Ecodesign regulations for domestic washing machines entered into force the first of December  2010. Labelling requirements entered into force 20 December 2010. A corrigendum was issued in November 2010.

The corrigendum states that generic ecodesign requirements set out in point 1 (2) of Annex I will apply from June 2012 (instead of 2011).

The first Consultation Forum for washing machines was held in December 2008. After almost two years of political process ecodesign minimum requirements have now been adopted. They include:

• Prohibition of washing machines of current energy class A in December 2011 and stricter requirements from 2013.
• A cold wash (20°) option from December 2011.
• Limits for water consumption, standby and off modes.
• Instruction manuals for energy use and water consumption.
• Updated energy efficiency index to reflect the increasing use of 60° and 40° programmes and part load.

The regulation enters into force 1 December 2010 and will apply from 1 December 2011 with some exemptions. The requirements will be revised after four years.

Labelling

Labelling regulation for washing machines entered into force 20 December 2010. Labels for this product group were first  introduced in 1992. According to the previous system, the best class is A. However, new technologies would allow about half the energy consumption of an A-class product. Therefore the scale has been extended upwards with three new classes (A+, A++ and A+++).

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