What is DIN 50014 for Climatic Testing?

In our industry, there are numerous international standards with extremely specific applications. They are designed to outline the procedures for a specific test on a certain type of material and address the issues in detail.

Then there are others, however, which lay the general foundations for conditioning tests and climatic tests. 

This is the case of the German standard DIN 50014.Let's discover it together.

What is DIN 50011 and Why is it Important?.

DIN is an acronym for Deutsches Institut für Normung, or German Institute for Standardization, and was founded in 1917.

At the time, each country had its own standards institutions without any supranational regulation to standardize the standards.

ISO , the International Organization for Standardization , was in fact founded only in 1947. From then on, the various national standards bodies joined it, integrating part of their standards into collectively shared international standards.

DIN became part of ISO in 1951 , and since then, many originally German standards have had their international equivalents.

This is the case of DIN 50014 which is fully translated into ISO 554.

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What does DIN 50014/ISO 554 prescribe?

DIN 50014 (or ISO 554 if you prefer) outlines three standard atmospheres as generic setups for conditioning and climatic tests.

These are very generic conditions that are suitable for a good number of tests, especially conditioning tests (which we have discussed in detail here) since they serve to bring a series of samples to an equivalent temperature and are independent of the type of material.

The three standard atmospheres are instead distinguished in this way.

23/50 is known as the "Recommended Atmosphere" and is the most widely used of the group. It prescribes a temperature of 23°C and a relative humidity of 50%.

The 27/65, on the other hand, is suitable for tropical countries and has higher values ​​in accordance with the climate of those latitudes: 27°C temperature and 65% relative humidity.

Finally, there is the 20/65 which is intended for certain specific fields of application that will refer to it in their standard by referring to the third standard of ISO 554.

All standards assume normal atmospheric pressure , i.e. between 86 and 106 kPa.

The standard also outlines two tolerance thresholds for testing.

The Ordinary (or wide) Tolerance which has a margin of ± 2° of temperature and ± 5 percentage points of humidity; and the Reduced (or narrow) Tolerance which has a margin of only 1° of temperature and ± 2 percentage points of humidity.

Depending on the experiment, one or the other tolerance threshold can be referred to.

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The FDM Climatic Chamber for DIN50014/ISO 554

The FDM climatic chamber is able to easily reproduce all three standard atmospheres outlined by DIN 50014 or ISO 554. Furthermore, thanks to cutting-edge technologies, such as the two electronic controllers called stillFACE and revoFACE, it has very low margins of error to conduct precise tests, in accordance with both tolerance thresholds indicated by the standard.

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Reference Standards

• DIN 50014:2018-12 — Klimate und ihre technische Anwendung – Normalklimate (Standard atmospheres). Basic German standard for standard atmospheres.
• ISO 554:1976 — Standard atmospheres for conditioning and/or testing – Specifications. International translation of DIN 50014.
• ISO 291:2008 — Plastics – Standard atmospheres for conditioning and testing. Specific to plastic materials.
• ISO 139:2005 — Textiles – Standard atmospheres for conditioning and testing (20 °C/65% RH).
• ASTM E171/E171M-20 — Standard atmospheres for conditioning and testing flexible barrier packaging.
• ASTM D618-21 — Standard Practice for Conditioning Plastics for Testing (23°C/50% RH).
• IEC 60068-1:2013 — Environmental testing Part 1: General and guidance, cited for reference conditions.

Authoritative Sources

• DIN – Deutsches Institut für Normung. German Institute for Standardization, founder of DIN 50014 and an ISO member since 1951.
• ISO – International Organization for Standardization. Global standards body that maintains ISO 554 as its international equivalent.
• ASTM International. American organization that publishes the D618 and E171 standards for plastics and packaging.
• UNI – Italian Standards Organization. Distributes Italian EN/ISO implementations and national UNI standards.

Frequently Asked Questions about DIN 50014

Why are there three standard atmospheres 23/50, 27/65, 20/65?

The three atmospheres address different regional climate needs. 23°C/50% RH was chosen as the "recommended atmosphere" because it represents an average temperate European-North American climate, with values ​​close to indoor comfort and moderate moisture absorption on materials. 27°C/65% RH simulates the tropical climate of equatorial countries (Singapore, coastal Brazil, Indonesia) and is used for testing products intended for those markets. 20°C/65% RH is reserved for specific sectors such as textiles (same condition as ISO 139) and paperboard, where hydroscopic balance at this RH has historically been used for comparative tests. Each atmosphere is referred to by specific product standards: ISO 291 for plastics cites 23/50 (condition A) and 23/50 ± 1% (condition B), ISO 139 requires 20/65, ASTM E171 for packaging uses 23/50 or 20/65. The choice is always guided by the applicable product standard.

What is the difference between ordinary and reduced tolerance?

DIN 50014 defines two levels of accuracy. Ordinary Tolerance (class 2) allows ±2°C for temperature and ±5% for relative humidity, suitable for general quality control testing, sample conditioning for mechanical tests, and R&D storage. Reduced Tolerance (class 1) requires ±1°C and ±3% RH (updated 2018 edition; some historical versions indicated ±2%), used for certification testing, comparative research, technical disputes, and calibrations. Reduced Tolerance requires climatic chambers with spatial uniformity ≤ ±0.5°C, temporal stability ≤ ±0.3°C, and sensors with expanded uncertainty ≤ 0.3°C (ACCREDIA calibrated). More stringent regulations such as ICH Q1A/B pharmaceutical require additional tolerances (± 2 °C/± 5% RH on long-term, accelerated, and intermediate set points). DIN 50014 is the basic standard but is refined by specific industry standards.

How is the conditioning of a sample verified according to DIN 50014?

The sample is considered conditioned when it has reached hygroscopic and thermal equilibrium with the standard atmosphere. This is verified through successive weighings: if the difference between two consecutive weighings at least 2 hours apart is less than 0.1-0.25% of the weight, the material is stabilized. For plastics, ISO 291 prescribes a minimum of 88 hours in a 23/50 atmosphere for samples ≤ 4 mm, up to several weeks for thick pieces. For fabrics, ISO 139 requires preconditioning at 50 °C/10% RH followed by hours in a standard atmosphere. Preconditioning is important to eliminate bias from the sample's climatic history (e.g., freshly produced sample vs. stored). The chamber must maintain an air flow of 0.2-1 m/s over all specimens, with a minimum spacing of 50 mm between samples and 100 mm from the walls. Pre-weighing and post-weighing are performed in a controlled atmosphere within 30 seconds of extraction to minimize exchanges with external air.

Which climate chamber complies with DIN 50014 class 1?

To ensure Reduced Tolerance (class 1), the chamber must comply with IEC 60068-3-6 with 9-point mapping, spatial uniformity within ± 0.5 °C and ± 2% RH, and temporal stability within ± 0.3 °C over 24 hours. The integrated Pt100 class A sensors (uncertainty ± 0.15 °C at 0 °C) must be calibrated at ACCREDIA-accredited laboratories with a certificate traceable to the INRIM national standard. Humidification occurs via ultrafiltered steam with conductivity < 1 µS/cm to avoid limescale contamination. Adaptive PID control minimizes overshoot and oscillations. The audit trail records with a frequency ≥ 1 Hz. The system dry-out occurs automatically after shutdown to prevent unwanted condensation. FDM climate chambers with stillFACE/revoFACE achieve ± 0.5 °C/± 2% RH with volumes from 50 to 2000 liters, compliant with both DIN 50014 class 1 and ISO 291, ISO 139 and ASTM D618.