1 month to go to comply with eco-design and energy labelling
New regulations for refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function (commercial refrigerated cabinets) come into force on 1 March 2021. The regulations cover refrigerated display cabinets, beverage coolers, ice cream freezers, gelato-scooping cabinets and vending machines.
The regulations originated from Europe, but due to the UK leaving the EU the requirements are now part of UK legislation which mirrors the EU requirements. Practically, this means that after 1 March 2021, it will be a legal requirement to energy label these products which are sold in Europe and the UK. Much of the information about the practicalities and differences between the EU and UK regulations were described in an earlier RD&T newsletter article (previous RD&T news).
Theoretically, few cabinets should be labelled as A or B, as the aim of eco-design is that as manufacturers improve efficiency, these classes will be more populated in the future. Due to the large numbers of customisable cabinet models produced by manufacturers, Eurovent (Association for Indoor Climate, Process Cooling, and Food Cold Chain Technologies) have recently produced a document to help manufacturers use a reference model to represent a similar set of cabinets (Eurovent 14/6 – 2020. Interpretation of Regulation (EU) 2019/2018 and of Regulation (EU) 2019/2024, First Edition). This covers similar cabinets of different lengths, depths and front opening heights. Similar methodologies are being proposed as part of the new version of the EN23953 test standard (which covers refrigerated display cabinets but not beverage coolers, ice cream freezers, gelato-scooping cabinets or vending machines). However, this standard is still being developed and so is unlikely to be available until 2022 at the earliest.
RD&T personnel have followed the eco-deign and labelling process since its inception almost 20 years ago. We therefore have extensive information on the development and content of the regulations. RD&T’s Judith Evans is also involved in the standardisation committees that have, and are, developing standards for refrigerated display cabinets, beverage coolers, ice cream freezers and gelato-scooping cabinets. We have been getting a steady stream of requests over the past few months for specific advice regarding these regulations and how they affect manufacturers/suppliers and are always happy to help.
There is now only a month to go before the regulations are applied and it will be illegal to sell a refrigerated cabinet with a direct sales function in the UK or Europe without a label. If you need help with any aspect of the regulations such as testing or applying labels then please contact Judith Evans at RD&T (j.a.evans@rdandt.co.uk).