Environmentally harmful dumping of inefficient comfort fans in the European Union

Panel: 9. Products, appliances, ICT

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Author:
Hélène Rochat, Topten, Switzerland

Abstract

Comfort fans - together with air conditioners - are included in the European Ecodesign Commission Regulation (EU) No 206/2012. However, unlike most Ecodesign regulations it only contains information requirements for the products and no requirements on their energy efficiency.

As the revision of the Ecodesign and Energy Label regulation for fans is taking place on the European level, it is being considered to introduce minimum energy performance standards as well as an energy label for these products. In other regions of the world, such requirements already exist, including countries that produce comfort fans that are destined for the European market.

The paper will illustrate the environmental dumping that is taking place in Europe where the products that are being exported from the manufacturing countries often have a lower energy efficiency performance than the domestic minimum energy performance standard in place in the country of origin. It will subsequently compare the energy efficiency of the products available in Europe with the mandatory energy efficiency requirements in China. In 2015, 25 million units were sold in the European Union. In 2020, this number increased to 52 million units. With rising temperatures, this number will continue to grow. An efficient comfort fan can also be an alternative solution to installing an air conditioner, thus achieving additional energy savings.

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