IEC 61121:2012

Tumble dryers for household use - Methods for measuring the performance

IEC 61121:2012 is applicable to household electric tumble dryers of the automatic and non-automatic type, with or without a cold water supply and incorporating a heating device. This excludes tumble dryers which use gas or other fuels as a heating source. The object is to state and define the principal performance characteristics of household electric tumble dryers of interest to users and to describe standard methods for measuring these characteristics. This edition includes significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition and content has been reorganised into a more logical and simple structure.

Sèche-linge à tambour à usage domestique - Méthodes de mesure de l'aptitude à la fonction

La CEI 61121:2012 s'applique aux sèche-linge à tambour électriques à usage domestique, de types automatique et non automatique, avec ou sans alimentation en eau froide et comportant un dispositif de chauffage. Cela exclut les sèche-linge à tambour qui utilisent du gaz ou d'autres combustibles comme source de chauffage. L'objet de la présente norme est d'énumérer et de définir les principales caractéristiques d'aptitude à la fonction des sèche-linge à tambour électriques à usage domestique intéressant les consommateurs et de décrire des méthodes normalisées pour mesurer ces caractéristiques. Cette édition inclut des modifications techniques majeures par rapport à l'édition précédente et le contenu a été organisé selon une structure plus simple et logique.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 15-Feb-2012
• ICS: 01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION
• ICS: 97.060 - Laundry appliances
• Technical Committee: SC 59D - Performance of household and similar electrical laundry appliances
• Current Stage: PPUB - Publication issued
• Start Date: 16-Feb-2012
• Completion Date: 16-Feb-2012

Standards Content (sample)

IEC 61121
Edition 4.0 2012-02
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Tumble dryers for household use – Methods for measuring the performance
Sèche-linge à tambour à usage domestique – Méthodes de mesure de l'aptitude
à la fonction
IEC 61121:2012
---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
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IEC 61121
Edition 4.0 2012-02
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Tumble dryers for household use – Methods for measuring the performance
Sèche-linge à tambour à usage domestique – Méthodes de mesure de l'aptitude
à la fonction
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
CODE PRIX
ICS 97.060 ISBN 978-2-8322-0936-3

Warning! Make sure that you obtained this publication from an authorized distributor.

Attention! Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez obtenu cette publication via un distributeur agréé.

® Registered trademark of the International Electrotechnical Commission
Marque déposée de la Commission Electrotechnique Internationale
---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
– 2 – 61121 © IEC:2012
CONTENTS

FOREWORD ........................................................................................................................... 5

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 7

1 Scope ............................................................................................................................... 8

2 Normative references ....................................................................................................... 8

3 Terms, definitions and symbols ........................................................................................ 8

3.1 Terms and definitions .............................................................................................. 8

3.2 List of symbols ...................................................................................................... 12

4 Requirements ................................................................................................................. 13

4.1 General ................................................................................................................. 13

4.2 Rated capacity ...................................................................................................... 13

4.3 Dimensions ........................................................................................................... 14

5 Test conditions, materials, equipment and instrumentation ............................................. 14

5.1 General ................................................................................................................. 14

5.2 Ambient conditions ................................................................................................ 14

5.2.1 Electricity supply ....................................................................................... 14

5.2.2 Water supply ............................................................................................. 15

5.2.3 Ambient temperature and humidity ............................................................ 16

5.3 Test materials ....................................................................................................... 16

5.3.1 General ..................................................................................................... 16

5.3.2 Test loads ................................................................................................. 16

5.3.3 Detergents ................................................................................................. 17

5.4 Equipment ............................................................................................................. 17

5.4.1 Equipment for normalization ...................................................................... 17

5.4.2 Equipment for conditioning the test load .................................................... 17

5.4.3 Equipment for wetting the test load prior to a test ...................................... 17

5.4.4 Other equipment ........................................................................................ 17

5.5 Instrumentation and accuracy ................................................................................ 18

6 Preparation for testing .................................................................................................... 18

6.1 General ................................................................................................................. 18

6.2 Installation of the tumble dryer .............................................................................. 18

6.3 Preparation of the tumble dryer for a test series .................................................... 19

6.4 Preparation of the tumble dryer for a test run ........................................................ 19

6.5 Preparation of test loads ....................................................................................... 19

6.5.1 General ..................................................................................................... 19

6.5.2 Pre-treatment of new test load items prior to use ....................................... 20

6.5.3 Requirements regarding the age of test load items .................................... 20

6.5.4 Normalization of test load items ................................................................. 20

6.5.5 Conditioning of test load items ................................................................... 21

6.5.6 Test load composition ................................................................................ 22

6.5.7 Wetting ...................................................................................................... 24

7 Performance measurements – General requirements ..................................................... 24

8 Tests for performance .................................................................................................... 25

8.1 General ................................................................................................................. 25

