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New EU Rules Will Limit Vacuum Cleaners To 1600W

Posted by timothy on from the sucking-power-defined dept.

AmiMoJo writes "New EU rules are limiting vacuum cleaner motors to 1600W from 2014/09/01. The EU summary of the new rules explains that consumers currently equate watts with cleaning power, which is not the case. Manufacturers will be required to put ratings on packaging, including energy efficiency, cleaning efficiency on hard and carpeted floors, and dust emissions from the exhaust. In the EU vacuum cleaners use more energy than the whole of Denmark, and produce more emissions than dishwashers and washing machines."

40 of 338 comments (clear)

  1. Do the math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    1600W is about two horse powers, and if you think you can keep a house clean with two horses running though it, I have a barn to sell you.

    1. Re:Do the math by CaptnZilog · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1600W at US/120V standard is 13.33Amps.
      Most standard house circuits are 15A (maybe 20A, above that it's the special 240V/30A+ outlets for stove, dryer, etc).
      Add a couple of 100W incandescent bulbs on in the room and you'd be popping the breaker turning on your vacuum.

      I know it's Europe, but who TF would want/need more power than that for a F'in vacuum cleaner? I can run an HP color laserjet and 3x 450W power supply pc's, an 8-drive NAS box, plus a Cisco switch, router, light, and a 50W stereo system (all in this room) off that same 1600W (I'm sure the pc's aren't drawing anywhere near that 450W full time though, and the printer is mostly off - but I have had all of them going at times).

    2. Re:Do the math by Bert64 · · Score: 3, Informative

      In the EU, 240V outlets are the standard not anything special. Generally appliances (at least in the UK) have up to a 13A fuse in them, and you may have a higher capacity hard wired circuit for the stove (the dryer is almost always just plugged into a standard wall outlet).

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    3. Re:Do the math by dunkelfalke · · Score: 5, Informative

      In the EU 230V outlets are standard (IEC 60038). 240V is UK (as always, they absolutely have to be different from everyone else) and Cyprus (as a former British colony).
      Actually, most of the former EU countries used to have the 220V standard, but it was raised to 230V so it would be more compatible to UK.

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    4. Re:Do the math by Teun · · Score: 5, Informative
      Uh no, since the year 2000 all of the EU, that includes the UK, runs on 230V.

      The UK has not changed it's 13 Amp plugs but the domestic circuits can be up to 40 Amp, on the continent they are typically 16Amp, meaning you can pull up to 3600 Watts.

      There are manufacturers selling 2000-2200 W. vacuum cleaners.

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    5. Re:Do the math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1600W is about two horse powers, and if you think you can keep a house clean with two horses running though it, I have a barn to sell you.

      A single horse is strong enough to lift any dirt you might possibly have off you floor. The problem is that its much cheaper to build an inefficient vacuum cleaner than an efficient one so they mostly use all those watts for creating heat and just a fraction to suck.

    6. Re:Do the math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A single horse is strong enough to lift any dirt you might possibly have off you floor. The problem is that its much cheaper to build an inefficient vacuum cleaner than an efficient one so they mostly use all those watts for creating heat and just a fraction to suck.

      An inefficient vacuum cleaner rated at 2000W sells better than an efficient one rated at 1200W. Because it has more power!!!!!!11!!!!1eleven!!!!

    7. Re:Do the math by anarcobra · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I love them. And I will try to keep getting them. If the problem is that people equate cleaning power with Watts, they should mandate some measurement of cleaning factor instead of maximum power. Then people can determine if they want the 2100 W vacuum cleaner, or the 1600 one with the same cleaning factor. I see what happens at other peoples houses. They have their eco vacuum and the cat hair just stays on the floor if you don't pas over it 10 times. It's the same thing with all their washing machines. In the US washing my clothes takes about 1 hour for washing and 40 minutes for drying. In the EU with all their eco washing machines it takes 2 and half hours for washing clothes (one and a half for quick) and 80 minutes to dry it. Is it more eco-friendly? I'm sure it is. But in return I have to actually plan out when I'm going to wash my clothes because it takes twice as long. Maybe I just have a bad washing machine, but all the ones I've used here are like this.

    8. Re:Do the math by zephvark · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There are manufacturers selling 2000-2200 W. vacuum cleaners.

