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ErP: The count­down is running!

Managing Director Thomas Borst on the effects of the EU direc­tive


Dear readers, commis­sion regu­la­tion (EU) No 327 / 2011 of of 30 March 2011 will bring a fresh breeze into your life as of 1 January of the year 2013. At least if your profes­sional life is asso­ci­ated with fans. This direc­tive defines the minimum effi­ciency level required of all fans that will be put on the market as of January 1, 2013 with an elec­tric drive input ranging from 125 watt, no matter if they are part of a product or stand-alone. We esti­mate that approx­i­mately 30 percent of all fans currently avail­able on the market will no longer satisfy these strin­gent require­ments of the Energy-related Prod­ucts Direc­tive (ErP) of the Euro­pean Union. And as of 2015, when the second stage of the ErP Direc­tive becomes effec­tive, approx­i­mately another 20 percent of fans used throughout Europe will no longer meet the minimum criteria.

Now is the time to act. The back­ground of these strin­gent regu­la­tions is the EU’s pledge to reduce its CO2 emis­sions by at least 20 percent by 2020, as docu­mented in the Kyoto Protocol. The bottom line is that the ErP Direc­tives are a good thing: for world­wide climate protec­tion, elec­tricity bills inin­dustry and other busi­nesses – and for all market partic­i­pants who switch to modern, ener­gy­ef­fi­cient prod­ucts in a timely manner.

Our formula for stress-free dealing with the fan direc­tive is called “Green­Tech”. Compared to conven­tional fans with AC motors, Green­Tech EC fans attain a much higher effi­ciency than demanded. At their best, they are some 50 percent more energy-saving and operate extremely quietly due to opti­mised speed level tech­niques and the aero­dy­namic design of the impellers. More­over, they are extremely reli­able and durable.

Best of all: For nearly every fan that will no longer be permitted in the future, there is already an energy-effi­cient Green­Tech replace­ment which not only fulfils the spec­i­fi­ca­tions of the direc­tive, but even signif­i­cantly exceeds them. You can find detailed infor­ma­tion and deci­sion-making aids dealing with the topic of the ErP here. All Green­Tech EC prod­ucts are “Ready for ErP 2015”!

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ErP Directive: FAQ and data

High minimum efficiency ratings for fans