Commission Regulation (EU) No 327/2011 of 30 March 2011 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for fans driven by motors with an electric input power between 125 W and 500 kW Text with EEA relevance

1 This Regulation establishes ecodesign requirements for the placing on the market or putting into service of fans, including those integrated in other energy-related products as covered by Directive 2009/125/EC.

2 The Regulation shall not apply to fans integrated in: (i) products with a sole electric motor of 3 kW or less where the fan is fixed on the same shaft used for driving the main functionality; (ii) laundry and washer dryers ≤ 3 kW maximum electrical input power; (iii) kitchen hoods < 280 W total maximum electrical input power attributable to the fan(s).

3 This Regulation shall not apply to fans which are: (a) designed specifically to operate in potentially explosive atmospheres as defined in Directive 94/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (b) designed for emergency use only, at short-time duty, with regard to fire safety requirements set out in Council Directive 89/106/EC ; (c) designed specifically to operate: (i) (a) where operating temperatures of the gas being moved exceed 100 °C; (b) where operating ambient temperature for the motor, if located outside the gas stream, driving the fan exceeds 65 °C; (ii) where the annual average temperature of the gas being moved and/or the operating ambient temperature for the motor, if located outside the gas stream, are lower than – 40 °C; (iii) with a supply voltage > 1000 V AC or > 1500 V DC; (iv) in toxic, highly corrosive or flammable environments or in environments with abrasive substances; (d) placed on the market before 1 January 2015 as replacement for identical fans integrated in products which were placed on the market before 1 January 2013; except that the packaging, the product information and the technical documentation must clearly indicate regarding (a), (b) and (c) that the fan shall only be used for the purpose for which it is designed and regarding (d) the product(s) for which it is intended.

In addition to the definitions set out in Directive 2009/125/EC, the following definitions shall apply: 1. ‘Fan’ means a rotary bladed machine that is used to maintain a continuous flow of gas, typically air, passing through it and whose work per unit mass does not exceed 25 kJ/kg, and which: is designed for use with or equipped with an electrical motor with an electric input power between 125 W and 500 kW (≥ 125 W and ≤ 500 kW) to drive the impeller at its optimum energy efficiency point, is an axial fan, centrifugal fan, cross flow fan or mixed flow fan, may or may not be equipped with a motor when placed on the market or put into service; 2. ‘Impeller’ means the part of the fan that is imparting energy into the gas flow and is also known as the fan wheel; 3. ‘Axial fan’ means a fan that propels gas in the direction axial to the rotational axis of one or more impeller(s) with a swirling tangential motion created by the rotating impeller(s). The axial fan may or may not be equipped with a cylindrical housing, inlet or outlet guide vanes or an orifice panel or orifice ring; 4. ‘Inlet guide vanes’ are vanes positioned before the impeller to guide the gas stream towards the impeller and which may or may not be adjustable; 5. ‘Outlet guide vanes’ are vanes positioned after the impeller to guide the gas stream from the impeller and which may or may not be adjustable; 6. ‘Orifice panel’ means a panel with an opening in which the fan sits and which allows the fan to be fixed to other structures; 7. ‘Orifice ring’ means a ring with an opening in which the fan sits and which allows the fan to be fixed to other structures; 8. ‘Centrifugal fan’ means a fan in which the gas enters the impeller(s) in an essentially axial direction and leaves it in a direction perpendicular to that axis. The impeller may have one or two inlets and may or may not have a housing; 9. ‘Centrifugal radial bladed fan’ means a centrifugal fan where the outward direction of the blades of the impeller(s) at the periphery is radial relative to the axis of rotation; 10. ‘Centrifugal forward curved fan’ means a centrifugal fan where the outward direction of the blades of the impeller(s) at the periphery is forward relative to the direction of rotation; 11. ‘Centrifugal backward curved fan without housing’ means a centrifugal fan where the outward direction of the blades of the impeller(s) at the periphery is backward relative to the direction of rotation and which does not have a housing; 12. ‘Housing’ means a casing around the impeller which guides the gas stream towards, through and from the impeller; 13. ‘Centrifugal backward curved fan with housing’ means a centrifugal fan with an impeller where the outward direction of the blades at the periphery is backward relative to the direction of rotation and which has a housing; 14. ‘Cross flow fan’ means a fan in which the gas path through the impeller is in a direction essentially at right angles to its axis both entering and leaving the impeller at its periphery; 15. ‘Mixed flow fan’ means a fan in which the gas path through the impeller is intermediate between the gas path in fans of centrifugal and axial types; 16. ‘Short-time duty’ means working of a motor at a constant load, which is not long enough to reach temperature equilibrium; 17. ‘Ventilation fan’ means a fan that is not used in the following energy-related products: laundry and washer dryers > 3 kW maximum electrical input power, indoor units of household air-conditioning products and indoor household air-conditioners, ≤ 12 kW maximum airco output power, information technology products; 18. The ‘specific ratio’ means the stagnation pressure measured at the fan outlet divided by the stagnation pressure at the fan inlet at the optimal energy efficiency point of the fan.

1 The ecodesign requirements for fans are set out in Annex I.

2 Each fan energy efficiency requirement of Annex I Section 2 shall apply in accordance with the following timetable: (a)first tierfrom 1 January 2013, ventilation fans shall not have a lower target energy efficiency than as defined in Annex I, Section 2, Table 1;(b)second tierfrom 1 January 2015, all fans shall not have a lower target energy efficiency than as defined in Annex I, Section 2, Table 2.

3 The product information requirements on fans and how they must be displayed are as set out in Annex I, Section 3. These requirements shall apply from 1 January 2013.

4 The fan energy efficiency requirements of Annex I Section 2 shall not apply to fans which are designed to operate: (a) with an optimum energy efficiency at 8000 rotations per minute or more; (b) in applications in which the ‘specific ratio’ is over 1,11; (c) as conveying fans used for the transport of non-gaseous substances in industrial process applications.

5 For dual use fans designed for both ventilation under normal conditions and emergency use, at short-time duty, with regard to fire safety requirements as set out in Directive 89/106/EC, the values of the applicable efficiency grades set out in Annex I Section 2 will be reduced by 10 % for Table 1 and by 5 % for Table 2.

6 Compliance with ecodesign requirements shall be measured and calculated in accordance with requirements set out in Annex II.

The conformity assessment procedure referred to in Article 8 of Directive 2009/125/EC shall be the internal design control system set out in Annex IV to that Directive or the management system for assessing conformity set out in Annex V to that Directive.

When performing the market surveillance checks referred to in Article 3(2) of Directive 2009/125/EC, the authorities of the Member States shall apply the verification procedure set out in Annex III to this Regulation.

The indicative benchmarks for the best-performing fans available on the market at the time of entry into force of this Regulation are set out in Annex IV.

The Commission shall review this Regulation no later than 4 years after its entry into force and present the result of this review to the Ecodesign Consultation Forum. The review shall in particular assess the feasibility of reducing the number of fan types in order to reinforce competition on grounds of energy efficiency for fans which can fulfil a comparable function. The review shall also assess whether the scope of exemptions can be reduced, including allowances for dual use fans.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.