“Safety first”: HKI establishes its own specialist department for ethanol devices
Certification program initiated – Industry association sets high standards for safety and quality of devices
Frankfurt am Main. – At a constitutive meeting in June in Frankfurt, a specialist department for ethanol appliances was founded under the umbrella of the HKI Industrial Association for Home, Heating and Kitchen Technology. This means that the still young industry of manufacturers of decorative fireplaces for liquid fuels has its own representation, which is directed both internally at the companies and externally at consumers.
The association places particularly high demands on the safety and quality of the equipment technology. Even before the association was founded, some of the member companies had already helped to develop the DIN standard 4734-1, which was published in January 2011 and has served as a benchmark in the German market since then. A second standard for the public and commercial sectors is to follow. Corresponding standards at European level are also currently being prepared with the involvement of the HKI.
The new department of the HKI, which has been serving industry for more than 60 years, will - in addition to its activities in the field of standardization and quality assurance - engage in an open dialogue with the public, as there have been repeated serious accidents involving ethanol burners in the past. Most of these were cheap imports with safety defects. Another reason for accidents was operating errors. Nevertheless, a generally very critical view prevailed in the media.
Regaining lost trust with secure device technology
"Our aim is to inform consumers, to explain potential dangers, but also to allay unfounded fears," says Dipl.-Ing. Frank Kienle, Managing Director of the HKI, about the goals of his association's new specialist department. "We are convinced of the safety of our products and voluntarily subject ourselves to strict controls. This is the only way - rightly or wrongly - to regain lost trust."
The 14 founding members of the specialist department for safe ethanol fireplaces include both German and foreign companies. These are, in alphabetical order, the companies Alfra Feuer (Leutkirch), Beefire (Trier), Blomus (Sundern), Ecosmart Fire (Sidney/Australia), Eurolux/Kaminwunder (Lengerich), The Flame (Jenbach/Austria), Hark (Duisburg), Planika (Brzoza/Poland), Radius Einrichtungsbedarf (Brühl), Ruby Fires (Langedijk/Netherlands), Safretti (Haaksbergen/Netherlands), Gebr. Schulte (Sundern), Spartherm Feuerungstechnik (Melle) and Wodtke (Tübingen).
Contact and contact person:
HKI Industrial Association for Home, Heating and Kitchen Technology
Peter Täubl
Lyoner Str. 9
60528 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: +49 (0)69-25 62 68-0
Fax: +49 (0)69-25 62 68-100
Email: info@hki-online.de