Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2019 of 1 October 2019 laying down ecodesign requirements for refrigerating appliances pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 643/2009 (Text with EEA relevance.)

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation does not apply to:

(a) professional refrigerated storage cabinets and blast cabinets, with the exception of professional chest freezers;

(b) refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function;

(c) mobile refrigerating appliances;

(d) appliances where the primary function is not the storage of foodstuffs through refrigeration.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘mains’ or ‘electric mains’ means the electricity supply from the grid of 230 (± 10 %) volt of alternating current at 50 Hz;

(2) ‘refrigerating appliance’ means an insulated cabinet with one or more compartments that are controlled at specific temperatures, cooled by natural or forced convection whereby the cooling is obtained by one or more energy consuming means;

(3) ‘compartment’ means an enclosed space within a refrigerating appliance, separated from other compartment(s) by a partition, container, or similar construction, which is directly accessible through one or more external doors and may itself be divided into sub-compartments. For the purpose of this Regulation, unless specified otherwise, compartment refers to both compartments and sub-compartments;

(4) ‘external door’ is the part of a cabinet that can be moved or removed to at least allow the load to be moved from the exterior to the interior or from the interior to the exterior of the cabinet;

(5) ‘sub-compartment’ means an enclosed space in a compartment having a different operating temperature range from the compartment in which it is located;

(6) ‘total volume’ (V) means the volume of the space within the inside liner of the refrigerating appliance, equal to the sum of the compartment volumes, expressed in dm³ or litres;

(7) ‘compartment volume’ (Vc) means the volume of the space within the inside liner of the compartment, expressed in dm³ or litres;

(8) ‘professional refrigerated storage cabinet’ means an insulated refrigerating appliance integrating one or more compartments accessible via one or more doors or drawers, capable of continuously maintaining the temperature of foodstuffs within prescribed limits at chilled or frozen operating temperature, using a vapour compression cycle, and used for the storage of foodstuffs in non-household environments but not for the display to or access by customers, as defined in Regulation (EU) 2015/1095;

(9) ‘blast cabinet’ means an insulated refrigerating appliance primarily intended to rapidly cool hot foodstuffs to below 10 °C in the case of chilling and below - 18 °C in the case of freezing, as defined in Regulation (EU) 2015/1095;

(10) ‘professional chest freezer’ means a freezer in which the compartment(s) is accessible from the top of the appliance or which has both top-opening type and upright type compartments but where the gross volume of the top-opening type compartment(s) exceeds 75 % of the total gross volume of the appliance, used for the storage of foodstuffs in non-household environments;

(11) ‘freezer’ means a refrigerating appliance with only 4-star compartments;

(12) ‘frozen compartment’ means a compartment type with a target temperature equal to or below 0 °C; that is a 0-star, 1-star, 2-star, 3-star or 4-star compartment, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(13) ‘compartment type’ means the declared compartment type in accordance with the refrigerating performance parameters Tmin, Tmax, Tc and others set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(14) ‘minimum temperature’ (Tmin) means the minimum temperature inside a compartment during storage testing, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(15) ‘maximum temperature’ (Tmax) means the maximum temperature inside a compartment during storage testing, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(16) ‘target temperature’ (Tc) means the reference temperature inside a compartment during testing, as set out in Annex III, Table 3, and is the temperature for testing energy consumption expressed as the average over time and over a set of sensors;

(17) ‘0-star compartment’ and ‘ice-making compartment’ means a frozen compartment with a target temperature and storage conditions of 0 °C, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(18) ‘1-star compartment’ means a frozen compartment with a target temperature and storage conditions of - 6 °C, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(19) ‘2-star compartment’ means a frozen compartment with a target temperature and storage conditions of - 12 °C, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(20) ‘3-star compartment’ means a frozen compartment with a target temperature and storage conditions of - 18 °C, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(21) ‘freezer compartment’ or ‘4-star compartment’ means a frozen compartment with a target temperature and storage conditions of - 18 °C and which fulfils the requirements for the freezing capacity;

(22) ‘freezing capacity’ means the amount of fresh foodstuffs that can be frozen in a freezer compartment in 24 h; it shall not be lower than 4,5 kg per 24 h per 100 litres of volume of the freezer compartment, with a minimum of 2,0 kg/24 h;

(23) ‘refrigerating appliance with a direct sales function’ means a refrigerating appliance used for the functions of displaying and selling items at specified temperatures below the ambient temperature to customers, accessible directly through open sides or via one or more doors or drawers, or both, including also cabinets with areas used for storage or assisted serving of items not accessible by the customers and excluding minibars and wine storage appliances, as defined in Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2024 (¹);

(24) ‘minibar’ means a refrigerating appliance with a total volume of maximum 60 litres, which is primary intended for the storage and sales of foodstuffs in hotel rooms and similar premises;

(25) ‘wine storage appliance’ means a dedicated refrigerating appliance for the storage of wine, with precision temperature control for the storage conditions and target temperature of a wine storage compartment, as defined in Annex III, Table 3, and equipped with anti-vibration measures;

(26) ‘dedicated refrigerating appliance’ means a refrigerating appliance with only one type of compartment;

