ECODESIGN TAKEWAYS

The working documents for Ecodesign and energy labelling revisions of space and water heaters have been released, ahead of the Consultation Forum on April 27th.

29 March 2023

Also available in Italian

IN COMMON

NO_x emission limits: applicable for G30 (butane) and G31 (propane) family gases as of G20 and G25 (both methane).

SPACE HEATING

2 tiers for the requirements revisions: as from 09/2025 (1^st tier) and as from 09/2029 (2^nd tier).
2 new products: thermally driven heat pumps (mostly using gas to run an heat pump, niche market because expensive – similar economic consideration for cogeneration) and hybrid heaters (broad category, basically anything 2-sources heating, including solar thermal which was only as a package beforehand).
Date for the ban of ‘stand-alone’ fossil fuel and electric resistance boilers: 1 September 2029
· Ecodesign (energy efficiency) requirement for the abovementioned ban: 115% – very ambitious, if you want to see technologies vs energy efficiency, have a look on this position paper.
· Ecodesign (energy efficiency) requirement for hybrid units: 125% – nearly aligned with the ask from Coolproducts (130%).
· New scope: up to 1MW
· Requirements for combination heaters: for 6 product categories (rather than the previous technology neutral approach).

WATER HEATING

· 1 tier for the requirements revisions: as from 09/2025.
· Scope for instantaneous type: up to 400kW and for storage types: up to 2000 litres.
· Requirements: for 8 product categories (rather than the previous technology neutral approach)

ENERGY LABELLING TAKEWAYS

IN COMMON

· Rescale: from the current 10-class rating to 7 class from G to A with A class empty (this is in line with all the rescale of Ecodesign product and A-class empty to spur innovation in the future).
· Classes are split between LT (low temperature) and MT (medium temperature) technology – to accommodate different building requirements (new and renovated stock for LT, unrenovated stock for MT).
· No change on the design, as the label presented in 2021.

SPACE HEATING

· Same scope: 70kW
· New A class: compared to A+++, higher than 30% for MT and 55% for LT and, I guess, all the other classes follow a similar pattern (this seems a huge improvement, e.g. condensing boiler from A to F class, for MT).
· Average differences between MT and LT around 25%.

WATER HEATING

· Scope for instantaneous type: up to 70kW.
· Labelling classes are slightly less stringent than current ones (but there is the correction of PEF will tighten it).
· Hot water storage tanks energy classes are equals as the tanks (lower than 80 litres and not multivalent)
· Class limits are linked to load profiles, and they will be 4 (3XS-XXS, XS-S, M, larger than M).
- o For combination boilers: 3 load profiles.