EFA – future workshop, board, and closed meeting

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The past weekend from 25.06 to 28.06.2021 was all about the European Fireplaces Association (EFA).

It started on 25.06 with the board meeting in which our CEO Christian Droll took part as a board member. Interesting future projects, the associations work and basic organizational measures were discussed. The board met after the board meeting on that weekend for a closed meeting in Schönebeck at the Elbe. Current topics were delved into, tasks were discussed and distributed and a lot of input was processed.
In addition, Mr. Martin Zenker (SPD – speaker for energy, infrastructure, digitization, construction) gave an input from state and federal politics and the future meetings and events were planned.

On 28.06, the interesting and busy weekend was rounded off by the future workshop in combination with the FutureLab wood heating at the KUBUS Leipzig. Dr. Volker Lenz from the DBFZ gave the impulse: Energy transition without wood? Possibilities and limits of wood heating. Based on this information from politics and environmental issues, a future discussion was held. After many interesting points of view and a conclusion, they transferred to the FutureLab wood heating.
Interesting and new innovations from the industry were presented in 5 innovation slots. The focus here was on the companies DBI, Sfera Tec, Kutzner and Weber, ETE EmTechEngineering and the DBFZ.

24. Technical discussion of the working group wood firing

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The annual technical discussion of the working group wood firing of the TFZ offers experts an opportunity to exchange information on current developments in our industry. This year, the RRF was again invited to the technical discussion on 09.06.2021 to get involved in the discussions.

As part of the working group, the TFZ offered space for interesting topics such as current standardization work, developments on the market of domestic wood firing or technical lectures on research and development.

Remote audits for the external monitoring

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The pandemic has forced many companies to rethink their approach. We also had to rethink the field of external monitoring of the in-house production control for the DIBt to protect customers and employees during the pandemic but to be able to continue to carry out the necessary monitoring. Because of this, we offer our customers the option of carrying out the external monitoring in remote audits via Microsoft Teams or other platforms.

If you also need monitoring for your products, do not hesitate to contact us about the possibility of remote audits. We are happy to carry out the monitoring considering the corona protective measures. We will be happy to provide you with a corresponding offer and our list of services.

Current requirements of Flamme Verte

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Due to several inquiries, we would like to give you information about the currently valid version of the requirements of Flamme Verte.

We would like to inform you that the current version of the requirements can be found via the search function (“reglement 2019”) on the Flamme Verte website. The 2018 version is no longer valid with the issue of the newer version.

One reform is, for example, that the tolerance of the nominal heat output was included for the performance test.  

This year also the official round robin test of the Flamme Verte laboratories is scheduled. Here, the tolerances and the Flamme Verte regulations are to be tested. Of course, as an official Flamme Verte laboratory, the RRF also takes part in this.

Live support of tests via video conference

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Supporting the test of your fireplace gives you the added value of observing the fireplace on the test bench and reacting quickly to the test results. So that you do not have to miss this due to the ongoing restrictions, you can also accompany the test via various video conferencing services such as Microsoft Teams, Skype or Zoom. There we can stream both the digital burning cycles and curves as well as a camera image of the fireplace on the test bench.

If you would like to follow the inspection of your fireplace live, please contact us for the digital support of tests via video conference.

Requirements of the Eco-Design Regulation in 2022

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With this year, the implementation for the requirements of the Eco-Design Regulation (EU) 2015/1185 in 2022 is getting closer and closer. At the turn of the year, the meeting of the German technical heads of laboratories took place. There, the implementation of Eco-Design requirements in practice with regards to the test reports and the manufacturers documents were clarified between industry, German standardization bodies and German notified bodies. 

At this meeting, it was discussed, which documents apply. It should be noted that many manufacturers only pay attention to average values shown in the test reports and compare them with the Eco-Design requirements. However, in addition, further requirements must be met. These emerge both from the regulation itself and from an associated official journal of the European Commission (see below).

What is the legal bases?

  • The general requirements and value limits are specified in the Eco-Design Regulation (EU) 2015/1185. In addition, the Official Journal of the European Commission “2017/C 076/02” applies.

ATTENTION

Many manufacturers only pay attention to the average values ​​shown in test reports and compare them with the eco-design requirements. In addition, there are further requirements mentioned in the Official Journal “2017/C 076/02” need to be met!

