New EU energy labels mandated as of March 1, 2021

Tradeplace is preparing its Product Information Management System (PIMS) to meet the EU’s new energy labelling requirements. The new energy label must be visible for all European consumers in all retail shops, both online and brick-and-mortar, as of March 1, 2021. After that date, retailers have two weeks to ensure all EU consumers can see the new energy label.

Empowering EU consumers

The EU is complying with increased consumer demand for clearer information about the energy efficiency of home appliances during their selection of appliances for purchase. With the new energy labels, EU consumers will be more empowered to make the right energy-saving purchase when buying domestic appliances.

@Tradeplace will soon be ready for the new EU energy labels which come into effect March 1, 2021. Consumers will be more empowered in their decision-making to purchase the most energy efficient home appliances.

Five product groups in first round

Five home appliance product groups will be included in the first tranche of products that require the new energy label. These products are dishwashers, washing machines, washer-dryers, refrigerators, freezers, and wine storage units. Other product groups that are planned for new energy labelling are air conditioners, ovens, range hoods, tumble dryers, and water heaters. New energy labels for these products will be implemented from 2022.

Letters rescaled

The new labels will contain a rescaling of the widely known letters. Categories such as A+++ and A+ will be eliminated and replaced with just an A through G scale. The objective of this change is to reduce confusion about the actual energy efficiency of home appliances in the highest range. At the same time, it is aimed at promoting innovation to reach the highest range of efficiency since it will be more difficult to categorise home appliances at the top of the efficiency scale. Energy consumption will also be more prominently and uniformly displayed.

New pictograms and QR codes

New pictograms will be introduced, and some pictograms will remain, that provide more and clearer information about energy efficiency such as water consumption, annual energy use, energy use per cycle, noise emission, and cooling and freezing capacity. Consumers will also be able to scan a QR code at the top right corner of the label which links them directly to the European Commission’s European Product Database for Energy Labelling (EPREL). This database contains energy efficiency information directly from manufacturers, which is considered by the industry to be the most accurate and reliable.

For more information about the new EU energy labels, visit the EU’s website that was specifically set up to answer your questions:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_19_1596

You can also visit the APPLiA website for more information on usage and rollout timelines:

https://www.theenergylabel.eu/