Refrigerant Safety Information:
COSHH Details:
Air conditioning has to use refrigerants and although there are many types of refrigerants, including air and water, it is necessary to use chemicals for reasons of efficiency and ultimately to conserve energy.
We hope that this page will give you a better understanding of some of the most common refrigerants in use today for air conditioning and answer any queries you may have.
We have not made this too technical, we could show you the exact chemical compositions, but you will gain more information by viewing refrigerant manufacturer sites on the web. By the way, Daikin also produces refrigerants.
Details are given for the following reference terms with a brief explanation, such as its effect on the Ozone layer and Greenhouse effect.
ODP - The ODP or Ozone Depletion Potential, is the potential for a single molecule of the refrigerant to destroy the Ozone Layer. All of the refrigerants use R11 as a datum reference and thus R11 has an ODP of 1.0. The less the value of the ODP the better the refrigerant is for the ozone layer and therefore the environment.
GWP - The GWP, or Global Warming Potential, is a measurement of how much effect the given refrigerant will have on Global Warming in relation to Carbon Dioxide, where CO2 has a GWP of 1. This is usually measured over a 100-year period. In this case the lower the value of GWP the better the refrigerant is for the environment.
