Ecodesign Standby Power Rules for Kitchen Appliances
EU Regulation 2023/826 caps the standby and off-mode power of mains-connected kitchen appliances: 0.5 W in off mode, 0.5 W in standby, 0.8 W where an information or status display is shown, and 0.8 W for networked standby. It applies from 9 May 2025. You declare the measured values in the technical documentation and keep the supporting report from an accredited laboratory.
What the regulation covers
Regulation (EU) 2023/826 is the EU ecodesign rule for standby power, off-mode power and networked standby. It applies to appliances that can be connected to the mains and that have one of those modes. For kitchen appliances, the products most affected are the ones with electronics: air fryers with touch panels and clocks, digital toasters, egg cookers with keep-warm functions, mug warmers with displays, and any model that connects to a phone app through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
The rule replaced two older regulations and merged them into one text. It applies from 9 May 2025 for products placed on the market, with the networked standby provisions phased in from 9 May 2027. Products already on shelves are not withdrawn, so the date that matters is the date the appliance is first placed on the EU market.
| Mode | Limit under 2023/826 |
|---|---|
| Off mode | 0.50 W |
| Standby | 0.50 W |
| Standby with information or status display | 0.80 W |
| Networked standby | 0.80 W |
| Power available to the network (networked standby) | 0.80 W |
Why standby power matters in a B2B sale
For a consumer, a few hundred milliwatts is invisible. For a buyer, it is a compliance item that appears late in the project and can hold up a launch. European importers now ask for the standby measurement during supplier qualification, and some add it to the specification sheet next to the voltage and the plug type. If the factory can produce the measurement report on request, the conversation moves on. If not, the buyer has to schedule a test in Europe and wait for the result, which is slower and more expensive than asking the factory at the sourcing stage.
There is also a design dimension. A standby figure that just scrapes under the limit in the lab can fail in the field when tolerances drift, so a competent factory designs the standby path with margin. That is a question worth asking during sampling: what is the standby draw of this control board, and which component decides it?
How the file is assembled
The standby declaration lives inside the general technical documentation, not as a standalone certificate. In practice the file contains four things:
- The technical documentation describing the relevant modes and the measurement conditions.
- The laboratory measurement report listing each mode and the measured power.
- The declaration of conformity, signed by the manufacturer or the importer placing the product on the market.
- The information requirements in the regulation, such as the standby and off-mode values in the manual where they apply.
None of this requires a new laboratory trip if the measurement is planned correctly. Ask the safety laboratory to measure standby and off-mode power at the same time as the EN 60335-2-9 safety tests, on the same sample, and add the result to the report. One shipment, one lab, one set of paperwork.
Common questions from buyers
Buyers in Northern Europe ask whether the regulation applies to a specific model, and the honest answer depends on the modes the model offers. An appliance with a mechanical timer and a physical switch has no standby mode in the meaning of the regulation, so there is nothing to declare beyond that. A model with an electronic display has a standby mode by definition.
Buyers in Germany and France also connect this topic to energy reporting for their own customers. A clean standby measurement helps them answer those questions without another round of tests. The same report supports the ecodesign part of the file that their compliance teams archive for market surveillance.
Where this fits in the wider EU file
Standby power is one of the smaller items in an EU compliance file, but it sits next to the big ones. The safety report under the Low Voltage Directive, the EMC report under the EMC Directive, the RoHS and REACH chemical file, the food-contact declarations and the GPSR product safety file all travel together. When one item is missing, customs authorities and market surveillance officers treat the whole file as incomplete, and the shipment waits until the gap is filled. Plan the standby measurement at the sampling stage and it becomes a line item instead of a delay. The food contact rules apply to the same shipment, and the certification work behind the egg cooker file or the EU market duties references the same technical documentation, so build the full file once.
Which appliances are affected first
Work through the catalogue and the picture is clear. A basic mechanical egg cooker with a thermal switch has no standby mode and needs nothing beyond the safety report. A digital air fryer with a clock, a delay-start timer or a display is the first affected tier, because those features are standby by definition. A connected model with a phone app is the second tier, because networked standby brings its own provisions and later dates. A mug warmer with an on/off display and a keep-warm indicator sits between them, and the measurement decides which limit applies.
The design owner should run this classification at the quotation stage, per model, and record it. The record is one line per model, and it feeds the quotation to the laboratory and the buyer’s specification sheet. When a variant changes the control board, the classification is revisited, because the modes are the trigger for the duty.
How market surveillance looks at it
Authorities under the EU market surveillance framework can request the technical documentation and check the declared values against their own measurements. The tolerance provisions in the regulation define how a borderline measurement is judged, and the declared value must be reproducible in the configuration the user buys. This is why the measurement report should state the settings used and the mode definitions, not just the number.
For an exporter, the practical exposure is a buyer-side audit that checks the file before the order, and an authority-side check that happens after the sale. Both read the same documents, which is why the file is built once and kept current. A factory that archives the standby report with the model revision it applies to can answer either request in one email.
