I’ve been following closely the developments recently of one of the F Gas certification companies issuing what they call an “F Gas Card”. They claim it’s “like your F Gas certificate…only smaller” in their mailshot campaigns, “We decided it was high ... Read the rest of this article...

I recently linked up on social media with someone who works through the British Council for an organisation called IAESTE. The acronym meant nothing to me but I was intrigued when I read a couple of posts about student work experience and, wondering ... Read the rest of this article...

As many of you know I have been concerned for some time about the introduction of R32 into mainstream use in packaged air conditioning and heat pump systems due to the flammable nature of the gas and the lack of service tools for field technicians – ... Read the rest of this article...

Just back from the latest AREA General Assembly – this time we were hosted by one of our Italian Associations, Assofrigoristi, near Padova. A beautiful area, about an hour West of Venice, we were also blessed by a mini heatwave – unfortunately the... Read the rest of this article...

I've had a great start to 2014 and am feeling very upbeat about the industry again after some very trying times at the tail end of last year - for the UK in any case. I'm just back from a week in New York - albeit not great at this time of year... Read the rest of this article...

A strange few weeks in the UK RAC sector has seen what some have described as the shock news at the demise of WR Refrigeration - one of the biggest RAC service companies in Europe.

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I now understand that a number of people who regularly read my blogs are also regular readers of the other bloggers on this site. One of my fellow bloggers, Steve Gill, has recently posted a couple of blogs that have clearly hit a special note with a large cross section of our industry, judging by the lengthy discussion threads that have followed and taken the discussion through several deviations from the original story but all on the same general theme.

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I've kept quiet of late over the proposed F-gas revisions because negotiations were at a delicate stage between the Commission, European Council, European Parliament, and the various stakeholders all vying for position. I didn't want to pre-empt anything or be accused of using this blog to unfairly sway opinion. Maybe it's the way I was brought up but I believe in fair play and that the right way forward is to debate out the issues when there are disagreements and that logic will prevail. Unfortunately not all parties under the "stakeholder" umbrella play by the same rules. I did think that manufacturers would at least have actively debated the pros and cons of issues like the pre-charging of air conditioning units.

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An excellent editorial in this month's magazine highlights the very real likelihood that in the very near future we contractors will be getting used to having to install, service, maintain and repair air conditioning and heat pump units containing flammable gases. OK they may be considered "mildly flammable" by some but, as I've said before, flammable is flammable as far as my insurance underwriters are concerned and my premiums will undoubtedly rise once they cotton to this fact.... Read the rest of this article...

I am aware that there have been concerns expressed that the wording "designed to contain" has been omitted from the proposed new regulation's update on the original F Gas regulation. Allow me to put the record straight and put a stop to this damaging confusion.

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