Heat pumps of all kinds – air/air, air/water and VRFs in the tertiary sector – are in strong development. The new products adapt to the F-Gas regulation and use low GWP fluids, R290 and R32
THE Bosch group which, in July 2024, acquired the HVAC activities (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) intended for the small tertiary sector and residential buildings of Johnson Controls and Hitachi brandswants to climb into the top three or four heat pump brands in France.
On September 18, the group presented its strategic orientations to the press. On September 22, the Mitsubishi Electric group, one of the first three heat pump players in Francepresented its own technical and strategic choices, including the brand new DRV (Variable Refrigerant Flow) YXM with R32.
Bosch Home Comfort’s virtual reality tool allows the installer to show their customer how the heat pump fits into the exterior of their home. © Bosch Home Comfort
R290 for Bosch outdoor monobloc heat pumps
The Bosch group markets thermodynamic equipment in France under two brands: Hitachi and Boschboth belonging to his division Bosch Home Comfort. We learned along the way thatelm leblanc, another brand of the group in France, will not manufacture or market heat pumps. Which amounts to depriving this brand of a strong growth market, confining it to bath heaters and wall-mounted gas boilers. They are no longer manufactured in Drancy, the site has stopped all manufacturing activity, except that of spare parts. Elm Leblanc gas generators are now manufactured in Portugal and Turkey.
Bosch Home Comfort presented its Compress 3800i AW outdoor air/water packaged heat pump, sold under the Bosch brand. Its five models of 4, 6, 7 kW single fan and 10 and 13 kW double fan all use R290 and maintain their power, without electrical backup, up to an outside temperature of -7°C for a water leaving temperature of up to 55°C. Its maximum leaving water temperature reaches 75°C. Its energy efficiency class is A+++, with seasonal energy efficiency above 140% for all models at 55°C and noise emissions limited to 30 dB(A) at 3 m. It is equipped with a 6 kW single-phase or 9 kW three-phase electrical resistance for the most powerful models. The R290 is confined in the exterior group by eight safety devices, therefore, the exclusion zone around the heat pump is reduced. The outdoor unit, only 800 mm high, can also be placed under a window.
The Compress 3800i AW heat pump is associated with three types of indoor units: wall-mounted heating only, column for the production of DHW with one heating circuit, column for the production of DHW with two heating circuits. It is available with one or two fans depending on the power. © Bosch Home Comfort
For its next split heat pump – with fluid connection – both under the Hitachi brand than under the Bosch brandthe Bosch group plans to use R454C, classified A2L, whose GWP is 148. R454C is a non-azeotropic mixture composed of 21.5% R-32 and 78.5% R-1234yf. The group notes that triple-service air/air heat pumps are highly valued in the RE2020 calculations, significantly more than gas condensing boilers. The group is also considering the near launch of monosplit air/air heat pump with R290as well as that of the TopFlow range of DRVs up to 150 kW of unit power, cascadeable up to 3. But now, the Mitsubishi Electric group has blown them with the launch on September 22, 2026 of its new R32 YXM DRV.
The DRV YXM is available in powers from 20 to 60 kW, cascadeable up to 120 kW. © Mitsubishi Electric
The new DRV YXM with R32 from Mitsubishi Electric
Intended for tertiary buildings and collective housing buildings, the new DRV City Multi YXM with R32 from Mitsubishi Electric offers a seasonal energy efficiency improvement of 28% compared to the previous range. Its operating range extends from -25 to +52°C outside air temperature. A single system can provide heating and cooling with up to 50 indoor units, with up to 1,000 m of refrigeration connection, 90 m in length after the first Tee and up to 90 m of height difference between the groups and the furthest indoor unit, thus meeting the needs of office buildings, hotels or establishments open to the public. The DRV YXM is available in powers from 20 to 60 kW, cascadeable up to 120 kW. R32 with its GWP of 675 can be used in DRVs until 2033 according to the current version of the F-Gas regulation.
The DRV YXM contains the new patented Vertical Flat Tube (VFT) heat exchanger, which sets a new benchmark in energy efficiency and performance. The innovative design of the flat aluminum tubes, with a double-tube structure in the collector, ensures particularly even distribution of the refrigerant. This results in a significantly larger heat transfer surface – and therefore significantly reduced energy consumption, both in cooling and heating mode. Thanks to its segmented heat exchanger sections, the system continuously adapts to requirements and allows additional efficiency reserves to be exploited. Smooth fins, which reduce dirt deposits to a minimum, and integrated drain grooves, which ensure rapid water drainage and more efficient defrosting processes, guarantee hygienically optimized operation. © PP
Mitsubishi Electric has incorporated safety devices into the YXM components that allow compliance with the installation conditions of the EN 378 standard for A2L fluids: leak detectors in each indoor unit, visual and audible alerts, isolation valves that automatically isolate the network segments where a leak would occur, while the rest of the installation would continue to operate normally. © PP
The DRV City Multi YXM uses indoor units, capable of work with both R410A and R32to facilitate the management of controls and indoor units by installers. The YXM is available in four different versions, including one with heat recovery and another classic. These two ranges are also available in Premium versions which reduce the refrigerant charge at equal power.
As in previous versions, the heat recovery version requires only two tubes and is based on distribution boxes identical to the previous ones. © PP
The YXM DRV is controlled by the MELCLOUD system on the M-NET communication bus. Gateways to KNX, BACNet and Modbus are available to locally connect a YXM system to a BMS.
