Energy labelling of air conditioning and air to air heat pumps

The rating is common for all EU countries and is designed primarily with air conditioning in mind which may be needed to cool rooms indoors during the warm summer months on the continent.

Look for the energy rating for heating

For Swedish conditions, it is primarily the energy-efficiency rating for heating that is of interest. It is specified via the rating, second from the bottom. The scale goes from A to G, whereby A signifies the least amount of energy consumption and G the highest.

The energy rating highlighted on the green-red scale is what applies for a maximum cooling effect and is not as relevant for Swedish conditions. Note also that if you do use the air-conditioning system for cooling purposes, you risk increasing your energy consumption, or that some of the gains from using an air to air heat pump will be eaten up.

All air to air heat pumps should have an energy rating, check the rating before you purchase.

Labelling

• Supplier and model Shows the manufacturer and model, sometimes the indoor and the outdoor section have different designations.
• Energy-efficiency rating The energy-efficiency rating for air conditioning tells you how much electricity the air-conditioning system or the air to air heat pump uses when it is cooling your room down, depending upon what type of device it is. Air to air heat pumps are all air-cooled, so-called split units, with a separate outdoor and indoor section.
• Annual energy consumption when used for cooling purposes The annual energy consumption when used for cooling purposes shows how many kilowatt hours the air conditioner or the air to air heat pump uses per year. It is the equivalent of 500 hours of use on full effect (cooling). How large the actual consumption is depends on how much it is used and the climate. In Sweden, it will most probably be lower than that indicated on the rating. 500 hours is the equivalent of 20 days cooling on full effect and the cooling of rooms is seldom needed during the Swedish summer months.
• Cooling effect kW The cooling effect in kW, is the maximum cooling capacity.
• Energy-efficiency ratio Only for the cooling mode, not heating. The higher the figure, the better.
• Type of unit The arrows in this examples show that this is an air-conditioning system, an air to air heat pump, which can be used both for heating and cooling purposes and which acts as an air-conditioning system with the help of air. There are also air-conditioning systems that cool things down with the help of water. The label will specify whether it is an air-cooled or water-cooled unit and whether there is a single unit or a separate indoor and outdoor part.
• Heating effect kW Shows the heating capacity at maximum power. Only for units which can be used both for air-conditioning and for heating purposes.
• Energy-efficiency rating for heating purposes This energy-efficiency rating is the most important one for Swedish conditions, as this relates to heating. A indicates low energy consumption and G indicates high energy consumption. The energy-efficiency rating also depends on whether the unit is air-cooled or water-cooled and whether it consists of one single unit or several different parts such as separate indoor and outdoor units.
• Noise Specified in dB(A) and is an optional specification. For those products which are most common on the Swedish market, two noise values are specified, one for the indoor unit and one for the outdoor unit, this applies for example to air to air heat pumps. The higher the figure, the better.