FAQs – ErP Directive [Consumers]

A. ErP is a European Union regulation designed to drive improvements in the performance and efficiency of heating and hot water products. The ErP was introduced to help the EU meet its 20-20-20 target to lower emissions by 20% and increase the share of renewable energies by 20% by 2020.

With the aim of improving efficiency, products such as heat pumps, micro CHP and solar thermal collectors* will be required to be labelled in the same way that white goods are such as fridges and freezers. The labels are designed to help consumers understand and compare the relative efficiencies of heating and hot water products. Consumers will also receive a document known as a ‘fiche’ with additional information on the system installed.

There are two directives within ErP: EcoDesign and Energy Labelling. The directives come into force from 26th September 2015. Any heating and hot water products placed on the market after this date will need to comply with ErP. Products which are placed on the market before this date will not be required to comply with the ErP requirements. However MCS has stipulated that any MCS heat pump installation commissioned on or after 26th March 2016 must be ErP compliant. This allows six months from the date that ErP comes into force for any non ErP compliant heat pump products to be installed and commissioned.

*Please check with your MCS installer to confirm whether a particular installation is subject to the new requirements.

A. From 26th September 2015 onwards, all heat pumps, combined heat and power units (up to 50kW electrical output) and solar thermal products placed on the market will be required to comply with ErP. Biomass products are excluded from the regulations but are likely to be subject to the requirements at a later date. Consumers should expect any such products to be supplied with an energy label.

It is important to note that any products already placed on the market place before 26th September 2015 will not be required to comply with ErP and have an energy label.

If you are purchasing a MCS certified heat pump product, and it is likely that this system will be commissioned by an MCS installer on or after 26th September 2015, then please read the additional guidance below.

A. MCS has updated its requirements for heat pumps to align with the Energy related Products (ErP) Directive. As a result all heat pumps will be listed on the MCS website along with ‘product seasonal performance’ at different flow temperatures. This figure provides an indication of the product’s efficiency and will be used when calculating the annual energy performance (known as the estimated annual generation on the MCS certificate) of heat pump installations.

Any heat pump installations which will be commissioned on or after 26th March 2016 must use a heat pump which complies with the new MCS requirements and ErP. The easiest way to check this will be to ensure that the heat pump has ‘product seasonal performance’ data listed on the MCS website. A list will be published on the MCS website in due course. If the product is not listed then check with the manufacturer of the product to establish when their product will meet the new requirements.

A. A list of products which meet the new requirements will be published on the MCS website. This will help consumers to identify compliant products.

All heat pump products will be required to comply with the new requirements by 26th March 2016. Therefore only compliant products will continue to be listed on the MCS website after this date.

A. Product Seasonal Performance provides an indication of the seasonal efficiency of a heat pump. It is measured using the following methods:

• Seasonal Co-efficient of Performance (SCOP): electrically driven air, gas or water source heat pumps
• Seasonal Prime Energy Ratio (SPER): gas ab or adsorption heat pumps
• Seasonal Performance Factor (SPF): hot water or gas absorption heat pumps

For simplicity the value is described as the ‘Product Seasonal Performance’ for MCS purposes. Existing MCS product manufacturers must supply data required to calculate Product Seasonal Performance by 25th March 2016. Therefore we anticipate that new data will begin to appear gradually between now and 25th March 2016. If available and used by an installer then Product Seasonal Performance data will also be shown on the MCS certificate.

A. For the purposes of ErP, ‘placed on the market’ means the date at which the manufacturer or importer of a product supplies it to a distributor or an end user. This applies to the date that each individual unit of a product is first supplied to a distributor or end user.