(27) ‘wine storage compartment’ means an unfrozen compartment with a target temperature of 12 °C, an internal humidity range from 50 % to 80 % and storage conditions ranging from 5 °C to 20 °C, as defined in Annex III, Table 3;

(28) ‘mobile refrigerating appliance’ means a refrigerating appliance that can be used where there is no access to the mains electricity grid and that uses extra low-voltage electricity (< 120V DC) or fuel or both as the energy source for the refrigeration functionality, including a refrigerating appliance that, in addition to extra low voltage electricity or fuel, or both, can be electric mains operated via an external AC/DC converter to be purchased separately. An appliance placed on the market with an AC/DC converter is not a mobile refrigerating appliance;

(29) ‘foodstuffs’ means food, ingredients, beverages, including wine, and other items primarily used for consumption which require refrigeration at specified temperatures;

(30) ‘energy efficiency index’ (EEI) means an index number for the relative energy efficiency of a refrigeration appliance expressed in percentage, as set out in point 5 of Annex III;

(31) ‘low noise refrigerating appliance’ means a refrigerating appliance without vapour compression and with airborne acoustical noise emission lower than 27 A-weighted decibel referred to 1 pico watt (dB(A) re 1 pW);

(32) ‘airborne acoustical noise emission’ means the sound power level of a refrigerating appliance, expressed in A-weighted decibel referred to 1 pico watt (dB(A) re 1 pW);

(33) ‘combi appliance’ means a refrigerating appliance that has more than one compartment type of which at least one is an unfrozen compartment;

(34) ‘unfrozen compartment’ means a compartment type with a target temperature equal to or above 4 °C; that is a pantry, wine storage, cellar or fresh food compartment with storage conditions and target temperatures, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(35) ‘pantry compartment’ means an unfrozen compartment with a target temperature of 17 °C and storage conditions ranging from 14 °C to 20 °C, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(36) ‘cellar compartment’ means an unfrozen compartment with a target temperature of 12 °C and storage conditions ranging from 2 °C to 14 °C, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(37) ‘fresh food compartment’ means an unfrozen compartment with a target temperature of 4 °C and storage conditions ranging from 0 °C and 8 °C, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(38) ‘ambient controlled anti-condensation heater’ means an anti-condensation heater where the heating capacity depends on either the ambient temperature or the ambient humidity or both;

(39) ‘anti-condensation heater’ means a heater which prevents condensation on the refrigeration appliance;

(40) ‘auxiliary energy’ (Eaux) means the energy used by an ambient controlled anti-condensation heater, expressed in kWh/a.

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

Article 3

Ecodesign requirements

The ecodesign requirements set out in Annex II shall apply from the dates indicated therein.

Article 4

Conformity assessment

Where the information included in the technical documentation for a particular model has been obtained:

(a) from a model that has the same technical characteristics relevant for the technical information to be provided but is produced by a different manufacturer, or

(b) by calculation on the basis of design or extrapolation from another model of the same or a different manufacturer, or both,

the technical documentation shall include the details of such calculation, the assessment undertaken by the manufacturer to verify the accuracy of the calculation and, where appropriate, the declaration of identity between the models of different manufacturers.

The technical documentation shall include a list of all equivalent models, including the model identifiers.

Article 5

Verification procedure for market surveillance purposes

Member States shall apply the verification procedure laid down in Annex IV when performing the market surveillance checks referred to in point 2 of Article 3 of Directive 2009/125/EC.

Article 6

Circumvention and software updates

The manufacturer, importer or authorised representative shall not place on the market products designed to be able to detect they are being tested (for example by recognising the test conditions or test cycle) and to react specifically by automatically altering their performance during the test with the aim of reaching a more favourable level for any of the parameters in the technical documentation or included in any documentation provided.

The energy consumption of the product and any of the other declared parameters shall not deteriorate after a software or firmware update when measured with the same test standard originally used for the declaration of conformity, except with explicit consent of the end-user prior to the update. No performance change shall occur as a result of rejecting the update.

A software update shall never have the effect of changing the product's performance in a way that makes it non-compliant with the ecodesign requirements applicable for the declaration of conformity.

Article 7

Indicative benchmarks

The indicative benchmarks for the best-performing products and technologies available on the market at the time of adopting this Regulation are set out in Annex V.

Article 8

Review

The Commission shall review this Regulation in the light of technological progress and present the results of this assessment, including, if appropriate, a draft revision proposal, to the Consultation Forum by 25 December 2025.

This review shall in particular assess:

(a) the energy efficiency index requirements for low noise refrigerating appliances and for wine storage appliances, including those with transparent doors;

(b) the appropriateness to set energy efficiency index requirements for low noise combi appliances with frozen compartment(s);

(c) the treatment of professional chest freezers;

(d) the level of the tolerances;

(e) the appropriateness of a mandatory sound signal for long door openings;

(f) the compensation factors and the modelling parameters;

(g) the appropriateness to set additional resource efficiency requirements for products in accordance with the principles of the circular economy, including whether more spare parts should be included;

(h) the appropriateness of including other auxiliary devices or functions than the ambient controlled anti-condensation heater in the determination of the auxiliary energy;

(i) the methodology for taking automatic and intelligent defrosting into account.

