Commercial Information Circulars

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Ref : EIC 230/2/11

6 January 2009

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 13/2009

European Union (EU)* : Ecodesign Requirements for Standby and Off Mode Electric Power Consumption of Electrical and Electronic Household and Office Equipment 

Further to Commercial Information Circular No. 331/2005 of 17 August 2005, the European Commission (the Commission) has adopted a Regulation specifying the ecodesign requirements for standby and off mode electric power consumption of electrical and electronic household and office equipment. Details are set out in Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1275/2008 (the Regulation), which can be accessed through the following link:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:339:0045:0052:EN:PDF

DETAILS

2. The Regulation covers a wide range of electrical and electronic household and office equipment, which -

   - is made commercially available as a single functional unit intended for the end-user;

   - falls under the list of energy-using products of Annex I of the Regulation;

   - is dependent on energy input from the mains power source in order to work as intended; and 

   - is designed for use with a nominal voltage rating of 250V or below.

All such equipment is covered by the Regulation, even when it is marked for non-household or non-office use. Examples of equipment include household appliances, washing machines, microwave ovens, radios, televisions, video recorders, etc., and also toys, leisure and sports equipment.

3. According to the Regulation, standby mode means a condition where the equipment is connected to the mains power source and depends on energy input to provide only the functions of reactivation and/or information or status display, whereas off mode means a condition in which the equipment is connected to the mains power source but is not providing any function. The ecodesign requirements for standby and off modes will be implemented in two stages as follows:

(i) By 7 January 2010 :

- power consumption of equipment shall not exceed 1.00W in off mode;

- in standby mode, power consumption of equipment shall not exceed 1.00W only for providing the reactivation function or the reactivation function with a mere indication of enabled reactivation function; and shall not exceed 2.00W for information or status display or a combination of reactivation function and information or status display; and

- except where this is inappropriate for the intended use, the equipment should provide off and/or standby modes and/or other condition which does not exceed the applicable power consumption requirements for off/standby modes. 

(ii) By 7 January 2013 :

- power consumption of equipment shall not exceed 0.50W in off mode;

- in standby mode, power consumption of equipment shall not exceed 0.50W only for providing the reactivation function or the reactivation function with a mere indication of enabled reactivation function; and shall not exceed 1.00W for information or status display or a combination of reactivation function and information or status display; and

- except where this is inappropriate for the intended use, the equipment should provide off and/or standby modes and/or other condition which does not exceed the applicable power consumption requirements for off/standby mode;

- when the equipment is not providing the main function, or when other product(s) are not dependent on its function, the equipment shall offer a power management function that automatically switches equipment to either standby mode, off mode, or other condition which does not exceed the applicable power consumption requirements for off/standby mode after the shortest possible period of time.

ENQUIRIES

4. For enquiries concerning the contents of this circular, please contact the undersigned at telephone number 2398 5556.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Peggy LEUNG)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry

* The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.