Commenting on the proposed changes, Stewart Clements, Director, HHIC said;

“Regulation such as the energy labelling directive does need to be reviewed periodically, with that we do not disagree. In order to drive continual efficiency improvements and deliver both cost savings to consumers and carbon reduction, the energy efficiency bar we set needs to reflect the present day.

But any changes to a scheme that the industry has been working hard to communicate must be managed sensibly.

The heating and hot water industry have spent the past few months communicating ErP and energy labelling, that comes in on 26^th September this year, to installers and consumers, with the focus being on encouraging the upgrade of D rated products to A rated. The new proposal could downgrade technologies which are currently rated as class “A” to class “D” on the energy label.

Asking a consumer to invest in a “D-class” product when we have spent so long telling them to upgrade them, would be a tough sell.

If these changes are to be made, they need to be done in partnership with manufacturers, so they know what is required to meet the new ‘A class’ and the wider industry, so they can manage the communication.

Review energy labelling. But let’s give the current system chance to bed in first. If we don’t we could slow down the take up of energy efficient products”