So that no invalid declarations are created, we would like to give you specific information on how to meet the requirements:

  • The declaration is made by the manufacturer, not by the test laboratory.
  • Currently, the declaration is made by the manufacturer in the technical documentation listed in the regulation, not in the declaration of performance according CE marking.
  • A test report of the current EN standards (EN 13240, 13229, 14785, 12815, 15250, etc.) is not sufficient for the declaration.
  • CO, NOx and OGC content must have been determined in accordance with EN 16510-1.
  • This also applies to the heat output and efficiency (with the exception of EN 14785 and EN 15250).
  • The dust content must have been determined in accordance with CEN/TS 15833 or EN 16510-1.
  • If the manufacturer requests confirmation from the test laboratory, this must not appear as a notified body in the document (the Notified Body Number is not mentioned).
  • If the manufacturer declares compliance with Eco-Design, he bears the sole responsibility.

What does this mean in practice?

  • Confirmation letters from test laboratories, such as certificates, lists, letters of confirmation, in which the test laboratory appears as a notified body – as they are currently published by some manufacturers are for marketing purposes – may not serve as a base for the declaration.
  • The measurements of the above-mentioned parameters must have been performed in accordance with EN 16510-1. This applies to new test as well as performance tests. The requirements of EN 16510-1 are, for example:
    • At least 2 continuous burning cycles in a row
    • For EN 13229 fireplaces 3 burning cycles instead of 2
    • Different minimum burning cycle times
  • The fuels used in the test must correspond to the fuel specification of EN 16510-1. This also applies to new test as well as performed tests.
  • If the manufacturer wants to know whether his test report, for example according to EN 13240, is compliant to the above-mentioned requirements, the test laboratory carry out an evaluation of the raw data if necessary. An alternative is that the measurement method EN 16510-1 is listed for the corresponding parameters in the current test reports.
  • The manufacturer can also declare compliance with the Eco-Design requirements based on their own measurements and calculations. Based on this, however, no official confirmation / certificate can be created by our laboratory.

What kind of support does the RRF offer you:

  • Issue of certificates for publication
  • If necessary: re-evaluation of raw data or re-examination of the missing parameters on the test bench
  • Issue of letters of confirmation of the fulfilment of the requirements for internal use

If you have OEM products in your portfolio, you should have the test report, which serves as the basis, checked by the owner of the original test report.

We are happy to offer you the opportunity to discuss further details on this topic in a personal meeting. If you send us a list of your fireplaces / test reports, we can make you an offer for the evaluation effort and the above-mentioned services for you.

Link to the Regulation: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32015R1185

Link to the Journal: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1613464324868&uri=CELEX%3A52017XC0310%2804%29

12th expert meeting „Particle separators in domestic firings”

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On 04.02.2021 the expert meeting about particle separators in connection with small domestic heating systems took place again. Above all, the development and standardization statuses in the field of dust / particle separators were discussed.

In order to bring our level of knowledge and our know-how into this meeting, we were happy to take part in this expert meeting.

Technical meetings of the associations in spring

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Despite the ongoing corona pandemic, the associations are not inactive. The RRF is actively involved in the associations work.

The technical meeting on 08.02.2021, in shape of the round table technology of the European Fireplace Association (EFA) dealt this time with the current topics of discharge conditions above roofs as well as §19 of the 1. BImSchV.

On 10.02.2021 we took part in the meeting of the expert department Service, Accessories and Components as well as Exhaust Systems of the HKI. In addition to the election of the chairpersons of the individual expert departments, the current market situation and market development in house construction and the heating structure were also discussed.

Post in the Kachelofen & Kamin

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Many ask themselves, where do the values on the type label on fireplaces or in the declaration of performance come from, and how are these values determined?

In the January issue of the Kachelofen & Kamin, our CEO Dennis Droll describes some of our interesting processes of our laboratory to create a better understanding for the subject of test results.

Monitoring of the accreditation

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The RRF looks back on a successful audit of our location in Oberhausen by the Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS).

The DAkkS continuously performs audits for our quality managements system according to DIN EN ISO /IEC 17025 and 17065 at both locations to review the requirements.

For the protection of everyone involved, a remote assessment via video conference was done for the first time.

We are pleased that we were able to meet the high demands of the DAkkS and that we were granted the continuation of the accreditation.