STIEBEL ELTRON with safe solution for refrigerant phase down

Efficient and environmentally friendly without explosion risks

Although no refrigerants are explicitly banned, the refrigerant phase down in the EU means that all heat pump suppliers will have to deal with introducing new refrigerants. At the ISH, Stiebel Eltron presents the first heat pump series that will be launched on the market in 2020 and will utilize R454C - an extremely environmentally friendly refrigerant. At the same time, these heat pumps will have better coefficients of performance than before and enable high flow temperatures. This enables them on the one hand to ensure high temperatures for hot water supply throughout the year in heat pump-only operation, meeting the requirements of apartment buildings without any problems, and on the other hand to be excellently suited for the refurbishment market and for operation in radiator heating systems.

"Unfortunately, it is not possible to simply replace existing refrigerants in proven product series with other refrigerants," explains Dr. Kai Schiefelbein, Managing Director Technology at Stiebel Eltron. "In order to be able to use new refrigerants, new refrigeration circuits must be developed. At Stiebel Eltron we benefit greatly from the fact that we are able to carry out dynamic simulations of refrigerant circuits and thus complete the refrigerant circuit design at an early stage of the development process".

R454C has a global warming potential (GWP) of less than 150 and contributes at least 10 times less to the greenhouse effect when released into the atmosphere than current refrigerants.  In addition to the low GWP value, R454C offers other advantages," explains Dr. Schiefelbein, "such as its safety - it is flame-retardant and, unlike propane, for example, there is no danger of explosion even during handling or in the case of leakages, so that the installation and operation of the heat pump can still be carried out easily and safely, especially when installed indoors." "R454C also offers a number of other advantages," explains Dr. Schiefelbein.