ACR Journal

CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai acrjournal.uk 31 REFRIGERATION their needs. “I will always try to fill in the gaps for my customers where their knowledge may be lacking, while ensuring we are o ering a competitive solution,” he said. Adopting A2Ls In addition to supporting sales and production, it is also Woods’ remit to decide where the business heads strategically. For him, the industry’s biggest challenge is the adoption of A2L refrigerants. “There’s no doubt that A2Ls are the industry’s biggest change and while it’s still the elephant in the room, everybody has got to adopt them — we have no choice. It is something I’m really trying to push in the business at the moment. We need to be in that arena and to help our customers through the transition period from HFCs to HFOs and mildly flammable refrigerants.” He acknowledges there are currently some concerns among contractors about the guidelines for A2Ls but insists Wolseley Climate is already working to guide customers through the process of risk assessments as the industry works towards the target of having an average GWP of below 400. “As a forward-thinking business, we’ve got to be working well below those 2030 targets, to operate e ectively in the market. We’ve got new refrigerants coming on at 148 GWP and they are going to have to be adopted by the industry for small to medium systems. Of course, CO2 and ammonia will still have their place for larger systems, but we will be specialising in those systems that sit above packaged air con and move into the semi-industrial market. Wolseley Climate will concentrate specifically on A2L refrigerants o ering a bespoke solution for a process or storage requirement.” Working smarter Woods highlights the increased usage of smart controls as another significant trend in the industry. For Wolseley Climate, it is becoming important that the business can enable those that hold refrigeration service contracts to quickly run diagnostics on machinery. “Everybody wants to monitor equipment. Many apps are being introduced by manufacturers and Wolseley Climate can guide contractors on how to use them or provide training as part of their package alongside the manufacturer. Everybody has got a mobile phone so they are used to using apps; it’s just a case of moving with the times so they can use the data they provide to conduct preventative maintenance. We are going to see a huge reduction in unnecessary call outs for engineers, as issues can be interrogated remotely through a building services monitoring system which will have huge benefits on e”ciency.” Why Wolseley Climate? Woods believes the business’s adaptability is its key strength, from providing o -the- shelf solutions the next day to being able to modify standard equipment or designing systems from scratch. “We can take standard equipment and put bells and whistles on it, or we can design from the ground up, or modify equipment if there’s a special requirement on a particular system. We can also provide ultra-low temperature equipment, but we are currently in the process of building equipment to minus 80, so we’re not restricted in our application envelope.” He says the depth of knowledge that lies within Wolseley Climate also presents it as the ideal choice for bespoke refrigeration systems. “We like a challenge. We like to learn. As a business, we aren’t afraid to step away from the norm. This game is hard and while it’s a small industry, there is a vast amount of knowledge required to work well within it. You’ve got psychometrics, refrigerant properties, EN378, DSEAR, PED — a whole raft of compliance that you need to be knowledgeable about, advise your customers on and to incorporate within your own product. On top of that, you’ve got your compressors and ancillary equipment and how you can select it, along with your optimum capacities for that application. At Wolseley Climate, we can pass on this knowledge to contractors.” He says that owning projects with the contractor directly is a huge benefit to customers, with Wolseley Climate being able to fully support them all the way to the final handover, including aftersales assistance on site, with the company’s end-to-end service also delivering supply chain benefits. www.wolseley.co.uk/cooling- information/

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