New proposals for ecodesign and labelling requirements regarding room air conditioning appliances have entered into force. Labelling regulation entered into force 26 July 2011.

The scope of this lot includes air-to-air-conditioning appliances up to 12kW cooling and/or heating design load. The 12 kW level is the generally agreed limit between small (mainly domestic) and bigger (mainly commercial) air-conditioning appliances. The draft regulations include additional requirements on noise, energy use in standby, off mode and other relevant modes (see below).

The adopted ecodesign requirements include:

• Two tiers of introduction; 2013 and 2014.
• A bonus for products using low global warming refrigerant fluids.
• Minimum energy performance requirements for:
  split, double duct and single duct air-conditioners.
• The requirements cover the seasonal cooling and heating performances.
• Requirements for maximum indoor and outdoor sound levels.
• Information requirements to be provided in product documentation and on manufacturer websites
• Tolerance levels for verification: 
  8% for splits,
  10% for single and double ducts.

The labelling requirements include:

• A-G energy labels with a new design.
• Gradual introduction of additional classes (A+ to A+++) from 2013.
• Energy rating of the cooling and heating functions.
• Indication of the annual or hourly energy consumption.
• Indication of sound levels
• Separate energy labels for split, double duct and single duct products.

Products & status