Commission Regulation (EU) No 206/2012 of 6 March 2012 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for air conditioners and comfort fans Text with EEA relevance

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation shall not apply to:

(a) appliances that use non-electric energy sources;

(b) air conditioners of which the condenser-side or evaporator-side, or both, do not use air for heat transfer medium.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions in Article 2 of Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council shall apply.

In addition, the following definitions shall apply:

For the purposes of the Annexes, additional definitions are set out in Annex I.

Article 3

Ecodesign requirements and timetable

Each ecodesign requirement shall apply in accordance with the following timetable:

(a) air conditioners, except single and double duct air conditioners, shall correspond to requirements as indicated in Annex I, point 2(b) and points 3(a), 3(b), 3(c);

(b) single ducts and double ducts shall correspond to requirements as indicated in Annex I, points 3(a), 3(b), 3(d);

(c) comfort fans shall correspond to requirements as indicated in Annex I, points 3(a), 3(b), 3(e).

(a) air conditioners shall correspond to ecodesign requirements as indicated in Annex I, point 2(c);

(b) single duct and double duct air conditioners shall correspond to requirements as indicated in Annex I, point 2(d).

Article 4

Conformity assessment

Article 5

Verification procedure for market surveillance purposes

Member States shall apply the verification procedure described in Annex III to this Regulation when performing the market surveillance checks referred to in Article 3(2) of Directive 2009/125/EC for compliance with requirements set out in Annex I to this Regulation.

Article 6

Benchmarks

The indicative benchmarks for best-performing air conditioners 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 this Regulation in the light of technological progress and present the result of this review to the Ecodesign Consultation Forum no later than 5 years from the date of the entry into force of this Regulation. The review shall in particular assess the efficiency and sound power level requirements, the approach to promote the use of low- global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants and the scope of the Regulation for air conditioners and possible changes in market share of types of appliances, including air conditioners above 12 kW rated output power. The review shall also assess the appropriateness of the standby and off mode requirements, seasonal calculation and measurement method, including considerations on the development of a possible seasonal calculation and measurement method for all air conditioners in the scope for cooling and heating seasons.

Article 8

Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I

Ecodesign requirements

1. DEFINITIONS APPLICABLE FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE ANNEXES

(1) ‘reversible air conditioner’ means an air conditioner capable of both cooling and heating;

(2) ‘standard rating conditions’ means the combination of indoor (Tin) and outdoor temperatures (Tj) that describe the operating conditions while establishing the sound power level, rated capacity, rated air flow rate, rated energy efficiency ratio (EERrated) and/or rated coefficient of performance (COPrated), as set out in Annex II, Table 2;

(3) ‘indoor temperature’ (Tin) means the dry bulb indoor air temperature [°C] (with the relative humidity indicated by the corresponding wet bulb temperature;

(4) ‘outdoor temperature’ (Tj) means the dry bulb outdoor air temperature [°C] (with the relative humidity indicated by the corresponding wet bulb temperature);

(5) ‘rated energy efficiency ratio’ (EERrated) means the declared capacity for cooling [kW] divided by the rated power input for cooling [kW] of a unit when providing cooling at standard rating conditions;

(6) ‘rated coefficient of performance’ (COPrated) means the declared capacity for heating [kW] divided by the rated power input for heating [kW] of a unit when providing heating at standard rating conditions;

(7) ‘global warming potential’ (GWP) means the measure of how much 1 kg of the refrigerant applied in the vapour compression cycle is estimated to contribute to global warming, expressed in kg CO2 equivalents over a 100-year time horizon; GWP values considered will be those set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006; for fluorinated refrigerants, the GWP values shall be those published in the Third Assessment Report (TAR), adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (¹) (2001 IPCC GWP values for a 100-year period); for non-fluorinated gases, the GWP values are those published in the first IPCC assessment (²) over a 100-year period; GWP values for mixtures of refrigerants shall be based on the formula stated in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 842/2006; for refrigerants not included in the above references, the IPCC UNEP 2010 report on Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps, dated February 2011, or newer, shall be used as a reference;

(8) ‘off mode’ is a condition in which the air conditioner or comfort fan is connected to the mains power source and is not providing any function. Also considered as off mode are conditions providing only an indication of off mode condition, as well as conditions providing only functionalities intended to ensure electromagnetic compatibility pursuant to Directive 2004/108/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (³);

