There is an overwhelming consensus, across industries, that efficient and sustainable heating & cooling solutions and technologies are readily available to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C. There is no lack of technological innovation, but these products need to be scaled up and deployed to reach the people. EPEE, representing the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump industry in Europe, is committed to provide and promote sustainable solutions that are fit for the future, demonstrating the industry’s contribution to carbon neutrality.
As the European Commission is considering the introduction of a single energy label for air-conditioning heat pumps up to 12 kW and local space heaters, EPEE strongly supports this proposal that would foster the uptake of renewable and energy efficient solutions and help consumers easily compare and choose home heating technologies.
Separate labels for space heaters and heat pumps do not make sense. They all have the same purpose – heating of one or more rooms in residential and commercial buildings – and a single label would ensure comparability between different solutions. The same principle has already been applied for the existing energy label for heat pumps and boilers and sent a very positive and strong signal to citizens and industry in Europe.
The adoption of a single energy label for heat pumps and local space heaters would represent a major milestone towards the achievement of the EU climate and energy targets, improving energy efficiency and promoting the use of renewables.