      I can't wait for those to be gone. Not because of the energy usage really, but because those monsters are incredibly loud.

      I might point out that the power of the vacuum cleaner has no relationship to its noise level. The noise is considered a selling point, a feature, because people have this curious tendency to think, "oh yes, that's causing me permanent ear damage, so it must be doing a good job." People conflate noise with power.

      Don't ask about the dust in the corner. I'm protecting my ears. I swear it.

    9. Re:Do the math by dunkelfalke · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why do you actually care how much time your washing machine uses? Fill it up, switch it on and do something else during the time.You are not a cat, you don't have to stay and watch it spin. European washing machines take so long because the detergents are much milder.

      --
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    10. Re:Do the math by 91degrees · · Score: 2

      In the EU, inlcuding the UK, 230V is standard. The tolerances are different though.

    11. Re:Do the math by 91degrees · · Score: 4, Informative

      It was 240V +/- 6%. They did actually use those tolerances. Quite a lot of people had a supply lower than 230V or above 250V. Now it's 230V+10%/-2% which isn't a perfect overlap but only a few areas were outside of that range so it wasn't too much to fix.

    12. Re:Do the math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      My 2kW Miele is the quietest vacuum I've ever had, even at full power (which you wouldn't normally use). It about rivals my GPUs with the fans ramped up.

    13. Re:Do the math by Teun · · Score: 2
      You might be right that the UK (once more) drags it's feet to get in line with their neighbours but really, the continent runs on 230V.

      The fable that the continent has also remained on 220 V is only to pacify British feelings of guild, from 1990 onward the EU countries increased their mains voltage in small steps and were done in the year 2000, a little quicker than the original plan that called for 2004.

      Just as much a fable is the story the UK would have incurred great or unacceptable cost for this change, technically and with good coordination it can be done in mere hours, it was and is simply a lack of will.

      At the time this harmonisation was planned, mid to late eighties, the typical power supply for domestic apparatus was fairly crude and thus the change would have had economic benefits.
      The introduction of better and switchable power supplies has largely done away with many of the original reasons for harmonisation and consequently we've seen a slight increase in the permissible range.

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    14. Re:Do the math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's actually 230V everywhere in Europe. It used to be 220 with 240 in the UK, so the EU set standards that basically set it to 230 but with enough slop either way that both 220 & 240 were declared within standard. Then they started to slowly harmonise everyone up/down towards 230.

    15. Re:Do the math by schlachter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't know about that. We bought a high end Miele vacuum cleaner and it's very quiet. We viewed that as a premium feature when we bought it.

      I think what you're saying might be true for the uneducated, lower end of the market.

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    16. Re:Do the math by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 2

      The on,y people with that many kids are religious crazies. They're not as common in Europe.

    17. Re:Do the math by Calydor · · Score: 2

      Have you considered multiple generations and thereby families?

      2 grandparents
      2 children of those each with spouse
      3 kids from each of those.

      2+4+6. 12.

      It does happen in Europe, particularly in the southern countries.

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    18. Re:Do the math by mysidia · · Score: 2

      Then get a second washer and dryer. If you can't afford that, then you shouldn't have so many kids.

      That's a crappy response. The number of kids you have has nothing to do with your ability to afford a second washer and dryer.

      You shouldn't need an extra washer and dryer, just because you have 3 or 4 kids, when a "normal" washer without the "EcoJunk" would be adequate.

    19. Re: Do the math by michelcolman · · Score: 2

      I highly doubt they're importing it at 220V. More likely thousands of volts, which are then transformed to whatever voltage they want.

    20. Re:Do the math by JanneM · · Score: 2

      Wow, that's a lot. I wonder why they allow so much power per outlet?

      Because of all those damn industrial vaccuum cleaners.

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    21. Re:Do the math by trigpoint · · Score: 2

      The idea was never to change the voltage in any EU country, the idea is about free movement of goods and services, in this case goods. The standard is to ensure that any electrical appliance sold will work anywhere in the EU. The consumer can buy from anywhere in the EU, the tolerence ensures that this is possible.

