Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2533 of 17 November 2023 implementing Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to ecodesign requirements for household tumble dryers, amending Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/826, and repealing Commission Regulation (EU) No 932/2012

1 This Regulation lays down ecodesign requirements for the placing on the market or the putting into service of electric mains-operated and gas-fired household tumble dryers. It also applies to built-in household tumble dryers, multi-drum household tumble dryers and electric mains-operated household tumble dryers that can also be powered by batteries.

2 This Regulation shall not apply to: (a) household washer-dryers and household spin-extractors; (b) tumble dryers within the scope of Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (c) battery-operated household tumble-dryers that can be connected to the mains through an AC/DC converter purchased separately.

3 The requirements in Sections 2 and 3, and Section 6, points (1)(a) and (1)(b) of Annex II shall not apply to household tumble dryers with a rated capacity for the eco programme of 3 kg or less.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply: (1) ‘household tumble dryer’ means an appliance in which textiles are dried by tumbling in a rotating drum through which heated air is passed and which is declared by the manufacturer in the declaration of conformity as complying with Directive 2014/35/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council or with Directive 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (2) ‘mains’ means the electricity supply from the grid of 230 (± 10 %) volts of alternating current at 50 Hz; (3) ‘gas-fired tumble dryer’ means a household tumble dryer which uses gas to heat the inside air; (4) ‘built-in household tumble dryer’ means a household tumble dryer that is designed, tested and marketed exclusively to comply with all the following characteristics: (a) to be installed in cabinetry or encased (top and/or bottom, and sides) by panels; (b) to be securely fastened to the sides, top or floor of the cabinetry or panels; (c) to be equipped with an integral factory-finished face or to be fitted with a custom front panel; (5) ‘household washer-dryer’ means an appliance as defined in Article 2(4) of Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2023 ; (6) ‘household spin-extractor’ means an appliance in which water is removed from the textiles by centrifugal action in a rotating drum and drained through an automatic pump or by gravity and which is designed to be used principally for non-professional purposes and is also commercially known as ‘spin-dryer’; (7) ‘multi-drum household tumble dryer’ means a household tumble dryer equipped with more than one drum, whether in separate casings or in the same casing; (8) ‘equivalent model’ means a model which has the same technical characteristics relevant for the technical information to be provided, but which is placed on the market or put into service by the same manufacturer, importer or authorised representative as another model with a different model identifier; (9) ‘programme’ means a series of operations that are pre-defined and which are declared by the manufacturer, importer or authorised representative as suitable for drying certain types of textile; (10) ‘model identifier’ means the code, usually alphanumeric, which distinguishes a specific product model from other models with the same trade mark or the same manufacturer’s, importer’s or authorised representative’s name; (11) ‘declared values’ means the values provided by the manufacturer, importer or authorised representative for the stated, calculated or measured technical parameters in accordance with Article 4, for the verification of compliance by the Member State authorities; (12) ‘product database’ means a database as defined in Article 2, point (25) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1369; (13) ‘rated capacity’ means the maximum mass in kilograms, stated by the manufacturer, importer or authorised representative, at 0,5 kg intervals, of dry textiles of a particular type, which can be treated in one drying cycle of a household tumble dryer on the selected programme, when loaded in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions; (14) ‘eco programme’ means a programme which is able to dry cotton laundry from an initial moisture content of the load of 60 % down to a final moisture content of the load of 0 %; (15) ‘initial moisture content’ means the amount of moisture contained in the load at the beginning of the drying cycle; (16) ‘final moisture content’ means the amount of moisture contained in the load at the end of the drying cycle; (17) ‘drying cycle’ means a complete drying process, as defined by the required programme, consisting of a series of different operations including heating and tumbling. For the purposes of Annexes II to V, additional definitions set out in Annex I apply.

1 Household tumble dryers shall meet the ecodesign requirements set out in Annex II.

2 Compliance with ecodesign requirements shall be measured and calculated in accordance with the methods set out in Annex III.

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

2 For the purposes of the conformity assessment referred to in Article 8 of Directive 2009/125/EC, the technical documentation file shall contain the declared values of parameters listed in Sections 2, 3 and 4 of Annex II to this Regulation and the details and results of the calculations carried out in accordance with Annex III to this Regulation.

3 Where the information included in the technical documentation for a particular model has been obtained by either of the following means, the technical documentation shall include the details of the calculation, the assessment undertaken by the manufacturer to verify the accuracy of the calculation and, where appropriate, the declaration of identity between the models of different manufacturers: (a) from a model that has the same technical characteristics relevant for the technical information to be provided but is produced by a different manufacturer; or (b) by calculation on the basis of design or extrapolation from another model of the same or a different manufacturer, or both.

