The EU is issuing a regulation. As of September 1, it prohibits some light bulbs – FonTech – with immediate effect

As of September 1, 2021, new rules and energy labels come into force that prohibit the use of certain fluorescent and halogen lamps. The portal drew attention to the topic Euractiv.

Towards carbon neutrality

As the portal writes European Commission, in an effort to help consumers in the European Union reduce energy bills, a new version of energy labels for “lighting products” will come into force on 1 September 2021, ie conventional light bulbs, fluorescent lamps and LED lights in practice.

According to the European Commission, these changes will save up to 7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year by 2030, which, together with the previous regulations from 2009 to 2012, which brought savings of 12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, is already a major step towards carbon neutral. Europe.

New labels will be on each package

The new rules set other minimum requirements for energy efficiency, which will ban certain fluorescent lamps and halogen lamps with immediate effect. Others should be banned within two years.

New requirements have also been introduced for easy removability and replaceability of light sources or to increase the service life of LED and OLED lights. The change was probably due to the fact that more and more light sources were rated A + or A ++ on energy labels.

According to EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, they are “Our light bulbs and other lighting products are so efficient that more than half of LED luminaires are currently in A ++ class. Updating labels will make it easier for consumers to find out which products are best in class. This, in turn, will help consumers save money on energy bills. ”

The changes are visible at first glance on the energy labels themselves. These basically go back to the original solution. thus to the scale A to G, which means that the designations A +, A ++, A +++ will soon be found on the labels.

Strict criteria

According to the information available, these are strict rules that are set so that, at first, very few products can achieve an “A” or “B” rating. In this way, the EU seeks to open up market space for new, much more efficient products. Currently, the most effective products in stores will usually be rated as class “C” or class “D”.

New energy labels – source: ec.europa.eu

Several new elements will also be included on the labels. Among them, the most unique will be the QR code, which links to a pan-European database where consumers can find detailed information about the product.

Of course, the changes will not come immediately. Sellers have the opportunity to resell their existing goods with the original energy labels within 18 months. As for e-shops, they should replace the old labels displayed in the web browser with the new ones within 14 working days.

Changes to the energy labels of light sources follow on from changes to energy labels for other product categories (refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, etc.), which entered into force on 1 March 2021. Changes to labels for kitchen appliances, dryers, solid state boilers are currently being worked on. fuels, etc. Most appliances and equipment will switch to the new label system by 2023, heaters and boilers have time until 2025.