FANS


being for axial fans, where the limit of larger fans has been signifi cantly increased, see fi gure 1. There was a request to reduce the limit line by a few percentage points. It has not been reduced, but the industry has had many years’ notice to develop solutions. The other signifi cant impact is the limit for forward curved centrifugal fans. It was proposed to ban the sale of such machines, with claims they are very ineffi cient. The fan industry successfully argued that they meet requirements where space is at a premium, and that use of ‘more effi cient’ fans does not actually deliver lower consumption. The compromise is a strange limit slope that jumps up at an input power of 5 kW, setting a tough limit below and eff ectively banning the sale above, see fi gure 2. Permanently fi xed guards cause a problem for market surveillance authorities (MSA). Traditionally the fan performance is measured without the guard. When MSA’s came to check the performance, they could not remove the guard. When measured with the guard some fans failed to meet the limit as the safety device reduces the performance. The draft resolves this problem with the application of a compensation factor that off set the losses associated with these safety devices. There has been a long delay between the fi rst draft


revision shown at the Consultation Forum in 2015 and today. In this period the Commission changed, and published its Green Deal that not only addresses energy consumption, but the circular economy. It notes that the world’s resources are fi nite and there is a security aspect regarding the origins of material, in countries that may control their supply. The outcome is more focused on the impact of materials that are used in the manufacture of product, and what happens at the end of their lives. Today a lot of scarce and critical raw material is thrown away. One outcome of studies following


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the publication of the Green Deal is the publication in August 2023 of new ecodesign regulation for smartphones and slate tablets (regulation 2023/1670). Its relevance is that this shows how other products, such as fans, will be regulated in future, setting requirements for durability, repairability, upgradeability, maintenance, reuse, and recycling. These being defi ned by a scoring system, with minimum limits, and shown on a label. The draft revision of the fan regulation has not gone as far as this, but it has elements that is a fi rst step with requirements being set for availability of spare parts and information on how to repair. What will the UK Government do post Brexit? The


Government has already advised that any new EU product-specifi c legislation which takes eff ect after 1 January 2021, will not apply automatically. For those manufacturers that export to Europe the expected new ecodesign requirements will need to be met. Unless the UK Government follows the EU lead it will result in diff erent product designs for the EU and for the UK. As for the circular economy, the UK Government has


already stated its intent with their publication of Energy- Related Products Policy Framework published in November 2021. The publication notes that recently introduced Ecodesign measures include, for the fi rst time, requirements that will enhance the repairability, durability and recyclability of certain energy-related products and proposes a series of measures and mirror the activity in Europe. The revision of the ecodesign regulation will ensure fans


will reduce their impact on our environment, not just the direct impact of energy consumption. It indicates that in future manufacturers will need to change their designs to extend the operational life and to reuse and recover scarce and critical materials at the end of their lives.


www.acr-news.com • January 2024 17


There has been a long delay between the fi rst


draft revision shown at the Consultation Forum in 2015 and today. In this period the Commission changed, and published its Green Deal that not only addresses energy


consumption, but the circular economy.


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