popularity over the coming years as air conditioning system

designers move away from VRF based systems as the

F-GAS Regs come into force.

These EU driven Regulations, concerning the safe handling of

refrigerant gases, will make the regular inspection of in-space

refrigerant pipework necessary under the law. All VRF systems

have masses of in-space pipework and the massive disruption to

the occupiers of the space is likely to see a big drop in the

acceptability of such systems.

Conversely fan coil systems, of course, have water in the inspace

pipework not refrigerant and they will therefore increase

significantly in popularity since they will not be subject to disruptive

inspections, which initially look likely to be required annually.

The details of the F-GAS Regs are being hammered out in

committees around the EU, but the expectation is that they will be

introduced next year, which means that they will affect new air

conditioning systems which are being designed right now. They will

probably affect any installation needing in excess of 3kg recharge,

so an installation in a small shop or restaurant will be exempt, but

anything much bigger will be included.

The problem for VRF systems in offices is that traditionally

pipework has been boxed in for neatness or hidden in suspended

ceilings. And the pipes are often insulated with Armaflex or similar,

making joints difficult to inspect. So almost all existing installations

will have to be adapted to make them properly accessible to regular

inspection. This will involve some vacation of offices. But many

hotels also have VRF systems, and if life is going to be difficult in

offices, it is going to be more so in hotel applications.

Even when it comes to regular inspections themselves, it is

difficult to see in a typical open plan office configuration how the

occupiers will be able to carry on normally with the refrigeration

engineers checking the pipework above their heads. So it now

seems inevitable that for inspections, sections of offices will have

to be shut down and vacated progressively, a day or two at a time.

A shutdown for one day will involve disruption the day before and

the day after. Then to add insult to injury, there will be a significant

bill for the occupier to pay for inspection. Recent press reports,

based on statements by refrigerant manufacturers Ineos Flour,

suggest refrigerant prices are set to rocket. Another factor that will

bring the focus back on hydronic systems such as fan coils.

Fan coil systems have been around in the UK for more than thirty

years. In the sixties and seventies, the pipework ran around the

perimeter of the building near floor level and the fan coils were

either wall or floor mounted. In the late

seventies and the eighties many perimeter fan

coil systems were succeeded by ceiling

mounted VAV systems popularised by Carrier.

In the nineties the rather complicated VAV

systems were succeeded by VRF systems

pioneered by the big Japanese brands such as

Daikin.

Fan coil systems, although still around were

rather unsexy, and in the UK they had migrated

from the perimeter of the building at floor level

to the heart of the building at ceiling level.

Elsewhere in Southern European markets such

as Italy, however, perimeter systems are still

used but the fan coils themselves are no longer

utilitarian, but really quite stylish.

However if companies were to largely ignore

the F-GAS Regulations then there may be little or no increase in fan

coil system uptake. Indeed, who is going to police the Regulations

is not yet clear, although local authority ‘environmental health’

officers will probably have a key role. However, in large and

medium size companies, the days are gone when unless the

Chairman’s wife was an active Greenpeace supporter,

environmental matters were largely ignored. These days, such

companies as well as having health, safety and environmental

officers, have Directors of Corporate Social Responsibility. Most

public companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange even

include a section in their Annual Report and Accounts on the

company’s record in relation to environmental and social

responsibility.

Fear is the other reason why companies will not ignore the

situation. We live in an increasingly litigious world and companies

will be wary of former employees dragging them into litigation

(however fanciful) over health problems caused by refrigerant leak

procedures which were never carried out. So, the Regulations will

not be ignored by major companies, even if the policing is not that

effective.

VRF systems have gained a powerful hold on the market and

major players in the sector have reported further sales increases

this year of 10 to 15%. There may be an element of hype in these

claims but nobody doubts the dominant position they hold in the

comfort air conditioning market with sales probably around £110

million per year.

Some consultants and other air conditioning system designers

will be reluctant to move to fan coil systems while others will

welcome a move to what they see as simpler

environmentally cleaner options.

The reluctant consultants will be those who

have concerns over the performance of the fan

coils themselves. Most consultants will be well

aware of advances chillers have made in terms

of increased efficiency but many will be

understandably wary of the historic disparity in

fan coils between manufacturer’s claims and

actual performance delivered.

This has been a problem in the UK because

fan coils traditionally have not been

manufactured in the major air conditioning

factories but in small independent production

facilities where, in some, a culture of blagging

the equipment performance persists to this day.

The blagging involves both the air delivery

performance characteristics and stated

operating noise levels. It is wise, therefore, to

only specify fan coils which are Eurovent

certified.

But it is not only the independent UK brands which are not

certified. One of the best known air conditioning names buys in

badged fan coils from an uncertified source, so do not take comfort

from the brand name alone, check for Eurovent certification, and

where appropriate opt for factory installed valves and controls for

added reassurance.

Fan coil systems are either 2-pipe, cooling only, or 4-pipe,

heating and cooling. They offer good levels of comfort air

conditioning at a competitive installed price. They are simple to

maintain and allow a good level of flexibility in relation to any

reconfiguration of the occupied space.

Aermec fan coils include ducted models for traditional UK

positioning above suspended ceilings, as well as Italian styled

floor/wall mounted units for perimeter applications. Alternatively,

chassis only fan coils can be attractively boxed in. The products

offer cooling duties between 1000 and 8000 watts with acoustic

lined inlet/discharge plenum and condensate pump.

For fan coil installations, the chiller is the pivotal element in any

hydronic package. Typically with an air-cooled water chiller,

whether it is a cooling only chiller or a heat pump, this means

having it factory supplied with water pumps and storage tank.

In terms of energy efficiency, the efficiency expectation would be

to meet the levels of the Enhanced Capital Allowances scheme. The

Aermec NRA chillers, for example, feature multiple scroll

compressors for highly efficient operation.

To some degree the energy efficiency of the chiller these days is

becoming something of a given, but the greater problem can be the

noise levels of the chiller. Local authority environmental officers

have ever more stringent expectations about noise levels of chillers.

This is where Aermec chillers are market leaders. These products

have always been designed to be intrinsically quiet and never to

require externally added acoustic treatment. The company’s

standard chillers, for example, are nearly always quieter than other

manufacturers so called super quiet models, ie versions with

additional silencing factors.

At a major installation at London’s Canary Wharf development,

for example, consultants found that only Aermec chillers could

operate within the stated noise parameters. It was the same story

with a hotel installation just across the river, an Aermec NRA ultra

low noise model 650, was the only chiller quiet enough to meet the

spec for a cooling only (2-pipe) fan coil system for the 100 or so

bedrooms.

Fan coils have been around for donkey’s years, but except in the

earliest days of air conditioning here in the UK, they have never

been particularly fashionable, but the F-GAS Regs may just elevate

them and other hydronic systems to new heights of popularity at

the expense of VRF and other split systems.

Thanks to Brian Phillips,Managing Director of Aiax (AC)Ltd.

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