The European Standards
As of January 1st, 2015, it is compulsory for all cooker hood manufacturers on the European market to perform specific product tests and publish the relevant product fiches.
According to these new EU standards, the tests are based on the recommendations in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards.
Each EU member country is responsible for - if necessary - verifying the test outcome: in the UK it is the National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO).
The main purpose of these new EU Standards is to reduce the energy consumption as stated in the Regulations EU65/2014 and EU66/2014 supplementing Directive 2010/30/EU.
The energy consumption of a given cooker hood (specified on lights and motor) is thus mandatory information. The maximum extraction capacity is set at 650 m3/h, however the cooker hood may in boost mode go over this limit extracting up to an additional 100 m3 and with an automatic return to the specified 650 m3/h. This precaution has been taken in order to reduce the loss of warm air from the kitchen due to a working cooker hood. Stricter requirements already defined and published will take effect over the coming years.
Verifying and controlling the European Standards
The authorities of the 28 EU member countries must lead market surveillance. In UK, the National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO) which as of April 2016 is part of the new directorate Regulatory Delivery.
Verification procedure (for market surveillance purposes)
1) Is the label visible and product fiche available? The control is executed in shops, advertisement in any form as well as on the Internet.
2) Is the energy label and product fiche information valid? NMRO verifies that the manufacturers’ tests and their documentation confirm the label values and other information about the product.
3) NMRO may choose to select a model for physical testing on an external, independent and accredited test laboratory, and in accordance with the procedure specified in the legislation. These procedures also prescribe - per product type - the acceptable deviation between the data published by the manufacturer and the NMRO test results. On most parameters a 5% margin is accepted, except for sound measurement, which shall not exceed the specified values.
4) Should deviations be detected during the NMRO tests, the authorities shall engage in a dialogue with the manufacturer in question. According to the legislation, the NMRO shall offer the manufacturer to test three other samples of the product. Are the new test results identical to the first one, the manufacturer should accept and correct the energy label and product fiche accordingly.
5) The average of the three test results must confirm the stated values within the permissible deviations. If this is not the case, there will be sanctions against the manufacturer such as payment of all testing and administrative costs, re-labelling or product recalls. Within one month, the 27 other EU member countries and the European Commission must be notified. In particularly severe cases, the Police will be notified and legal sanctions including fines are a possibility.
6) The monitoring is based on the yearly plan of the NMRO that prioritizes the activities based on a number of factors, such as new product areas, the historic findings, information from other member countries etc.
For an end user it is not clear what the content of the IEC standards is, how to interpret the results, to what extend the manufacturers have reliable numbers, and finally if there is an external body that is controlling the manufacturers.
NeutraTEST knows the BS standards but we have chosen to let our tests reflect the real life mounting and utilization of your cooker hood. This means that our findings will be more severe than what you find on the spec sheets of the manufacturers – for example with regard to extracted air and the noise level.
Also for the about 100 manufacturers in the world it must be a jungle to find their way through the BS standards.
As an end user of cooker hoods it is close to impossible to check or understand the standards. The cost is prohibitive (more than 500£) and you must "be a company" to acquire them. Some of the standards only exist in English and knowledge of basic statistics is a must.
BS standards are only recommendations. If a cooker hood manufacturer choose to follow these recommendations it is:
- Up to the manufacturers to have their equipment tested and agreed by independent test centers
- Or to apply local national rules that require and verify that the equipment is conform with the standards if such rules exist.
An overview of the BS (IEC) Standards
IEC 60704-1 is the basic test code for measuring acoustical airborn noise in household appliances. IEC 60704-2-13 ed2.0 (which only exists in English) tops the IEC 60704-1 with all the exceptions and additional elements that concern the cooker hoods. When putting into use IEC 60704-2-13 you will also have to acquire the ISO 3743-1, 3743-2 and 3755, the ISO 9614-1 and 9614-2, and ISO 7235. Finally the IEC 61591 is the international standard for measuring the extraction performance of the cooker (range) hoods.
Looking at the present complexity, when taking this wealth of information from the standards into account our ambition of transparency is well founded.
We want to help you choose easily with rational arguments so you can be more comfortable afterwards when you live with your cooker hood for the next 10-20 years.
