Vacuum cleaner ban update…
Now Europe wants to make it harder to clean your carpets with new rules BANNING powerful vacuum cleaners
Regulations will ban any new machine that exceeds 1,600W next year
That figure will fall to 900W by 2017, according to Brussels bureaucrats
At present, the average vacuum cleaner has a 1,800W motor
It is the bane of every household – and following a ruling by Brussels bureaucrats it is about to get worse.
Home owners will find their armoury in the battle against dust and dirt weakened by a ban on powerful vacuum cleaners.
Under European Commission ‘eco’ rules that will come into force next September, the power of new vacuum cleaners must not exceed 1,600 watts.
That figure will be lowered further to 900 watts by 2017. Current cleaners boast an average of 1,800 watts.
The move angered manufacturers, who say it will do nothing to make cleaners more environmentally friendly and will simply reduce efficiency in the home.
Justin Binks, director of Sebo UK, which produces a range of vacuum cleaners, said the regulations would limit performance using ‘unrealistic criteria’.
‘If the proposed regulations come into force as planned next year, they could hugely frustrate anyone trying to clean their home,’ he said.
Critics say cleaners satisfying the new rule may use less power, but householders will have to use them for longer so they are likely to use the same amount of electricity in the long run.
Under the regulations, appliances will be rated from A to G depending on how much noise they make, the energy efficiency of their suction and the levels of dust pumped out by their ‘exhaust air’. Similar labels are already displayed on washing machines.
Despite his company not producing any vacuum over 1,400 watts, Sir James Dyson, the billionaire entrepreneur who pioneered ‘bagless’ vacuums, is also angered by the proposal.
He says the eco-labels will be misleading because they will not take into account the cost and waste of vacuum bags and filters and will give an advantage to competitors who use ‘bag’ technology. He is seeking a judicial review of the proposal at the European Court of Justice.
The new measures will be extended to other appliances, including water pumps, water heaters and tumble dryers.
The Brussels bureaucrats have also angered British farmers with changes to meat labelling.
Meat and poultry is currently labelled with information about where the animal was born, reared and slaughtered.
But in a proposal to deal with the trade in animals raised in one country and fattened for market in another, they will be required to spend only a few weeks in the UK for the meat to be labelled British.
UK farmers fear the new rules may trigger imports of cheap chickens from former Eastern Bloc countries.
Originally written By LUCY OSBORNE
