BPMA High Efficiency Circulating Pumps ALERT!!!
11/12/2013 BPMA (British Pump Manufacturers Association Ltd)
Back in January 2013 we were all waiting for the EU's Energy Related Products (ErP) Directive to kick in and change the way circulating pumps were specified and installed forever. But would it have the desired effect? Would it make a huge dent in emissions across Europe and help the UK and other Governments to reach their, in the main, optimistic targets for energy efficiency and emissions reductions? And would everyone comply with these new regulations?You may recall that the EU Commission estimates that inefficient heating system small circulators alone are responsible for about a 20% share of household energy bills and removing them and replacing them with intelligent circulators could save several billion euros by 2020 across the 27 European member states - equivalent to the total annual electricity consumption of Ireland.
The British Pump Manufacturers Association Ltd (BPMA) and its Council members including some of the top pump manufacturers such as Wilo, Grundfos, Xylem and Armstrong met with the National Measurement Office (NMO) recently to discuss how they could help to monitor the products that do not comply with the ErP regulations. The NMO are the UK Market Surveillance Authority in respect of Products in scope of the Energy Related Products Directive.
The new ErP Directive states that old uncontrolled pumps would need to cease being manufactured from the end of December 2012 and thereafter only the new high efficiency products would be distributed by all pump manufacturers., in compliance with the ErP regulations.
However the BPMA and its members have seen a number of non-high efficiency pumps on the market and they are becoming increasingly concerned about the influx of non-Erp products imported from countries such as China. They are concerned that these pumps, although cosmetically looking like the new high efficiency models, in some cases, do not meet the requirements of the ErP regulations.
The BPMA members have also noted that the labelling is not in compliance with the ErP regulations and they are concerned that some of the non-ErP products being imported at present seem to have been manufactured after the required date of January 2013; which is not in compliance with the ErP regulations. If you are unsure of this, normally the serial number contains the first four digits noting the month and year of manufacture and therefore with regard to the old uncontrolled products this cannot be after December 2012.
In their discussions with NMO the BPMA presented a number of products which they deemed to be non-compliant. The NMO are responsible for enforcing the Energy Related Products Directive within the UK. They operate direct enforcement and this can be in the form of the education of the manufacturer through to court action if they believe that any company are ignoring the clear guidelines set out in the ErP Directive.
The NMO confirmed that they were aware of concerns in regard to Circulators and informed the BPMA that they will initially be testing 20 circulators across 3 member states including the UK and also 10 water pumps across 2 member states again including the UK, to ensure that all regulations are being complied with. Accordingly, BPMA will continue to work with the NMO to monitor the situation.
The BPMA are fully supportive of this enforcement and will, together with the pump manufacturers work to ensure that all pumps comply with the new regulations. They are asking all of their members to be vigilant and to report any products which do not comply with the ErP Directive. They would also ask that wholesalers and merchants supplying these products fully comply with these regulations and inform the National Measurement Office if they believe there are companies in breach of the ErP regulations.
For more information, please visit: www.bpma.org.uk
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