As of 1 January 2015, all new household* coffee machines in the EU will be required to incorporate an energy saving mechanism that automatically stops heating coffee after a period of 5 to 40 minutes.
Individuals can thus save up to ten Euro** a year. According to the EU Commission, over two terawatt hours of energy will be saved Europe-wide by 2020. This amount of energy could power an LED lamp in every German household for twelve hours a day for a whole year***.
“The switch-off function will contribute towards our energy and climate protection targets in Germany and Europe. It will also cut electricity costs for consumers without affecting convenience,” says Annegret-Cl. Agricola of dena’s “Initiative EnergieEffizienz” (“Energy Efficiency Campaign”) about the automatic power-down function.
The specification decreed by the EU Commission in the context of the Ecodesign Directive thus introduces a binding obligation to incorporate a function that numerous coffee machines already have: after a limited time, the machines automatically go into standby or off mode.
Some manufacturers will also offer machines which allow consumers to override the power-down function or adjust the length of the on-mode period before power down.
Different European countries appear to have different preferences when it comes to coffee machines. While Italians favour semi or fully automated espresso machines, the French and the Germans go for filter coffee machines.
The latter usually have a hot plate for keeping the coffee warm. According to the new EU Directive, the heating function will switch off after five minutes if the coffee flows into an insulated container and after 40 minutes if its flows into an un-insulated container.
In the case of coffee capsule machines and fully automated machines, a heating period of 30 minutes after the last brewing cycle and of 60 minutes after activation of the cup heating function applies.
Further tips on how to save energy in the household, an interactive electricity saving test, advice on household appliances and brochures relating to all areas where action can be taken are available at www.stromeffizienz.de. Extensive information on current EU regulations can be found at www.top-runner.info.
The “Initiative EnergieEffizienz” (“Energy Efficiency Campaign”) has been set up by the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) – the German Energy Agency – and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
*Source: Nationwide representative consumer survey (N=2,002 respondents) carried out by dena’s “Initiative EnergieEffizienz” (“Energy Efficiency Campaign”) in November 2013
**Assumptions: Electricity price of 26 cents per kilowatt hour, power consumption when switched on: 60 W, machine continuously switched on for 2 hours per day, power consumption in standby – old machine: 2 W, one use per day
***Assumption: Electricity consumption of LED lamp: 10 W
Source: www.dena.de