The cost side, planned early
The measurement itself is small work when it rides on the safety campaign, because the laboratory already has the sample and the operating modes. The costs appear when the work is unplanned: a separate sample shipment to a European laboratory costs weeks and money, and a design change after a failed measurement costs a second sample round. Ask for the standby and off-mode measurement in the same quotation as the safety tests, and the marginal cost is a fraction of the standalone route.
For buyers, the reverse holds. A supplier who can produce the measurement during qualification removes a line item from the buyer’s own project plan, and that reliability reads as competence. In a category where most quotations are silent on standby power, being the one quotation that answers the question is a small differentiator that costs nothing.
Common mistakes in standby files
Three mistakes recur in standby documentation, and each is avoidable with one habit. The first is measuring in the wrong configuration: the declaration must reflect the appliance as sold, with its cables and its shipped settings, so the measurement has to match the packing list rather than the engineering prototype. The second is losing the link between the report and the model: a file with a report but no revision reference cannot be matched to the production run, and an unmatched report is treated as missing. The third is declaring without support: a declaration signed with no laboratory report behind it collapses at the first authority question, because the declaration is a claim and the report is the evidence.
The habit that prevents all three is owning the file per model revision. When a control board change or a firmware update moves the standby number, the report is refreshed and the revision note travels with it. Factories that assign a named owner to this file pass buyer audits quietly; the audits rarely reach the standby section of a well-kept file, and when they do, the documents are in order. The effort is an afternoon per model family per year, which is a modest price for removing one class of EU market friction entirely.
A practical checklist
- Identify the modes the appliance actually offers: off, standby with display, networked standby.
- Ask the factory for the design standby value before the order is confirmed.
- Add the measurement to the safety test scope at the same laboratory.
- Check the measured value against the limit with margin, not at the limit.
- Keep the report and the declaration in the same technical file as the safety and EMC reports.
- Review the value again if the control board, power supply or firmware changes, because any of those can move the number.
Frequently asked questions
Does Regulation 2023/826 apply to a basic air fryer?
It applies whenever the appliance is connected to the mains and has an off mode, a standby mode, or a networked standby mode. A simple model with a mechanical switch draws no measurable power when switched off, so the limit is met easily. A digital air fryer with a clock, a display or a Wi-Fi module is squarely inside the scope, and the measured value must stay under the limit in the standard configuration the user actually buys.
What are the exact power limits?
Off mode and standby are limited to 0.50 W. If the appliance shows an information or status display in standby, the limit is 0.80 W. Networked standby is also 0.80 W, and the power available to the network must be no more than 0.80 W. The limits apply to the product placed on the market from 9 May 2025, and provisions for networked equipment phase in later, from 9 May 2027. Always check the current text of the regulation before you design the control board.
Who issues the declaration?
The manufacturer, or the importer or brand owner who places the appliance on the EU market, declares conformity. The declaration covers all applicable legislation, so it normally sits alongside the Low Voltage Directive and EMC declarations rather than as a separate paper. The factory supplies the measurement data, but the EU importer signs the declaration, which is the same split of duties as for safety testing.
What measurements does a laboratory provide?
A laboratory measures power in each relevant mode after the appliance reaches stable conditions, following the measurement conditions in the regulation. You receive a short report listing the mode, the measured watts and the limit, plus the settings used. Keep the report with the technical file, because market surveillance authorities ask for it during spot checks, and buyers increasingly ask for the standby figure in the product specification sheet.
Does this apply outside the EU?
The UK follows its own ecodesign framework, which currently keeps the same standby approach for the product groups it has retained. Other markets, such as the US, Australia or the Gulf, do not have a general standby limit for kitchen appliances, so the same hardware can be sold there without this documentation. Designing to the EU limits anyway is good engineering, because a low standby draw also reduces complaints about warm power supplies.
Can a display be removed to avoid the 0.8 W limit?
No, and that is the wrong question. If the product as sold shows a display in standby, the 0.80 W limit applies and the hardware must meet it. Powering the display off after a few seconds is a legitimate design measure, because the regulation allows information displays to time out. What matters is the measurement in the mode the user would encounter during normal use, not the mode the technician selects for the test.
How does this interact with the energy label?
Most small kitchen appliances do not carry an energy label today, because there is no adopted delegated act for them. That does not remove the standby duty: the standby regulation applies to appliances with standby and off modes regardless of whether an energy label exists. Watch the EU work plan for ecodesign, because cooking appliances are discussed as a possible future product group, and any new delegated act would add energy requirements on top.
Where can I read the official rules?
The regulation is published on EUR-Lex as Regulation (EU) 2023/826, and it replaced the older standby rules in Regulation 1275/2008. Read it together with the Low Voltage Directive and EMC Directive files that govern the same appliance. See our [air fryer certification guide](/resources/air-fryer-certification-requirements/) for how the documents fit together.