EcoDesign 2022: What do I need to know?

EcoDesign 2022 is changes to regulations for the Stove Industry.

Before we go into the EcoDesign 2022 regulations, it is important to understand why these changes are happening and who is regulating these changes.

The Clean Air Strategy.

Now if you have watched the news in recently you may have heard about the governments target of the country becoming Carbon Neutral by 2050, and the Clean Air Strategy is part of this target.

In relation to stoves the Clean Air Strategy includes:

• Introducing new legislation concerning the the sale of the most polluting fuels.

This includes the banning of burning house coal and limiting the purchase of wood so all wood purchased for burning in the home will have a moisture content below 20%. The stove industry has been ahead of this change and has promoted the use of smokeless fuels and kiln dried or seasoned logs for many years heavily highlighting it in literature such as user manuals, in many cases not using these fuels will void guarantees on appliances and pipework.

There are initiatives such as woodsure and ready to burn with promote and help assure customers that they are selecting approved fuels.

Find out more about the changes to wood and coal by clicking here.

• Improve efficiency and cleanburning of wood burning & multi fuel stoves

By January 1st 2022 all wood burning and multi fuel stoves being manufactured MUST be at least 75% efficient and have stringent rules on the production of emissions (including particulate matter, CO2, NOx, CO and organic gaseous compounds). Simply, this will make stoves much cleaner burning and kinder to the environment.

These new regulations will change how stoves are designed, and mean that many existing ranges will have to be redesigned to comply with them. In order to know your wood burner or multi fuel stove complies to this look for EcoDesign 2022 Approved stoves.

DEFRA, HETAS & The Stove Industry Alliance.

If you have purchased a wood burner or multi fuel stove in the past or are looking at purchasing one, likely hood is you have heard of DEFRA, HETAS and the SIA. That is because when it comes to the stove industry they are the key regulators.

These names will also appear throughout this post.

DEFRA

The government Department for Environmental, Food & Rural Affairs.

You may have seen DEFRA Exempt or DEFRA Approved in descriptions of some stoves, this is because there are currently extra regulations concerning installing a wood burner or multi fuel stoves in Smoke Controlled Areas.

Until the 1st January 2022 if you live in a smoke controlled area and want a wood burner or multi fuel stove you MUST have a DEFRA Exempt or DEFRA Approved stove. After that date the stove must be EcoDesign Approved.

The Stove Industry Alliance (SIA)

An association of stove manufacturers and distributors, wood fuel suppliers, flue and glass manufacturers and test approval bodies. This includes the SIA retail group of independent stove and fireplace retailers. All members of the SIA are pledged to the SIA mission “To promote and explain the benefits and environmental advantages of stoves as heating appliances.”, which means they are dedicated to the latest low carbon, low emission, Ecodesign ready wood burners & multi fuel stoves.

HETAS

A non-profit organistation that offers a competent person scheme for heating engineers who work with biomass and soild fuel, allowing them to self certificate installations as safe whilst providing protection for both installers and customers. They also approve wood burners, multi fuel stoves, biomass systems, pipework and fuels for use and offer registration schemes for retailers and chimney sweeps.

In order to become HETAS registered installers, retailers and chimney sweeps must complete training courses and compliance checks.

What is Ecodesign?

Ecodesign is a EU wide initiative designed to lower emissions produced by wood burning and multi fuel stoves.

Ecodesign is for wood burners, multi fuel stoves and boiler stoves.

The EcoDesign regulations are for wood burners, multi fuel and boiler stoves.

These appliances are tested on the declared fuel types to ensure they meet or exceed Ecodesign regulations in order to be approved.

For multi fuel stoves & multi fuel boiler stoves there will be separate results for wood and smokeless coal to ensure both fuel types meet the requirements.

Lowering Emissions

The new emission limits are significantly lower than the previous limits (required for DERRA exemption) and include a wider range of gases. The Ecodesign regulations limit the particulate matter, CO2, NOx, CO & organic gaseous compounds a wood burner or multi fuel stove can produce.

Basically, the new emissions limits are significantly lower than they were previously, making Ecodesign Approved (formerly SIA Ecodesign Ready) stoves incredibly clean burning and much kinder to the environment.

Increasing efficiency

Ecodesign ready stoves are more efficient than their non Ecodesign counterparts, meaning you get more heat and less waste.

The Ecolabel

The Ecolabel is an energy label that is required with wood burning and multi fuel stoves since January 1st 2018. This should include the A to G energy efficiency class for that wood burning or multi fuel stove model. .

When will Ecodesign be implemented?

It is already possible to purchase EcoDesign 2022 approved wood burners and multi fuel stoves, however it is officially implemented on January 1st 2022. From this date it will be illigal to manufacturer and sell stoves that don't comply with the Ecodesign regulations. (Stoves already in the supply chain are exempt and can be sold after this date).

What does this mean for stove owners?

For those who have a wood burner or multi fuel stove already installed can keep it.

The Ecodesign regulations only apply to new stoves. So your current stove is exempt, however if you replace your stove after January 1st 2022 your new stove will have to be Ecodesign.

For those looking to purchase a new stove we recommend choosing Ecodesign 2022 approved stoves when possible.

This is not only to guarantee customers that they are getting a futureproofed stove that complies with the incoming regulations but because they are cleaner burning and more efficient, making them more cost effective to run. This means that Ecodesign stoves are kinder to the environment and your pocket.

How Flamecraft have prepared for the Ecodesign regulations.

When these regulations were announced we pledged to only have Ecodesign 2022 approved (formerly Ecodesign 2022 ready) stoves on display in our showroom buy 2021, and we are most the way there. For the past 18 months we have purchased several new Ecodesign 2022 Approved stoves for display in our showroom. Even going as far as to introduce new brands to increase the range of Ecodesign 2022 approved stoves available to choose from. 

We also try to encourage all customers to choose to choose an Ecodesign 2022 approved stove when we can.