HFC-32 NOW WIDELY INTRODUCED IN RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL AIR-CONDITIONING RANGES

The F-Gas Regulation 517/2014 requires new single split air-conditioning systems containing less than 3 kg of to have a refrigerant with less than 750 GWP from 1 January 2025. At the recent Mostra Convengno Expocomfort (MCE) major introductions of HFC-32 systems were announced by leading manufacturers.

One manufacturer announced the availability of HFC-32 residential single split and multi split system with up to five ports as well as commercial split systems up to 14kW. Already for at least one manufacturer the majority of air/air heat pumps supplied in Italy are HFC-32 units. HFC-32 is widely used in Japan, Australia and India, with over 10 million air-conditioning units installed in Japan.

HFC-32 is mildly flammable (A2L); see REAL Alternatives 4 LIFE Module 1 Introduction to Alternative Refrigerants for information on flammability and use restrictions. It cannot be used in systems designed for R-410A, but it has very similar technical and performance properties, with a GWP one third that of R-410A and a charge reduction of about 15%. It provides improvements in both capacity and Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) and Coefficient of Performance (COP), but has a higher compressor discharge temperature.

Source 1: Cooling Post
Source 2: ACR News
Source 3: GC Génie Climatique Magazine
Source 3 & manufacturer’s information