Mark Menzer, vice president of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), Arlington, Va., offered the North American perspective. "The use of heat pumps has grown slowly but steadily in North America," he commented. "Recent natural gas price increases make the use of heat pumps more attractive. The pending increase in the minimum efficiency mandated by the federal government will result in a smaller variety but higher-efficiency units for sale."
That efficiency increase, plus the transition to HFC refrigerants, means that "significant redesign can be expected," he said, for efficiency enhancements, refrigerant changes, and refrigerant containment.