The new EU energy label
Since 1 March 2021, new labelling regulations for energy efficiency classes apply to these electrical appliances:
- Refrigerators and freezers incl. wine storage cabinets
- Dishwashers
- Washing machines incl. tumble dryers
- Electronic displays incl. televisions
The previous labelling will be changed to a new scale from A-G. The efficiency classes A+ to A+++ will be dropped. The energy labels contain additional information, e.g. about the capacity as well as electricity and water consumption. A new feature is a QR code on the energy label that leads to the EU Product Registration database for Energy Labelling "EPREL".
What does the new EU energy label looks like?
The grace period is over, now it's time to get serious!
Since 19 March 2021, companies must also clearly label their products with the new energy label in the retail sector. From 1 September 2021, the changeover will also apply to lights. By 2030, these and other product groups are to be converted to the new EU energy label.
Why all of this?
In recent years, more and more products were launched on the market in the highest efficiency class. This meant that consumers could hardly tell the difference between the individual energy efficiencies. The rating according to the new system should help to classify products more transparently across the whole scale. In addition, an initial incentive is to be created to develop products in the best efficiency classes A and B. One must therefore expect to find most products in the middle classes at first.
More information can be found in the German campaign of the federal ministry of economy "Deutschland macht's effizient".