Article 9

Repeal

Commission Regulation (EC) No 643/2009 shall be repealed with effect from 1 March 2021.

Article 10

Entry into force and application

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 from 1 March 2021. However, Article 6 shall apply from 25 December 2019.

Article 11

Transitional compliance equivalence

If no unit belonging to the same model or equivalent models was placed on the market before 1 November 2020, the units of models placed on the market between 1 November 2020 and 28 February 2021 which comply with the provisions of this regulation shall be considered compliant with the requirements of Commission Regulation (EC) No 643/2009.

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

ANNEX I

The following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘transparent door(s)’ means external door(s) made of a transparent material that allows the end-user to see items through it, at least 75 % of the internal cabinet height and 75 % of the internal cabinet width shall be transparent, both measured at the front of the cabinet;

(2) ‘fast freeze’ means a feature that can be activated by the end-user according to the manufacturer’s, the importer’s or authorised representative’s instructions, which decreases the storage temperature of freezer compartment(s) to achieve a faster freezing of unfrozen foodstuffs;

(3) ‘winter setting’ means a control feature for a combi appliance with one compressor and one thermostat, which according to the manufacturer’s, importer’s or authorised representative’s instructions can be used in ambient temperatures below +16 °C, consisting of a switching device or function that guarantees, even if it would not be required for the compartment where the thermostat is located, that the compressor keeps on working to maintain the proper storage temperatures in the other compartments;

(4) ‘chill compartment’ means a compartment which is able to control its average temperature within a certain range without user-adjustments of its control, with a target temperature equal to 2 °C and storage conditions ranging from - 3 °C to 3 °C, as set out in Annex III, Table 3;

(5) ‘vacuum insulation panel’ (VIP) means an insulation panel consisting of a firm, highly-porous material encased in a thin, gas-tight outer envelope, from which the gases are evacuated and which is sealed to prevent outside gases from entering the panel;

(6) ‘2-star section’ means part of a 3-star or 4-star compartment which does not have its own individual access door or lid and with a target temperature and storage conditions of - 12 °C;

(7) ‘door gasket’ means a mechanical seal which fills the space between the door and the cabinet of the refrigerating appliance to prevent leakage from the cabinet to the outdoor air;

(8) ‘spare part’ means a separate part that can replace a part with the same or similar function in a product;

(9) ‘professional repairer’ means an operator or undertaking which provides services of repair and professional maintenance of refrigerating appliances;

(10) ‘freestanding appliance’ means a refrigerating appliance that is not a built-in appliance;

(11) ‘built-in appliance’ means a refrigerating appliance that is designed, tested and marketed exclusively: (a) to be installed in cabinetry or encased (top, bottom and sides) by panels; and (b) to be securely fastened to the sides, top or floor of the cabinetry or panels; and (c) to be equipped with an integral factory-finished face or to be fitted with a custom front panel;

(12) ‘guarantee’ means any undertaking by the retailer or a manufacturer, importer or authorised representative to the consumer to: (a) reimburse the price paid; or (b) replace, repair or handle refrigerating appliances in any way if they do not meet the specifications set out in the guarantee statement or in the relevant advertising;

(13) ‘climate class’ means the range of ambient temperatures, as set out in point 1(i) of Annex III, in which the refrigerating appliances are intended to be used, and for which the required storage temperatures specified in Annex III, Table 3 are met simultaneously in all compartment(s);

(14) ‘product database’ means a collection of data concerning products, which is arranged in a systematic manner and consists of a consumer-oriented public part, where information concerning individual product parameters is accessible by electronic means, an online portal for accessibility and a compliance part, with clearly specified accessibility and security requirements, as laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 of the European Parliament and of the Council (²);

(15) ‘annual energy consumption’ (AE) means the average daily energy consumption multiplied by 365 (days per year), expressed in kilowatt hour per year (kWh/a), as calculated in accordance with point 3 of Annex III;

(16) ‘daily energy consumption’ (Edaily) means the electricity used by a refrigerating appliance over 24 hours at reference conditions, expressed in kilowatt hour per 24 hours (kWh/24 h), as calculated in accordance with point 3 of Annex III;

(17) ‘dispenser’ means a device that dispenses chilled or frozen load on demand from a refrigerating appliance, such as ice-cube dispensers or chilled water dispensers;

(18) ‘variable temperature compartment’ means a compartment intended for use as two (or more) alternative compartment types (for example a compartment that can be either a fresh food compartment or freezer compartment) and which is capable of being set by a user to continuously maintain the operating temperature range applicable for each declared compartment type. A compartment intended for use as a single compartment type that can also meet storage conditions of other compartment types (for example a chill compartment that may also fulfil 0-star requirements) is not a variable temperature compartment;

(19) ‘network’ means a communication infrastructure with a topology of links, an architecture, including the physical components, organisational principles, communication procedures and formats (protocols);

(20) ‘steady-state power consumption’ (Pss) means the average power consumption in steady-state conditions, expressed in watt (W);