What does the ErP Direc­tive demand?

A view on the EU eco-design Direc­tive


By adopting the Kyoto Protocol, the Euro­pean Union has under­taken to reduce CO2 emis­sions by at least 20 percent by 2020. One measure to achieve this is the EuP (Energy using Prod­ucts) Direc­tive adopted by the EU in 2005, which was renamed ErP (Energy related Prod­ucts) Direc­tive in 2009 and which (in Germany) is also known under the desig­na­tion “Eco-Design Direc­tive”.

A 2-stage plan has been drawn up in the EU to commit fans to strict stan­dards so that in the future, there will be no more “energy-guzzlers” on the Euro­pean market. The first stage will become effec­tive on 1 January 2013. It is esti­mated that some 30 percent of all fans currently on the market will then no longer satisfy Euro­pean regu­la­tions.

In the second stage, from 2015, another 20 percent will be replaced by more effi­cient prod­ucts. These will satisfy the spec­i­fied minimum effi­ciency levels. The user can recog­nise fans that satisfy the require­ments of the direc­tive by the CE sign, on which energy effi­ciency is given the same signif­i­cance as compli­ance with the low-voltage and EMC direc­tives. Labelling in the way that washing machines, refrig­er­a­tors, etc. are labelled is not planned for fans as the fan manu­fac­turers usually have no influ­ence on the instal­la­tion condi­tions.

EC motors (green) clearly exceed the effi­ciency levels required by the imple­men­ta­tion direc­tive for AC motors (other colours)

ErP Imple­men­ta­tion Direc­tive for motors

What applies to fans also applies in prin­ciple to elec­tric motors. In this context there is often a lack of clarity leading to misun­der­stand­ings. The fact is that elec­tric motors are required to achieve at least effi­ciency class IE2 from June 2011 in accor­dance with Euro­pean Union Imple­men­ta­tion Direc­tive No. 2009/640/EC (ErP Direc­tive). The direc­tive defines a “motor” as an “elec­tric single speed, three-phase 50 Hz or 50/60 Hz, squirrel cage induc­tion motor that has 2, 4 or 6-poles, a rated voltage of up to 1000 V, a rated output between 0.75 kW and 375 kW, rated on the basis of contin­uous oper­a­tion”.

EC external rotor motors like the ones used to drive energy-effi­cient fans are there­fore not subject to this direc­tive. However, their effi­ciency is compa­rable with the values required by the direc­tive. Here, it becomes clear that EC motors already substan­tially exceed the effi­ciency levels demanded. This shows that EC motor tech­nology is the better alter­na­tive when plan­ning energy-effi­cient equip­ment and instal­la­tions.

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Additional product information can be found here:

ErP Directive: FAQ and data

High minimum efficiency ratings for fans