The change enables compliance with European Union Ecodesign and F-Gas regulations while allowing Arçelik brands Beko, Grundig, Blomberg and Elektrabregenz to cut carbon emissions by approximately 60 percent and provide a safer, more efficient product to its customers in 28 European countries.
Heat pump tumble dryers are a quickly growing alternative to traditional condensing tumble dryers, since they offer consumers up to 50 percent lower energy consumption. Switching from R134a to Solstice N13 delivers the environmental compliance and energy savings Beko, Grundig, Blomberg and Elektrabregenz have been seeking, without any additional engineering investment.
Based on hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) technology, Solstice N13 is a non-flammable, non-toxic, near-drop in alternative to R134a in medium temperature systems, offering similar performance and energy efficiency but with a global warming potential (GWP) of only 604 versus a GWP of 1,430 for R-134a (IPCC AR4).
“Heat pump tumble dryer manufacturers are today facing mounting regulatory and economic pressures such as the increasingly limited availability of high GWP refrigerants under the F-Gas quota system and strict Ecodesign regulations,” said Julien Soulet, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Fluorine Products Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Solstice N13 solves all these issues while allowing manufacturers to switch over in a timely and cost-effective manner, and crucially, it gives consumers exactly what they want: a low cost, safe and energy efficient tumble dryer.”