8.2 Test procedure for performance tests .................................................................... 25

8.2.1 Test conditions, materials and preparation for testing ................................ 25

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61121 © IEC:2012 – 3 –

8.2.2 Programme ................................................................................................ 25

8.2.3 Test load ................................................................................................... 26

8.2.4 Test procedure .......................................................................................... 26

8.2.5 Validity of a test run ................................................................................... 26

8.2.6 Validity of a test series .............................................................................. 27

8.3 Measurements to determine water and energy consumption and programme

time ....................................................................................................................... 27

8.3.1 General ..................................................................................................... 27

8.3.2 Procedure .................................................................................................. 28

8.4 Measurements to determine condensation efficiency ............................................. 28

8.4.1 General ..................................................................................................... 28

8.4.2 Procedure .................................................................................................. 28

8.5 Measurements to determine evenness of drying .................................................... 28

8.5.1 General ..................................................................................................... 28

8.5.2 Procedure .................................................................................................. 28

8.6 Measurements to determine exhaust air volume .................................................... 29

9 Assessment of performance ........................................................................................... 29

9.1 General ................................................................................................................. 29

9.2 Final moisture content of the load .......................................................................... 29

9.3 Corrected electrical energy consumption ............................................................... 30

9.4 Corrected water consumption ................................................................................ 30

9.5 Corrected programme time .................................................................................... 31

9.6 Condensation efficiency ........................................................................................ 32

9.7 Evenness of drying ................................................................................................ 32

9.8 Exhaust air volume ................................................................................................ 33

10 Data to be reported ........................................................................................................ 33

Annex A (normative) Reference list ...................................................................................... 34

Annex B (normative) Nominal and standard exhaust duct for tumble dryer testing ................ 35

Annex C (informative) Flow diagrams ................................................................................... 38

Annex D (normative) Test report – data to be reported ......................................................... 40

Annex E (normative) Procedure to determine test load size where rated capacity is not

declared ............................................................................................................................... 44

Annex F (normative) Flexible initial moisture content method ............................................... 45

Annex G (informative) Assessment of evenness of drying .................................................... 47

Annex H (informative) Measurement of exhaust air volume .................................................. 48

Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 50

Figure B.1 – Pressure/volumetric air flow curve .................................................................... 35

Figure B.2 – Standard exhaust duct (dimensions are in millimetres)..................................... 36

Figure B.3 – Standard exhaust simulator (dimensions are in millimetres) ............................. 37

Figure C.1 – Decision chart illustrating the requirements for a valid test series for

automatic tumble dryers ........................................................................................................ 38

Figure C.2 – Decision chart illustrating the requirements for a valid test series for non

automatic tumble dryers ........................................................................................................ 39

Figure H.1 – Suction chamber setup ..................................................................................... 49

Table 1 – List of symbols ...................................................................................................... 12

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– 4 – 61121 © IEC:2012

Table 2 – Specification of instruments .................................................................................. 18

Table 3 – Number of items in the cotton test load for various test load masses .................... 22

Table 4 – Number of items in the synthetic/blends test load for various test load

masses ................................................................................................................................. 23

Table 5 – Specifications for initial moisture content in the test load ....................................... 24

Table 6 – Specification for final moisture content of the test load after drying ...................... 26

Table D.1 – Identification data .............................................................................................. 40

Table D.2 – Test measurements ........................................................................................... 41

Table D.3 – Test conditions and materials ............................................................................ 43

Table D.4 – Weighted average age – Cotton load ................................................................. 43

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61121 © IEC:2012 – 5 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
TUMBLE DRYERS FOR HOUSEHOLD USE –
METHODS FOR MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE
FOREWORD

1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising

all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote

international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To

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2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international

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5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity

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6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.

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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is

indispensable for the correct application of this publication.

9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of

patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

International Standard IEC 61121 has been prepared by subcommittee 59D: Home laundry

appliances, of IEC technical committee 59: Performance of household and similar electrical

appliances.

This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition published in 2002 and Amendment 1

(2005). This edition constitutes a technical revision.

This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous

edition:
a) General:

• more terms have been defined and some previous definitions have been streamlined,

in addition to the correction of some symbols and equations;
• where possible, definitions and terms have been used in common with
IEC 60456:2010;

• the content has been organised into a more logical and simple structure, and repetitive

sections have been removed.
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– 6 – 61121 © IEC:2012
b) Conditions of measurement:
• the wording of various sections has been revised to reduce ambiguity;

• limits have been defined for water characteristics for automatic tumble dryers that are

sensitive to conductivity as well as methods to adjust these characteristics where

necessary.
c) Reproducibility and repeatability of test results:

• revision of the specification for the cotton test load to include suitable test materials

which are currently available on the market;

• more careful definition of the process and conditions for pre-treatment, conditioning

and normalization.
d) Test methods:
• accuracy of measurement has been defined for all instruments;

• limits and interpretations of the allowable final moisture content for each type of

dryer are now defined;

• practical advice regarding the test procedure has been given with the aim of reducing

ambiguity.
Words in bold in the text are defined in Clause 3.

