Heating and Ventilating

Climate Center, the supplier of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, is now stocking the industry’s leading alternative to R410A in every branch.

Climate Center has invested heavily to respond effectively to the changes to the F-Gas regulations by ensuring the lower GWP R32 refrigerant is readily available for customers in all of its 45 branches nationwide.

The changes to the F-Gas Regulations came into force on 1 January 2015 with the aim of encouraging users to use refrigerants with a lower global warming potential (GWP). From 2025 any gas with a GWP higher than 750 will be banned in new split air conditioning systems.

With these measures in place, installers are increasingly seeking an alternative to R410A equipment. Climate Center’s investment also coincides with manufacturers Daikin and Toshiba launching their new R32 air conditioning ranges. 

R32 is a single component, zero ODP gas with a GWP of 675, significantly less than R410A, which has a GWP of 2088. In addition the use of R32 will lead to a reduction of refrigerant charge of up to 30%. This means that heat exchangers and components can be made smaller resulting in more compact systems.

At present gauges, manifolds, leak detectors and recovery equipment suitable for R32 have been available however no other wholesalers have been able to offer R32 refrigerant off the shelf.

Robert Franklin, national development director at Climate Center, said: “Climate Center is committed to distributing lower GWP refrigerants, however new legislation has inevitably conjured up concern across the industry in terms of how it will affect businesses. We have been working extensively to ensure that it has minimal impact on our customers by making sure they are up to date with F-Gas regulations and have the resources to comply. Ensuring that the leading alternative to R410A is readily available, is a fundamental part of this.”