or speed variation system.
• Heat recovery system shall be equipped with a thermal bypass.
• Heat recovery performance (under conditions specified in the standard) of the unit must reach minimum 67% in 2016 and 73% in 2018 (valid for exchangers without fluid).
• A visual alarm for filters clogging must be available in 2018.
• A specific fan power value related to internal ventilation components, SFPint, must be respected. This specific power can be interpreted as the power supplied by the fan to ‘defeat’ pressure losses due to ventilation components (heat exchanger, filters and casing integration losses). It depends also on the performance of the fan.

The thresholds for 2016 and 2018 are calculated based on a formula which takes into account the airflow, the type of filter used and dry efficiency of the heat recovery.

It is important to know that, if the reference values for requirements are taking into account M5 and F7 filters, these types of filters are not a requirement. Using filters with lower filtration class creates a penalty on the SFPint threshold to respect (lowest value and therefore more severe).

For Unidirectional Non-Residential Ventilation Units

In addition to a list of parameters and technical information that must be published, specific requirements have been set:

• A limit on the fan static efficiency is required (but different from that imposed by ErP 2013/2015!), calculated based on the power input.
• A threshold on the SFPint is also to respect if filters are used.

The targeted products are devices intended for the heating of air or air cooling.
More precisely: any device that contains heat / cold and provides it to an “air-based system for heating/cooling”, i.e. a hot/cold air distribution system with moving air designed to maintain a comfort temperature within a confined space. The implementation will be done in 2 steps: 01/01/2018 and 01/01/2021.

The Commission has identified different seasonal energy efficiency factor, expressing basically a ratio between the useful effect produced (heat/cold produced on a heating season, temperature ratio…) and the costly effect (energy used for the production of hot/cold). Threshold values are imposed by type of product. In addition, NO2 emissions should also be limited to values imposed as well. Requirements in terms of information to be published are also planned.