Minimum energy performance limits for lamps

The electrical industry has been under pressure from both the community and government regulators in recent years to produce more and more energy-efficient products in order to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Lighting is a major component of the consumption of power across business, industrial and residential environments. As such, it has received considerable attention from a number of government regulators, in both the electrical and the building sectors. It has also been a key issue to address in the national political arena. Notably, the federal government’s decision to ban the use of conventional incandescent lamps was seen as a world-first in the lighting industry proactively combating climate change. And in the last month, another phase of energy-efficiency regulation for lighting has come into effect.

The first of October this year was the start date for the latest round of energy-efficiency requirements for lamps in Australia. From that date, incandescent fancy round, candle and decorative lamps that are greater than 40 W can no longer be sold (except for those subject to grandfathering provisions), as they cannot meet the required minimum energy performance (MEPS) limit.

Extra low voltage (ELV) 12 V reflector halogen lamps must also meet the published MEPS limit. Notably, mains voltage halogen (MVH) lamps were also captured by this criterion, but have been subject to a considerable amount of controversy in the lighting industry. This issue is discussed separately in this article below.

In the cases of both the ELV and MVH lamps, eventually the worst-performing lamps will be made to disappear from the market. Any of these lighting products that comply with the required MEPS limit and are registered on the www.energyrating.gov.au website may still be sold (although ‘grandfathering’ provisions will allow existing stock to be sold into the market, provided that it was imported prior to the introduction date of the MEPS limit).

Importers and suppliers of lamps that are subject to the limits should be aware, however, that the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) issued a notification at the beginning of November advising of significant changes to the public listing of current registrations on the Energy Rating website. While the notification was issued primarily to deal with problems that were associated with electrical appliances, lamps and other items subject to MEPS are also affected by this notification.

The notification states, in part: “The public listing of a considerable number of energy-rated products that are no longer available to purchase has resulted in a significant number of consumer complaints, dissatisfaction and frustration when researching to buy a product.

“Therefore, a different way of ensuring generally only available product is listed on the public listing needs to be implemented. Under the new system, registered product will automatically default to the ‘run-out’ listing on the public website unless suppliers have confirmed the registered product is still available. [Suppliers] will need to confirm the availability of their product on an annual basis by 31 March each year, starting in 2011.

“By default, all products when registered are assigned a ‘Run-out’ date, on which the product shall be de-listed from the public website in the absence of any action by the applicant. Applicants can enter the database and confirm availability for that year and the product will be re-listed.”

Mains voltage halogen lamps

Over the past several months, Lighting Council Australia has held a number of extensive discussions with the federal government to ensure that there continues to be an adequate supply of mains voltage halogen non-reflector lamps into the Australian electrical market. Our representations have led to a revised MEPS level, along with an adjustment to the timing of the introduction for MEPS on these lamps. The new MEPS limit is 5% lower than that published in the standard AS/NZS 4934.2.INT-2008 ‘Incandescent lamps for general lighting service - MEPS requirements’.

Suppliers now have until 1 January 2011 to register mains voltage halogen products that are compliant to this MEPS limit. These new requirements are contained in the DCCEE’s Energy Labelling and MEPS Program Regulatory Ruling 0030 Revision C.

The electrical industry should be aware that the ruling which was adopted last month by all of the state regulators applies to mains voltage halogen lamps only. It represents an agreed interpretation of the relevant regulations for incandescent lamps as outlined in Clause 4.3 - Lamp Efficacy of AS/NZS 4934.2 (Interim) 2008.

The MEPS for mains voltage halogen non-reflector incandescent lamps were initially included in the Decision Regulatory Impact Statement ‘Proposed MEPS for incandescent lamps, compact fluorescent lamps and voltage converters’ (RIS), which was published in May 2009.

The RIS, which was approved by the Ministerial Council for Energy in August 2009, indicated that the MEPS levels for mains voltage halogen non-reflector lamps were scheduled for commencement on 1 October 2010 at levels set by AS/NZS 4934.2 (Int): 2008 and were “subject to annual review”.

A subsequent review of the lighting marketplace has indicated that the MEPS level that was established for AS/NZS 4934.2 (Int): 2008 for the initial efficacy values of mains voltage halogen non-reflector lamps would not allow sufficient product availability if the regulation was to be implemented.

To ensure that a sufficient amount of lighting products would be available to service the demands of the Australian market, and in the course of discussion with the various stakeholders involved in this issue, a revised MEPS level for mains voltage halogen non-reflector lamps was determined by the department, which is similar to the lighting efficacy levels that are applied to the European lighting market. This level will be applied for an initial two-year period.

The ruling states that “in recognition of the timing of this ruling, suppliers have until 1 January 2011 to register Mains Voltage Halogen non-reflector product that is currently in the market place”.

The Regulatory Ruling changes the MEPS criteria for mains voltage halogen lamps shown in clause 4.3 of AS/NZS 4934.2 (Int): 2008 from the original efficacy values to a new efficacy value which is 5% lower. This remains in effect until 30 September 2012.

It should be understood that the ruling clearly states there is no testing tolerance to be claimed or applied to the initial efficacy value and subsequently used for lamp registration. This means that when companies are registering lamps on the www.energyrating.gov.au website, the test report must show product compliance - that is, efficacy must be above the specified MEPS limit.

At a meeting of the DCCEE and Lighting Council Australia on 25 October, the department advised Lighting Council that a separate administrative guideline was being drafted to further clarify the tolerance issue. All samples tested under the ‘check test’ regime will have a test tolerance applied. The test tolerance is included to allow for laboratory measurement and other uncertainties. Lighting Council Australia has requested a 6% tolerance to align with European standards.