What is R32 and why should we be using it?

​As I’m sure you’re aware, global warming is a real and concerning issue. This has led to a whole host of changes for refrigerant in the air conditioning industry, such as the banning of R22 due to it’s potential damage to the ozone layer, which was replaced by R410A that offered higher efficiencies at the time, and in 2015, F Gas regulations have been updated to promote a further change to R32 refrigerant to reduce the impact of these gases on global warming.

What’s so great about R32?

R32 is more energy efficient and has a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of only 675 compared to R410A’s GWP of 2,088. If you’ve not heard of GWP before, each refrigerant has a Global Warming Potential with carbon used as the base. Carbon has a GWP of 1, so to work out the GWP you would need to divide the carbon amount in a gas by its system charge, this will give you the GWP. The full calculation is as below:

In addition to the above benefits, R32 is a single component liquid, meaning that it can be charged as a gas or a liquid meaning a lower system charge. It is also much easier to reuse and recycle than other refrigerants.

What are the downsides to the new R32 refrigerant?

There is only one negative associated with R32 refrigerant, it is mildly flammable so therefore will require both new tools and procedures for installation.

Some of the new tools required include:

• R32 Gauge Manifold 
• A2L Recovery Unit
• A2L Electronic Leak Tester 

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There will also be a move towards R32 compatible air conditioning units too, which both our suppliers Daikin and Toshiba have begun to offer. Daikin have even made the pipe sizes and connections on the R32 units the same as for R410A for both indoor and outdoor units, to make the change even more easy.

Please note also that R32 is to be used with new equipment only and is not a retrofit option for R410A models.

 Our R32 units can be identified with the below sticker:

To view our R32 compatible air con units click here.