Forum for European Electrical Domestic Safety
FEEDS
The Forum for European Electrical Domestic Safety (FEEDS) is a think-tank and a do-tank that brings together organisations aiming to improve electrical safety in dwellings.
ID: 720468945742-06
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Adam Jarubas (Member of the European Parliament) and European Chemical Industry Council and
15 Nov 2023 · EFSW2023: Taking stock of progress on fire safety – what should the Commission and Parliament do to improve fire safety in Europe?
Response to Action plan on accelerating Heat Pump market and deployment
22 May 2023
The Forum for European Electrical Domestic Safety (FEEDS, https://feedsnet.org/) supports this action plan which is able to provide concrete responses to the objectives set by the EU Green Deal and REPowerEU, and wishes to specify critical points essential to the success of this plan. The installation of a heat pump on a domestic electrical installation leads to a serious increase in power, the effects of which must be anticipated. However, it cannot be assumed that each European dwelling is ready to integrate a heat pumps without preliminary inspection and upgrade of its electrical installation. FEEDS has established that 25-30% of domestic fires have an electrical source (https://www.feedsnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/FEEDS-report-202002.pdf) and that the best way to prevent these fires is through the deployment of electrical inspection regimes. Establishing the status of an electrical installation through an inspection report is essential to know whether or not it is safe and prepared to accept heavy electrical loads. FEEDS has studied and drawn up a map of the domestic electrical installation inspection regimes across Europe (https://www.feedsnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/FEEDS-mapping-Electrical-inspections-regimes-in-the-EU-2022_April.pdf) which show that the best practices exist but their deployment remains insufficient. Inspections regimes must be mandatory prior the installation of heavy electrical loads like a heat pump : it is a prerequisite for a successful large scale implementation of heat pumps. 132 millions of domestic electrical installations are obsolete in Europe. An electrical installation considered obsolete is over thirty years old and has never been renovated or upgraded. It represents the archetype of an installation which readiness is not acceptable to integrate a heat pump and it is currently the situation of at least half of the building stock in Europe! France is one of the few country for which more data is available: 72% of the 2.5 million installations inspected between 2009 and 2013 had safety defaults (https://www.feedsnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FEEDS-French-Case.pdf). The situation is even more worrying when it comes to vulnerable communities and people in energy poverty situation. While heat pumps are presented as a solution to alleviate energy poverty, FEEDS has published a report showing the link between energy poverty and electrical fire risk (https://www.feedsnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Energy-Poverty-and-Fire-Risk.pdf). Precarious housing represents a typology where special attention must be paid with regard to safety aspects, this includes electrical installations. As far as electrical installations are a crucial element of heat pump roll-up acceleration, they need to be fully integrated into the action plan: inspection regimes should become mandatory prior their installation, domestic electrical installation upgrades should be completely integrated into related incentives and a specific attention should be paid to vulnerable households. Electrical inspections and upgrades (if necessary) will represent a minor share of the total cost of deploying heat pumps but they must be integrated to avoid technical barriers and implementation issues. The deployment of heat pumps is also an opportunity to address the existing issue of obsolete and unsafe electrical installations, bearing in mind the electrification of other usages (cooking, e-mobility). The One-Stop-Shops could be the most relevant place to completely inform the users on these different aspects at the condition they are properly educated on those topics. FEEDS is working on a fact sheet on heat pump and electrical safety and will be happy to share more information with the Commission in preparation of the action plan.
Read full responseMeeting with Seán Kelly (Member of the European Parliament) and European Fire Safety Alliance
23 Mar 2023 · Fire Safety
Response to Revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU
25 Mar 2022
The Forum for European Electrical Domestic Safety (FEEDS, https://www.feedsnet.org/) welcomes the EPBD proposal and the opportunity to give feedback.
The recast of the EPBD is an unmissable opportunity to consider building renovation in a holistic way, placing the fire safety of EU citizens at its heart. FEEDS established that 132 million of European dwellings have an obsolete electrical installation, this represents half of the building stock in the EU. It has also demonstrated that 25 to 30% of all domestic fires have an electrical source and that 50% of all accidental domestic fires have an electrical source. Those fires are not a fatality and are preventable. Experiences from worldwide and EU countries have proven that regular electrical inspections are key and constitute an appropriate measure. FEEDS analysis, regarding the existing domestic electrical inspection regimes across EU, leads to the conclusion that the situation varies strongly among Member States: their deployment is limited and mainly voluntary.
During the 2021 European Fire Safety Week organised by the European Fire Safety Alliance, many stakeholders and members of the European institutions were able to discuss this topic and many others. Their conclusions are gathered into the attached Policy Briefing. It includes key propositions for the EPBD recast including improving electrical safety to ensure a safer environment for all EU citizens in the context of the Energy Transition. They echo with the EPBD Implementation Report adopted by the Parliament on 15th December 2021 calling “on Member States to develop an electrical inspection regime” and believing “that the European building stock renovation should integrate electrical safety checks and upgrades”. Electrical safety is requesting an immediate response and the EPBD is a unique opportunity to act.
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