The Commission of the European Union (EU) has issued a regulation implementing new energy efficiency requirements for household washing machines.
The regulation, which was published in November 2010 in the Official Journal of the European Union, is considered an implementation measure under the EU’s Eco-Design Directive, 2009/125/EC. That directive gives the Commission the authority to establish minimum efficiency standards for those “energy-related products representing significant volume of sales and trade, having significant environmental impact and presenting significant potential for improvement in terms of their environmental impact without entailing excessive costs.”
The new energy efficiency requirements for washing machines, which come into effect beginning on 1 December 2011, are defined in Sections 1 and 2 of Annex I of the regulation. The requirements are based on the unit’s Energy Efficiency Index, its Washing Efficiency Index, its water consumption and the remaining moisture content, which are calculated following the methods described in Annex II of the regulation.
Read the complete text of the Commission’s regulation regarding the eco-design of washing machines.
