RE:RE:RE:RE:No ReplyGingerEnergy111 wrote: I'm an HVAC Designer. Been in the HVAC business for a long time. Not much has changed in terms of decision making around fuel choices. Indeed location is a big factor, so is "backup heat" for emergencies, like power outages. No one wants to be sitting around a candle in their snow suits at -25°C.
What concerns me about the latest "heat pumps for everyone" line that has repaced "safe and effective"; is that we are also at a moment where refrigerants are being phased out and new ones coming in.
About 25 years ago we started to move away from R-22 (bad for the environment) to R-410A which was seen as cleaner. Fast forward to today and now we measure refrigerants by their "GWP - Global Warming Potential". Seems the R-410A was acutally a few points worse than R-22 on the GWP scale. So they want it out.
Two new ones seem to be leading the way, but markets are mixed. So here in Canada, some of our product lines are using R-32 and others will be R454A. The deadline for manufacturer's is Dec 31 2023. After that, they can only manufacture with new refrigerants.
Bottom line? We are pushing people to accept and adapt to heat pumps at a time when the whole industry is transitioning to new refrigerants. There will be a learning curve for handling, storage, technical training, etc. Flammability is also an issue, so limiting line set lengths (copper lines between indoor part and out door part) will be limited to address this. This sets up the potential for a really bad label to be applied to heat pumps if we don't get it right.
Too fast, too much, too soon. Always makes my hair stand up.
it's no difference than the current Irush to EVs we are seeing today.
Too fast, too much, too soon. I know battery format, form factor, recipe ingredient will change rapidly as we are still on the learning curve. EV makers and battery recyclers need to be careful how much money they want to sink into their business. It can ruin them if they even just time it wrong. Of course, having free government subsidies lessen the pain
BTW, the banning of older refrigerant is mostly for competition reason, not environmental. Scientists are puzzled why are banned freons still not level off in our atmosphere. The reason is china kept using them secretly, in the worst way, to make foam. The west is so obsessed with internal emission but totally gave china a free pass on pollution.