Ballast Efficiency Regulation
Proposed for Europe
Ballast Efficiency Regulation
Proposed for Europe
The European commission recently proposed minimum energy performance standards for fluorescent ballasts sold in the EU. If accepted, within a few years´time only eletronic and low-loss electromagnetic ballasts will be allowed in Europe.
In 1994 the Commission funded a study by UKBuilding Research Establishment
(BRE) to study potential measures to promote efficient lighting in the
commercial sector. This identified significant potential savings and showed
that the use of more energy efficient ballasts could play a major part
in achieving them. A further study conducted by BRE in association with
the Italian Electrical Equipment Producers’ Association ANIE and
the Dutch Energy Agency NOVEM examined the cost effectiveness of a minimum
requirement for ballast efficiency. In parallel, CELMA Components, a sub-committee
of the European Luminaire Manufacturer’s Associations, developed
a classification system, based on the total circuit power of the lamp
and ballast.
Standardized measurement procedures had to be developed which were technology
neutral, so that both mains frequency and high frequency ballasts could
both be included. (This is because lamps behave differently on the two
types of ballasts.) This task was given to the European Standards body
CENELEC who developed a new European Standard EN50294 published in July
1998. The CELMA ballast classification system was introduced as a voluntary
labelling scheme in 1998. The system was proposed as the basis for a voluntary
agreement between the Commission and the industry to phase out the worst
ballasts, but because of the international nature of the ballast market
and the potential for imports of low efficiency ballasts from outside
the EU, this agreement was not finalized. Negotiations between the Commission
and the industry produced a proposal for a European Directive, which would
prohibit the sale of inefficient ballasts within the EU.
The European ballast classification scheme has 7 steps (just as the official
EU energy label), but it uses different names for each class: Instead
of A to G, the CELMA classification/label uses the classes A 1, A2, A3,
B1, B2, C and D (see table). The A1 class is
not yet defined, since CELMA is considering whether this class should
be left open to allow for future technology developments. The possibility
of using the A1 class for dimmable ballasts is also considered.
If the Council of Energy Ministers accepts the current proposal, sales
of the D-class ballasts would be banned 3 years after the directive has
been published and the C class would be banned two years later. In effect,
that would mean that D class ballasts would be banned by year 2004, and
the C class ballasts by 2006, at the earliest. n
Nils Borg