  2. This sucks by exabrial · · Score: 4, Funny

    /me shows self to door

  3. Waaah. by wolrahnaes · · Score: 5, Informative

    In the US our consumer-grade vacuum cleaners are already effectively capped around the same wattage. The standard household electrical outlet is rated to provide 15 amps and does so somewhere between 100 and 125 volts. That's 1500-1875 watts as the maximum any single device clet an expect to pull without requiring a special outlet. Nothing in reality expects the higher end of the spectrum because it's by no means guaranteed.

    Somehow we get along just fine, residential or commercial, with pretty much the same as what this limit allows. /me awaits some Brit who's come to explain how their 240v 13A outlets allow them to suck the carpet right off the floor with their cleaners.

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    1. Re:Waaah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, I have 15A outlets at 230V, that is theoretically 3500VA max.
      Note it's not watts since they depend on power factor, assuming 0.7 you get about 2500W max.
      With 100V/15A it's only about 1000W.
      You can't have 1600W appliances in the US. (only with special electronics that would give 1.0 power factor, that would include large capacitors)

    2. Re:Waaah. by Shimbo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Somehow we get along just fine, residential or commercial, with pretty much the same as what this limit allows. /me awaits some Brit who's come to explain how their 240v 13A outlets allow them to suck the carpet right off the floor with their cleaners.

      Actually, we use them mostly to take out drones and deflect NEOs into a safer orbit.

    3. Re:Waaah. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Funny

      I threw my old 2300W one away. It was just gathering dust.

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    4. Re:Waaah. by _merlin · · Score: 2

      It must take longer to boil water in the US then. In Aus a standard electric kettle has a 2.4kW resistive heating element. I bet little things like that would be most irritating for someone making the transition to a 100-125V country.

    5. Re:Waaah. by Trepidity · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't think I ever saw an electric kettle in the US. People who drink coffee make it in a coffee pot, and people who drink tea are deported to Europe.

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    6. Re:Waaah. by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 2

      I don't think I ever saw an electric kettle in the US. People who drink coffee make it in a coffee pot, and people who drink tea are deported to Europe.

      I know you're sort of joking here, but I think it may depend on you and your group of friends. I use an electric water kettle daily -- it's one of the most useful devices in my kitchen.... particularly on hot summer days when you don't want to inefficiently heat up the whole kitchen with wasted gas heat or poorly-sized electric elements on your stove just to boil water when you can do it in a small insulated container. Also, it shuts off automatically at the right temperature, so I don't need to come running to shut off the stove with some high-pitched whistle blowing.

      Many (most?) of the people I know seem to have them in their kitchens. I switched when I first saw a very cheap one in a catalog maybe 15 years ago, and I have only used my stovetop kettle a few times per year since. (Yes, I'm American, and I'm talking about Americans who live in the use, not immigrants.)

      Also, many of the Americans I know who actually care about the flavor of their coffee prefer to make it in a French press. I'm not a regular coffee drinker, but that's about the only way I make it at home these days when I do. But I agree with you that most people in the U.S. do tend to use drip coffee pots, and for that matter many Europeans will make "stovetop espresso" in their Bialetti rather than using a French press (and thus may not use an electric kettle to brew coffee).

      Actually, most of the Americans I know who don't care that much about coffee flavor seem to have moved on from "coffee pots" into the world of single-serving wasteful expensive options like K-cups, which are effectively an "electric kettle" combined with a pump. I feel like in the past few years, when I'm visiting someone, that's often the option I'm given for coffee -- either a French press (for coffee fanatics), or "you can choose whatever flavor you want because we have a Keurig." (I can understand the convenience, but the per-cup cost is insane -- it often comes out to greater than $50 per pound, often for pretty cheap crappy ground coffee.)

    7. Re:Waaah. by Karmashock · · Score: 2

      Remind me why they need to cap it then? From what you're saying this is a pointless regulation that accomplishes nothing.

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    8. Re:Waaah. by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

      Contrary to anti-EU people*, it's not completely pointless. Regulations like these are not just for controlling the wattage of vacuums, the curvature of banana's, or the number of times a paperclip can bend before it breaks. Thanks to regulations like these, certification for products in the EU has become a whole lot easier; no more need to have it done in each country separately. The problem is that the EU has a lot of bored politicians eager to make their mark, and they *love* to slip politically motivated items into these bills. Some are relatively harmless like the limit on vacuum cleaner power, some are a bit more evil and designed to give certain countries an edge over others (look at EU farm policy), and some are just stupid, like fixing the maximum weight a worker is allowed to lift at 23.5kg, when most bulk goods like cement come in standard 25kg bags (the limit was taken from a US study, and converting the nice round weight given in pounds to kg, they arrived at the 23.5 figure)

      *) I'm all for the idea behind the EU, but very much against the intransparent, bureaucratic and unaccountable mess they turned it into. The EU needs a severely limited mandate as well as better democratic controls.

