World News

Industry news and insights from Europe and around the World

UK News

Latest news and developments in the United Kingdom

Products

Keep up-to-date with the latest new products and technology

Features

General articles, applications and industry analysis

Daikin encourages pre-summer AC test

JAPAN: Daikin is to encourage domestic customers in Japan to join in its annual pre-summer Switch on! Campaign and test run their air conditioners before the summer season begins.

The initiative, conducted by Daikin in Japan since 2016, seeks to spread the peak of call outs and repairs in July, when air conditioners are turned on in earnest, by encouraging consumers to carry out a test run from May to the first half of June.

Involvement has grown over the years, with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment calling for the implementation of test runs of air conditioners. The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association has also designated April 10 this year as Air Conditioner Test Run Day. 

According to Daikin, domestic air conditioners have a “designed standard usage period,” of around 10 years. An awareness survey into years of usage, daily usage, and the implementation status of test runs found that 32.8% of households own air conditioners manufactured more than 12 years ago. The average service life of home air conditioners was found to be 13.2 years.

The survey has also revealed that about half of households have not cleaned the air conditioner’s filter for more than a year. In the Japanese summer, Daikin recommends cleaning the filter every two weeks, but the survey results show that 45.8% have not cleaned the filter for more than a year. Studies have shown that if the filter is not cleaned for a year, it will waste about 25% of its power consumption, as well as dirt on the filter potentially causing an unpleasant odour.

Latest News

10th April 2026

Africa and China sign MoU

CHINA: U‑3ARC, the Union of African Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Associations, has signed a signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Association of Refrigeration.
10th April 2026

Heat pumps replace gas boilers at Surrey offices

The three Climaveneta EW-HT water-to-water heat pumps UK: The refurbishment of a landmark 70,000ft2 Surrey office block has seen gas-fired boilers and air-to-water cooling systems replaced with Mitsubishi Electric heat…
9th April 2026

Retail CO2 systems in Europe exceed 100,000

BELGIUM: Installations of transcritical CO2 systems in European food retail establishments exceeded 100,000 last year, according to new estimates from market development company ATMOsphere.
8th April 2026

Firms knowingly breach the F-gas regulations

UK: A new report claims European companies are knowingly breaching the F-gas regulations by exceeding quota limits, falsifying invoices, mislabelling virgin refrigerants as reclaimed gases and evading VAT.
8th April 2026

Creating a one-stop-shop for environmental data

BELGIUM: Eurovent Certification has launched a sustainability department to support the increasing market demand for environmental information for procurement, reporting, and regulatory readiness. 
8th April 2026

Schemes collaborate on R290 heat pump training

EUROPE: The Real Alternatives project and SkillSafe EU are to collaborate in a specialised training programme on the safe handling of flammable refrigerants and the use of R290 heat pumps.