Today, the Commission published new EU ecodesign rules to reduce the energy consumption of household tumble dryers and make it easier for them to be repaired. The new rules replace the current ecodesign and will be accompanied by a new energy label that will apply to household tumble dryers placed on the market from 1 July 2025.
Taking into account the latest technological developments, only tumble dryers based on heat pump technology, will be allowed on the market. In addition, the energy label has been modernised and re-scaled from an A+++ to D range to an A to G range. The A class will only apply to the best-in-the-class products, creating an incentive for manufacturers to develop high-performing, energy-efficient appliances. Manufacturers will also have to respect sustainability criteria, which include the obligation to make a list of spare parts available to consumers and repairers, adding another incentive to repair household products instead of disposing of them.
The published measures are expected to lead, by 2040, to cumulative energy and greenhouse gas emissions savings of an estimated 15 TWh and 1.7 million tons of CO2 equivalent, respectively. This can be compared to the annual electricity use of some 2.6 million electric vehicles. The improved energy efficiency resulting from the new measures has the potential to save around €2.8 billion for consumers.
The new rules follows extensive consultation and scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
Manufacturers will have a transitional period of around 18 months to implement the new measures.
Background
EU rules on ecodesign and energy labelling for household tumble dryers have been in force since 2012 and are proving successful. There are now more heat pumps on the market, largely thanks to the technology that has significantly evolved over the past decade, and the current EU energy labels guiding consumers as well as the energy savings being made by consumers in the light of recent high energy prices and the related energy crisis.
Heat pump dryers are proven to be more energy efficient compared to other technologies. There are around 60 million household dryers in use across the EU today. The adoption of the new rules would help to further accelerate sales of the more energy-efficient heat pump tumble dryers on the market.
Related links
Documents
- Regulation on ecodesign requirements for household tumble dryers (C/2023/7671)
- Regulation on energy labelling of household tumble dryers (C/2023/4741)
- Staff Working Document – Impact assessment (SWD/2023/0252)
- Staff Working Document – Executive summary (SWD/2023/0253)
Details
- Publication date
- 22 November 2023
- Author
- Directorate-General for Energy