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    9. Re:Waaah. by jonbryce · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Because the sort of things you see on sale in Best Buy in the US are the sort of things you can only find in museums in the UK. Things like stove-top kettles and top-loading washing machines.

  4. Obamacommunistsilluminatiderp by NonFerrousBueller · · Score: 2

    They can have my 2000watt vacuum cleaner when they pry my cold dead hands... Wait, the EU? Nevermind. Whar's mah beer?

    1. Re:Obamacommunistsilluminatiderp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      They can have my 2000watt vacuum cleaner when they pry my cold dead hands...

      Try switching it off; you're lucky it's only got you by the hands.

  5. 200 watt is enough... by bumba2014 · · Score: 2

    Our Vorwerk vacuum cleaners only use around 200 W...

  6. The future uses less by maweki · · Score: 4, Informative

    My Roomba is using about 30 Watts for its vacuum and that is more than enough.

  7. They've gone nuts with Wattage. by MrL0G1C · · Score: 2

    Vacuum cleaners

    Last time I looked 1400W was common, now 2400W is common.

    I'd be happy if they banned putting the Wattage in the product title as a temporary measure, no doubt some of these 2400W are still crap and edging towards being a fire hazard with that much power enclosed in a small space.

    What do you do with your vac' when you've finished with it? Shove it in the cupboard with lots of highly flammable materials, perhaps underneath the stairs?

    Quick search confirms it happens:
    https://www.google.co.uk/searc...

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    1. Re:They've gone nuts with Wattage. by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Fire hazards are not directly linked to wattage. It's all about overheating. Bigger power motors are bigger (surprise) and are capable of withstanding more heat because of it.

      Additionally higher wattage does not mean more power use in an ordinary scenario. An induction motor will still only draw the amount of power needed to get it spinning to the correct speed. Take a 1400W vacuum and a 2400W vacuum and put them on the carpet they'll likely draw the same amount of power.

      Now quite critically when you block the suction pipe that's when the differences become evident. Most vacuums have a relief valve which will allow it to suck air in after a certain pressure is reached. This RV will dictate the amount of power that the vacuum sucks and if sized correctly the motor will still not draw its full rated current. What will happen in reality is the higher rated motor will have a lower minimum suction pressure and a lower set RV.

      Where the entire mess catches fire is either:
      a) Stupidly set RVs
      b) Lack of overload protection for the motor.
      c) Stupid design of the vacuum that doesn't provide adequate cooling (I've had a hot air gun catch fire in my hand once due to such brain dead design, that tip will never get hot, lets support it with plastic. What could go wrong.)

      This doesn't excuse the stupidity of selling a 2400W vacuum, but power does not directly equate to fire hazard.

  8. US Energy Star and vaccuum cleaners by dkegel · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The US doesn't have Energy Star standards for vacuum cleaners yet, but they're thinking about it.

    http://www.energystar.gov/ia/p... says
    "[Assuming efficiency improvements of 16% to 33%...] Estimated per-unit annual savings for residential vacuums are on the order of 10-19 kWh/year... Considering there are approximately 28 million vacuums sold in the U.S. each year, the national energy savings opportunity would be on the order of 67,000-135,000 MWh per year if 25% of products sold were replaced with energy efficient models"

    Contrast that the the document linked in TFA:
    http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regu... says
    "[Vaccuum cleaners sold per year in 2005 and 2020: 54 million and 92 million]... [Energy consumed by vacuum cleaners under business-as-usual by 2020: 29.7 TWH/year]... by 2020, the annual electricity consumption ... of vacuum cleaners will be reduced by 19 TWh"

    So, 67 TWh annual savings in US vs. 19 TWh annual savings in EU in spite of twice as many vacuum cleaners sold per year in the EU. Is there just more dirt in the US? Or was the Energy Star scoping report just overoptimistic?