(9) ‘standby mode’ means a condition where the equipment (air conditioner or comfort fan) is connected to the mains power source, depends on energy input from the mains power source to work as intended and provides only the following functions, which may persist for an indefinite time: reactivation function, or reactivation function and only an indication of enabled reactivation function, and/or information or status display;

(10) ‘reactivation function’ means a function facilitating the activation of other modes, including active mode, by remote switch including remote control, internal sensor, timer to a condition providing additional functions, including the main function;

(11) ‘information or status display’ is a continuous function providing information or indicating the status of the equipment on a display, including clocks;

(12) ‘sound power level’ means the A-weighted sound power level [dB(A)] indoors and/or outdoors measured at standard rating conditions for cooling (or heating, if the product has no cooling function);

(13) ‘reference design conditions’ means the combination of requirements for the reference design temperature, the maximum bivalent temperature and the maximum operation limit temperature, as set out in Annex II, Table 3;

(14) ‘reference design temperature’ means the outdoor temperature [°C] for either cooling (Tdesignc) or heating (Tdesignh) as described in Annex II, Table 3, at which the part load ratio shall be equal to 1, and which varies according the designated cooling or heating season;

(15) ‘part load ratio’ (pl(Tj)) means the outdoor temperature minus 16 °C, divided by the reference design temperature minus 16 °C, for either cooling or heating;

(16) ‘season’ means one of the four sets of operating conditions (available for four seasons: one cooling season, three heating seasons: average/colder/warmer) describing per bin the combination of outdoor temperatures and the number of hours these temperatures occur per season for which the unit is declared fit for purpose;

(17) ‘bin’ (with index j) means a combination of an outdoor temperature (Tj) and bin hours (hj), as set out in Annex II, Table 1;

(18) ‘bin hours’ means the hours per season (hj) the outdoor temperature occurs for each bin, as set out in Annex II, Table 1;

(19) ‘seasonal energy efficiency ratio’ (SEER) is the overall energy efficiency ratio of the unit, representative for the whole cooling season, calculated as the Reference annual cooling demand divided by the annual electricity consumption for cooling;

(20) ‘reference annual cooling demand’ (QC) means the reference cooling demand [kWh/a] to be used as basis for calculation of SEER and calculated as the product of the design load for cooling (Pdesignc) and the equivalent active mode hours for cooling (HCE);

(21) ‘equivalent active mode hours for cooling’ (HCE) means the assumed annual number of hours [h/a] the unit must provide the design load for cooling (Pdesignc) in order to satisfy the reference annual cooling demand, as set out in Annex II, Table 4;

(22) ‘annual electricity consumption for cooling’ (QCE) means the electricity consumption [kWh/a] required to meet the reference annual cooling demand and is calculated as the reference annual cooling demand divided by the active mode seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEERon), and the electricity consumption of the unit for thermostat off-, standby-, off- and crankcase heater-mode during the cooling season;

(23) ‘active mode seasonal energy efficiency ratio’ (SEERon) means the average energy efficiency ratio of the unit in active mode for the cooling function, constructed from part load and bin-specific energy efficiency ratio's (EERbin(Tj)) and weighted by the bin hours the bin condition occurs;

(24) ‘part load’ means the cooling load (Pc(Tj)) or the heating load (Ph(Tj)) [kW] at a specific outdoor temperature Tj, calculated as the design load multiplied by the part load ratio;

(25) ‘bin-specific energy efficiency ratio’ (EERbin(Tj)) means the energy efficiency ratio specific for every bin j with outdoor temperature Tj in a season, derived from the part load, declared capacity and declared energy efficiency ratio (EERd(Tj)) for specified bins (j) and calculated for other bins through inter/extrapolation, when necessary corrected by the degradation coefficient;

(26) ‘seasonal coefficient of performance’ (SCOP) is the overall coefficient of performance of the unit, representative for the whole designated heating season (the value of SCOP pertains to a designated heating season), calculated as the reference annual heating demand divided by the annual electricity consumption for heating;

