Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning has launched its first cold-climate variable refrigerant flow (VRF) heat pump in North America. The high-efficiency air365 Max with HeatForce is a VRF heating and cooling system that delivers comfort, energy efficiency and easy installation and maintenance. It can operate at 100% heating capacity with outdoor temperatures as low as -13 degrees F. and at 90% heating capacity down to -22.
SmoothDrive 2.0 allows the system to control compressor rotation speed with precision of 0.1 Hz per step, increasing energy efficiency at partial load. The ability to directly control the capacity, even at low loads, increases efficiency up to 39% under part-load conditions and decreases running costs, leading to lowered carbon emissions. Available with heat pump and heat recovery modes up to 24 tons and features an Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of up to 12, as well as a Coefficient of Performance (COP) up to 4.2 without the use of a backup auxiliary heat source.