4 The technical documentation shall include a list of all equivalent models, including the model identifiers.

5 The technical documentation shall include the information in the order and as set out in Annex VI to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2534. For market surveillance purposes, manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives may, without prejudice to point 2(g) of Annex IV to Directive 2009/125/EC, refer to the technical documentation uploaded to the product database which contains the same information as laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2534.

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

1 Manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives shall not place on the market or put into service products designed to alter their behaviour or properties when being tested, to achieve a more favourable result for any declared value of the parameters regulated in this Regulation. That includes, but is not limited to, products designed to detect they are being tested by recognising the test conditions or test cycle and to automatically alter their behaviour or properties in response, and products pre-set to alter their behaviour or properties at the time of testing.

2 Manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives shall not prescribe specific test instructions which alter the behaviour or the properties of products to achieve a more favourable result for any of the declared value of the parameters regulated in this Regulation. That includes, but is not limited to, prescribing a manual alteration of a product in preparation for the test which alters the product’s behaviour or properties compared with when it is in normal use and operated by the end-user.

3 Manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives shall not place on the market or put into service products designed to alter their behaviour or properties within a short period of being put into service in a way that worsens any declared value for the parameters regulated in this Regulation.

1 Software or firmware updates shall not worsen any declared value for the parameters of a household tumble dryer when measured using the testing method applicable at the time of it being placed on the market or put into service.

2 No change of any declared value for the parameters of a household tumble dryer when measured using the testing method applicable at the time of it being placed on the market or put into service shall occur as a result of rejecting the update.

The benchmarks for best-performing household tumble dryers available on the market at the time of entry into force of this Regulation are set out in Annex V.

The Commission shall review this Regulation in the light of technological progress and shall present the results of that review, including, if appropriate, a draft revision proposal, to the Consultation Forum by 12 December 2029. The review shall in particular assess: (a) the improvement potential with regard to energy and environmental performance of household tumble dryers; (b) developments in consumer behaviour and the feasibility of a mandatory feedback mechanism on the loading of the appliance, the energy consumption and the duration of the selected programme; (c) the effectiveness of existing requirements on resource efficiency; (d) the appropriateness of setting additional resource efficiency requirements for products in accordance with the objectives of the circular economy, including the availability of additional spare parts and information on critical raw materials and other environmentally relevant materials; (e) the appropriateness of setting ecodesign requirements on cabinet dryers; (f) the appropriateness of setting requirements for reducing the spreading of microplastics.

1 In point 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2023/826: (a) the entry ‘tumble dryers and other clothes dryers’ is replaced by ‘clothes dryers but excluding household tumble dryers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2533 ; (b) the entry ‘other appliances for cooking and other processing of food, preparing beverages, cleaning, and maintenance of clothes, but excluding household dishwashers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2022, and household washing machines and household washer-dryers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2023’ is replaced by the following: ‘other appliances for cooking and other processing of food, preparing beverages, cleaning, and maintenance of clothes, but excluding household dishwashers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2022 , household washing machines and household washer-dryers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2023 and household tumble dryers covered by Regulation (EU) 2023/2533;

2 In point 1(b) of Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2023/826: the paragraph ‘The power consumption of equipment in any condition providing only information or status display, or providing only a combination of reactivation function and information or status display, or providing only a reactivation function and an indication of enabled reactivation function and information or status display shall not exceed 0,80 W, except for household tumble driers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) No 932/2012 for which this value shall be 1,00 W’ is replaced by the following: ‘The power consumption of equipment in any condition providing only information or status display, or providing only a combination of reactivation function and information or status display, or providing only a reactivation function and an indication of enabled reactivation function and information or status display shall not exceed 0,80 W.’.

Regulation (EU) No 932/2012 is repealed.

1 Until 30 June 2025, by way of derogation from the requirement in point 1.1 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 932/2012, the indication of the standard cotton programme shall not need to be displayed on the programme selection device or display of household tumble dryers where both the following conditions are met: (a) the standard cotton programme is clearly identifiable in the booklet of instructions referred to in point 1.2 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 932/2012 and in the technical documentation referred to in Article 4(2) of that Regulation; (b) the eco programme is clearly displayed on the household tumble dryers’s programme selection device or display, in accordance with Section 1, point (b) of Annex II.

2 Where no unit belonging to the same model or equivalent models was placed on the market before 1 March 2025, the units of models placed on the market between 1 March 2025 and 30 June 2025 which comply with the provisions of this Regulation shall be considered to be in compliance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 932/2012.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from 1 July 2025. However, Article 6 shall apply from 12 December 2023.