Regulations approved In May by the Environmental Protection Agency could go a long way to help reduce those emissions by allowing the substitution of HFC-32, another hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant but one with significantly lower emissions, for HFC-410a.--So let's make sure to build those!
Thanks for raising a useful issue!
Regulations approved In May by the Environmental Protection Agency could go a long way to help reduce those emissions by allowing the substitution of HFC-32, another hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant but one with significantly lower emissions, for HFC-410a.--So let's make sure to build those!
R-32 is definitely better than R-410a and is available in the US in window ACs but not in many larger systems. It still has a GWP of 675 and is a sightly flammable refrigerant. But there are lower GWP options out there. CO2 (R-744, GWP of 1) and propane (R-290, GWP ~1) are much better long term options and really should be the direction to go. The kind of units we should be making are R-290 split systems (air to air heat pumps) (being made currently in India and China) and R-290 and R-744 air to water heat pumps. There are room volume minimums when using R-290.
Yes there are plenty of low GWP options that are tested and ready to go with modest engineering adjustments. We can make this a win-win-win proposition by using this major investment to speed up the industrial changeover.
Can you say more about these options and how to pursue them? After seeing Bill's helpful response I checked with our contractor, whose company does a lot of heat pump installations, and he said that he can't yet stock R-32 systems and that it will be a while before he can.
Regulations approved In May by the Environmental Protection Agency could go a long way to help reduce those emissions by allowing the substitution of HFC-32, another hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant but one with significantly lower emissions, for HFC-410a.--So let's make sure to build those!
Thanks for raising a useful issue!
R-32 is definitely better than R-410a and is available in the US in window ACs but not in many larger systems. It still has a GWP of 675 and is a sightly flammable refrigerant. But there are lower GWP options out there. CO2 (R-744, GWP of 1) and propane (R-290, GWP ~1) are much better long term options and really should be the direction to go. The kind of units we should be making are R-290 split systems (air to air heat pumps) (being made currently in India and China) and R-290 and R-744 air to water heat pumps. There are room volume minimums when using R-290.
The IVT Aero uses R32 and that can be used for an entire house.
Thats just one example. There are probably more.
Yes there are plenty of low GWP options that are tested and ready to go with modest engineering adjustments. We can make this a win-win-win proposition by using this major investment to speed up the industrial changeover.
Can you say more about these options and how to pursue them? After seeing Bill's helpful response I checked with our contractor, whose company does a lot of heat pump installations, and he said that he can't yet stock R-32 systems and that it will be a while before he can.