News Headlines
20th March 2026
Retailers fined over $1.1m for selling R134a
USA: Amazon and Walmart have received penalties totalling over $1.1m in the USA for illegally selling R134a to the general public.
17th March 2026
Switchless AC system achieves 25% energy cut
JAPAN: Daikin claims to have achieved an annual energy saving of approximately 25% in a commercial zero-energy office building using a so-called “switchless” air conditioning system.
13th March 2026
Belgium to auction 14 tonnes of seized R134a
BELGIUM: Nearly 14 tonnes of confiscated R134a refrigerant is expected to raise over €62,000 in an auction being organised by the Belgian government finance agency.
20th March 2026
Retailers fined over $1.1m for selling R134a
USA: Amazon and Walmart have received penalties totalling over $1.1m in the USA for illegally selling R134a to the general public.
19th March 2026
Grafton buys Spanish distributor Mercaluz
IRELAND: Grafton Group, the Dublin-based construction product distributor, has acquired Spanish air conditioning distributor Mercaluz.
17th March 2026
Switchless AC system achieves 25% energy cut
JAPAN: Daikin claims to have achieved an annual energy saving of approximately 25% in a commercial zero-energy office building using a so-called “switchless” air conditioning system.
19th March 2026
Bookings open for Scottish refrigeration dinner
UK: Bookings are now being taken for the Institute of Refrigeration Scottish Dinner 2026, which returns to the Crowne Plaza Glasgow on Thursday 5 November.
18th March 2026
Daikin UK expands Hive partnership
UK: Eco-tech company Hive has announced a new partnership with Daikin through its Works With Hive programme, significantly expanding smart control compatibility with air-source heat pumps.
17th March 2026
Carrier invests in Heat Geek
UK: Carrier has made a strategic investment in Heat Geek, the UK-based technology platform and network of heat pump engineers.
19th March 2026
MHI adds further R290 monoblocs
JAPAN: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has expanded its Hydrolution EZY series of R290 air-to-water heat pumps for the European market with 10kW and 14kW capacity models.
19th March 2026
Refra R290 WTW heat pumps and chillers
LITHUANIA: Refra has introduced Oasis, a new series of R290 commercial and industrial water-to-water chillers and heat pumps.
17th March 2026
ESBE adds summer-smart anti-freeze valve
SWEDEN: ESBE has expanded its product portfolio with its Series VTN200 summer-smart heat pump anti-freeze valve.
15th March 2026
Ammonia system ensures Olympic performances
ITALY: Consistent ice quality for the bobsleigh and skeleton track at the recent Olympic Winter Games was provided by an innovative ammonia-based refrigeration system.
14th March 2026
Mitsubishi Electric goes on safari
UK: Mitsubishi Electric has extended its partnership with Chester Zoo by providing renewable heating to 51 guest lodges at the zoo’s Heart of Africa zone.
26th February 2026
Praise for Panasonic at new Ellis Training site
UK: Ellis Training’s move into a former Methodist church, last year, has transformed the 19th-century building into a leading-edge HVACR training facility.
14th December 2025
When glycol loops go bad
David McKune, corporate account manager of Ecolab EU, a global sustainability leader offering water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services, discusses the hidden risks of ignoring coolant health in AI-era data centres.
2nd November 2025
Who really owns the S&M data?
Digital job systems and client portals have transformed service and maintenance efficiency, but they have also blurred the line between compliance reporting and intellectual property.
31st August 2025
Cooling at an AI crossroads
Piergiorgio Tagliapietra, senior director of application engineering thermal management EMEA at critical infrastructure technologies company Vertiv, looks at how AI workloads are reshaping data centre cooling requirements.
12th March 2026
Over 7,000 complete Daikin heat pump courses
UK: Daikin UK has reported that 7,333 installers completed its specialist heat pump training programmes in 2025, a 20% increase on 2024.
4th March 2026
First meeting of new Industry Skills Alliance
UK: The Institute of Refrigeration is to hold an inaugural meeting of its recently announced Industry Skills Alliance training initiative next month at Bitzer UK’s HQ in Milton Keynes.
9th February 2026
Mitsubishi Electric expands heat pump training
UK: Mitsubishi Electric is offering a comprehensive suite of LCL Awards-certified, Ofqual-accredited heat pump and low temperature heating training courses at its Hatfield training centre.