(27) ‘reference annual heating demand’ (QH) means the reference heating demand [kWh/a], pertaining to a designated heating season, to be used as basis for calculation of SCOP and calculated as the product of the design load for heating (Pdesignh) and the seasonal equivalent active mode hours for heating (HHE);

(28) ‘equivalent active mode hours for heating’ (HHE) means the assumed annual number of hours [h/a] the unit must provide the design load for heating (Pdesignh) in order to satisfy the reference annual heating demand, as set out in Annex II, Table 4;

(29) ‘annual electricity consumption for heating’ (QHE) means the electricity consumption [kWh/a] required to meet the indicated reference annual heating demand and which pertains to a designated heating season; and is calculated as the reference annual heating demand divided by the active mode seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOPon), and the electricity consumption of the unit for thermostat off-, standby-, off- and crankcase heater-mode during the heating season;

(30) ‘active mode seasonal coefficient of performance’ (SCOPon) means the average coefficient of performance of the unit in active mode for the designated heating season, constructed from the part load, electric back up heating capacity (where required) and bin-specific coefficients of performance (COPbin(Tj) and weighted by the bin hours the bin condition occurs;

(31) ‘electric back-up heater capacity’ (elbu(Tj)) is the heating capacity [kW] of a real or assumed electric back-up heater with COP of 1 that supplements the declared capacity for heating (Pdh(Tj)) in order to meet the part load for heating (Ph(Tj)) in case Pdh(Tj) is less than Ph(Tj), for the outdoor temperature (Tj);

(32) ‘bin-specific coefficient of performance’ (COPbin(Tj)) means the coefficient of performance specific for every bin j with outdoor temperature Tj in a season, derived from the part load, declared capacity and declared coefficient of performance (COPd(Tj)) for specified bins (j) and calculated for other bins through inter/extrapolation, when necessary corrected by the degradation coefficient;

(33) ‘declared capacity’ [kW] is the capacity of the vapour compression cycle of the unit for cooling (Pdc(Tj)) or heating (Pdh(Tj)), pertaining to an outdoor temperature Tj and indoor temperature (Tin), as declared by the manufacturer;

(34) ‘service value’ (SV) [(m³/min)/W] means for comfort fans the ratio of the maximum fan flow rate [m³/min] and the fan power input [W];

(35) ‘capacity control’ means the ability of the unit to change its capacity by changing the volumetric flow rate. Units are to be indicated as ‘fixed’ if the unit can not change its volumetric flow rate, ‘staged’ if the volumetric flow rate is changed or varied in series of not more than two steps, or ‘variable’ if the volumetric flow rate is changed or varied in series of three or more steps;

(36) ‘function’ means the indication of whether the unit is capable of indoor air cooling, indoor air heating or both;

(37) ‘design load’ means the declared cooling load (Pdesignc) and/or declared heating load (Pdesignh) [kW] at the reference design temperature, whereby for cooling mode, Pdesignc is equal to the declared capacity for cooling at Tj equal to Tdesignc; for heating mode, Pdesignh is equal to the part load at Tj equal to Tdesignh;

(38) ‘declared energy efficiency ratio’ (EERd(Tj)) means the energy efficiency ratio at a limited number of specified bins (j) with outdoor temperature (Tj), as declared by the manufacturer;

(39) ‘declared coefficient of performance’ (COPd(Tj)) means the coefficient of performance at a limited number of specified bins (j) with outdoor temperature (Tj), as declared by the manufacturer;

(40) ‘bivalent temperature’ (Tbiv) means the outdoor temperature (Tj) [°C] declared by the manufacturer for heating at which the declared capacity equals the part load and below which the declared capacity must be supplemented with electric back up heater capacity in order to meet the part load for heating;

(41) ‘operation limit temperature’ (Tol) means the outdoor temperature [°C] declared by the manufacturer for heating, below which air conditioner will not be able to deliver any heating capacity. Below this temperature, the declared capacity is equal to zero;

(42) ‘cycling interval capacity’ [kW] is the (time-weighted) average of the declared capacity over the cycling test interval for cooling (Pcycc) or heating (Pcych);

(43) ‘cycling interval efficiency for cooling’ (EERcyc) is the average energy efficiency ratio over the cycling test interval (compressor switching on and off), calculated as the integrated cooling capacity over the interval [kWh] divided by the integrated electric power input over that same interval [kWh];