Seguridad del personal 1 Generalidades

In this study, all publicly available information sources were tapped to estimate the size of the problem of ‘special purpose’ (‘shockproof’) non-directional incandescent light sources being misused for general lighting. Information comes from anecdotal data (par. 3.1), EU industry statistics (par. 3.2), proportionality estimate from US sales data (par. 3.3) and an estimate from indirect market data (par. 3.4). Given the modest size of the market segment being investigated, the accuracy of the estimates is limited, but as far as the available data sources allow it can be concluded that:

• There is a realistic EU-market of 8 million shockproof lamps per year

• On top of that, there are around 16 million units/year that are abusively sold for general lighting services, mostly from extra-EU imports173

• The energy saving that is lost through the misuse varies between 0.32 to 1.3 TWh/year, depending on the alternative that consumers would have bought instead (halogen or CFL).

• The projected savings from Commission Regulation (EC) 244/2009 were 32 TWh/year and thus the EU misses out on 1 to 4% of these projected savings.

In view of earlier decisions of the Commission, the problem should be tackled at the next revision of the legislation but does not warrant the administrative burden for a revision of its own.

Furthermore, a large part of the solution may be found by not changing the legislation but simply increasing the market surveillance by Member States.

Having said that, the misuse of special purpose lamps in general undermines the credibility of the measures and if the legislation is changed for other reasons, this is an area to look into. Possible changes could entail either to

• Explicitly lift the exemption for rough service lamps, because there are enough compliant alternatives, or

• Restrict the distribution of Limit the visible presentation on the shop-shelves and on websites of these lamps only to the professional channels, e.g. password-protected on-line sales or sales through shops that are accessible only for professionals and not the general public.

• Require a specific declaration on the lamp packaging of the technical characteristics that would make a lamp ‘special purpose’.

At the moment, the first option is relatively unproblematic: Halogen lamps are sold as signalling lamps (traffic lights), task-lights of sewing machines and industrial equipment, oven lamps, sewing machine lights and other applications where they are subject to vibration from traffic and machinery.174 CFLs, although the mechanical load on the electronics in an integrated CFL may be more critical, could be an alternative in many cases. In any case, CFLs are now fairly common in certain builder-lights where they are an alternative to the R7s halogen lamps. Retrofit LED lamps are also a good alternative but with currently a higher price tag. Nonetheless, the lower running and maintenance costs should convince many professional buyers. A more serious restriction

173

LightingEurope thinks the estimate is too low, but has no clear evidence for the real figure.

174

LightingEurope remarks that ‘shockproof’ incandescent lamps are much more shockproof than halogens. LE further states that ‘CFLi, LEDi and Halogen Eco types are not generally resistant to vibration. LED emitters themselves are OK, but the construction of LED retrofit lamps is generally NOK for vibration service.’ (see Annex with stakeholder comments.

144

on LEDs and CFLs occurs when shockproof lamps should also be temperature proof, e.g. for ambient temperatures of 50- 60°C or above. For those cases, if the legislator decides to phase out halogen lamps, a solution (e.g. a specific exemption) must be found.

The second option is a compromise when some unexpected compelling arguments are brought forward to maintain the exemption for rough service lamps. There is no experience with the implementation or market surveillance of this option, but it might be worth investigating whether this would not make compliance checks and giving fines easier, i.e. if a rough service lamp is found for sale in a supermarket or DIY shop there is no doubt about non-compliance.

The third option is suggested by industry and entails an amendment to the 244/2009 Regulation by deleting “if any” from the article 3(2) (see box):

Alternatively, the industry suggests and would support a specific mandatory declaration on the packaging, of the technical characteristics that would make a lamp special purpose, like definitions which amongst others specifically demands technical characteristics of the lamp.

More in general, the definitions of special purpose lamps in lighting related Ecodesign and labelling legislation should be made clearer and more consistent. Within the restricted resources and timeframe of the Omnibus project it was not proven possible to make a comprehensive technical proposal on this subject. This work should be done in a follow-up study.

The stakeholder opinions on the above subjects are given in detail in the Annex, but in short:

Although market surveillance is of course a necessary ingredient, most stakeholders are sceptic that more and better surveillance will be the ideal solution, given the current state of definitions especially in Commission Regulation (EC) 244/2009.

As regards limitations in the distribution channels many stakeholders point out that this is not feasible under the Ecodesign Directive, but no opinion was voiced as regards possibilities of enforcing appropriate measures on exemptions under the Energy Labelling Directive.

As regards the necessity of clearer definitions there is a broad consensus amongst stakeholders that they should be improved. As was also discussed in the Consultation Forum of 25 November 2013, there is a favourable opinion on using the clearer definitions of Commission Regulation (EU) 1194/2012 as a general template also for NDLS. Having said that, this would still require –at the level of legislation and/or through guidelines for surveillance authorities (e.g. in the AdCo)—to define one or more verifiable and distinguishing technical characteristics (spectrum, radiance, etc.) to find the right balance between not stifling innovation and avoiding loopholes.

.

For special purpose lamps, the following information shall be clearly and prominently indicated on their packaging and in all forms of product information accompanying the lamp when it is placed on the market:

(a) their intended purpose; and

(b) that they are not suitable for household room illumination. The technical documentation file drawn up for the purposes of conformity assessment pursuant to Article 8 of Directive 2005/32/EC shall list the technical parameters (if any) that make the lamp design specific for the special purpose indicated on the packaging.

145