July 2021 is officially the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. Heatwaves are becoming both more frequent and more intense as a result of the global climate crisis, creating a rising demand for comfort fans and air conditioners. The impact from their electricity consumption, and from the refrigerants that air conditioners contain, further contributes to global warming, creating a vicious circle. Ambitious requirements are needed to tackle the impact of these products as soon as possible. For comfort fans in particular, it is upsetting to observe that there are no requirements for the efficiency in the EU, even though the savings could be substantial and such requirements are in effect in other parts of the world, most notably China.
The Consultation Forum for the revision of the regulations on air conditioners and local space heaters took place in September 2019 and the regulations have been stalled since then, rendering the conclusions of the preparatory study obsolete. We believe that commissioning additional reports and surveys two years after the presentation of draft revised regulation cannot become a usual practice from the Commission. The revision process for these products must be concluded without further delays.