This bilingual version (2013-07) corresponds to the monolingual English version, published in

2012-02.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
59D/393/FDIS 59D/395/RVD

Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on

voting indicated in the above table.
The French version of this standard has not been voted upon.

This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until

the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data

related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
61121 © IEC:2012 – 7 –
INTRODUCTION

This fourth edition has been developed in light of experience with use of the third edition of

IEC 61121. The structure has been revised to ensure that this remains harmonised with the

IEC 60456:2010 for clothes washers.
---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
– 8 – 61121 © IEC:2012
TUMBLE DRYERS FOR HOUSEHOLD USE –
METHODS FOR MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE
1 Scope

This International Standard is applicable to household electric tumble dryers of the

automatic and non-automatic type, with or without a cold water supply and incorporating a

heating device. This excludes tumble dryers which use gas or other fuels as a heating

source.

The object is to state and define the principal performance characteristics of household

electric tumble dryers of interest to users and to describe standard methods for measuring

these characteristics.

NOTE This International Standard applies also to tumble dryers for communal use in blocks of flats or in

launderettes. It does not apply to tumble dryers for commercial laundries.
2 Normative references

The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and

are indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For

undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.

IEC 60335-2-11:2008, Household and similar electrical appliances – Safety – Part 2-11:

Particular requirements for tumble dryers

IEC 60456:2010, Clothes washing machines for household use – Methods for measuring the

performance
IEC 60734:- , Household electrical appliances – Performance – Water for testing

IEC 62053-21:2003, Electricity metering equipment (a.c.) – Particular requirements – Part 21:

Static meters for active energy (classes 1 and 2)
IEC 62301:2011, Household electrical appliances – Measurement of standby power

ISO 5167-1:2003, Measurement of fluid flow by means of pressure differential devices

inserted in circular cross-section conduits running full – Part 1: General principles and

requirements
ISO 80000-1:2009, Quantities and units – Part 1: General
3 Terms, definitions and symbols
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply:
___________
To be published.
---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------
61121 © IEC:2012 – 9 –
3.1.1
tumble dryer

appliance in which textiles are dried by tumbling in a rotating drum, through which air is

passed
3.1.2
air vented tumble dryer

tumble dryer that draws in fresh air which is passed over the textiles and where the resulting

moist air is exhausted into the room or vented outside
3.1.3
condenser tumble dryer

tumble dryer which includes a device for removing moisture from the air used for the drying

process
3.1.4
automatic tumble dryer

tumble dryer which switches off the drying process when a certain moisture content of the

load is reached

Note 1 to entry: This may include systems that use conductivity or temperature sensing.

3.1.5
non-automatic tumble dryer

tumble dryer which does not switch off the drying process when a certain moisture content

of the load is reached, usually controlled by a timer, but may also be controlled manually

3.1.6
test load
textile load used for testing
3.1.7
pre-treatment

processing of a new test load prior to its first use to avoid rapid changes of characteristics

during the tests
3.1.8
conditioning

bringing the test load into thermodynamic equilibrium with the defined ambient air conditions

of temperature and humidity

Note 1 to entry: The process of conditioning is not the same as "wetting" which is described in 6.5.7.

3.1.9
test run
single performance assessment
3.1.10
test series

group of test runs on a tumble dryer which, collectively, are used to assess the performance

of that tumble dryer
3.1.11
operation

each performance of a function that occurs during the tumble dryer drying process such as

heating up, drying, cooling, anti-creasing
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– 10 – 61121 © IEC:2012
3.1.12
programme

series of operations which are pre-defined within the tumble dryer and which are declared

by the manufacturer as suitable for drying certain types of textiles
3.1.13
end of the programme

moment in time when the tumble dryer indicates the programme is complete and the load is

accessible to the user

Note 1 to entry: Where there is no such indicator and the door is locked during operation, the programme is

deemed to be complete when the load is accessible to the user. Where there is no indicator and the door is not

locked during operation, the programme is deemed to be complete when the power consumption of the appliance

drops to a steady state condition and it is not performing any function. For non-automatic tumble dryers, the

programme is deemed to be complete when it is stopped by the operator.

Note 2 to entry: An indication of the end of the programme may be in the form of a light (on or off), a sound, an

indicator shown on a display or the release of a door or latch. In some tumble dryers there may be a short delay

from an end of the programme indicator until the load is accessible by the user.
3.1.14
programme time

period of time from the initiation of the programme (excluding any user programmed delay)

until the end of the programme
3.1.15
cycle

complete drying process, as defined by the selected programme, consisting of a series of

operations including any operations that occur after the end of the programme

Note 1 to entry: Examples of operations that may occur after the completion of the programme are monitoring

and anti- creasing operations (where applicable).
3.1.16
cycle time

period of time from the initiation of the programme (excluding any user programmed delay)

until all activity ceases. Activity is considered to have ceased when the power consumption

reverts to a steady state condition that persists indefinitely without user intervention. If there

is no activity after the end of the programme, the cycle time i
...