Time to get your refrigeration estate in order
Matt Noon, Divisional Director at Integral Cooling Tech, explains why refrigeration uncertainty should prompt organisations to assess ageing assets, plan strategically and prepare now for future regulatory change.
Defra has confirmed that the existing HFC phase-down step will go ahead as planned from January 2027, having ruled out legislating for a tighter schedule this year. Beginning on 1st January 2027, Defra confirmed, the HFC phase-down will limit production and imports to 24% of the UK’s 2015 baseline level, then fall again to 21% in 2030.
While many will welcome the latest announcement, it only really settles the near-term question. A wider reform of the UK’s phase-down remains under consideration, with the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (FETA) warning that the direction of travel hasn’t changed.
For large organisations, that leaves capital investment decisions around replacing or upgrading refrigeration plant in a familiar holding pattern. In the meantime, sites will continue running legacy systems without a clear view of how long they can realistically be supported.
The answer isn’t to wait for certainty that may be some way off but to put proper refrigeration management planning in place now, so that whatever direction regulation eventually takes, the organisation is ready to respond rather than react.
Start with an accurate picture
Many organisations simply do not have an up-to-date, site-wide view of their refrigeration estate: what refrigerants are in use, the condition of the assets and how much genuine life is left in them. Without that information, decisions get made reactively, usually after a failure or a leak, rather than as part of a considered plan.
A proper asset survey addresses this directly. It should capture accurate refrigerant and equipment data across every site, cross-reference it against F-gas registers and record the physical condition of each system. This is the foundation everything else builds on.
Map life expectancy
Once the data exists, assets can be mapped against realistic life expectancy over the next five years, covering both best and worst case scenarios. This matters because a system that looks fine on inspection may still be approaching the end of its useful life once efficiency losses and refrigerant availability are factored in.
This is particularly relevant for systems that have already been through one or more refrigerant retrofits. Retrofitting can extend compliance, but it typically comes with an efficiency penalty. Cooling demand stays the same while the system’s ability to meet it gradually declines, even though nothing looks visibly wrong. Left unaddressed, the resulting energy cost can end up exceeding the capital investment the organisation was trying to defer.
Match refrigerant choice to the site
Where replacement or new installation is being planned, refrigerant selection should be based on the specifics of the building and its operational demands, rather than a single default answer. Building ownership, expected asset life and how long the system needs to perform reliably all shape the right choice.
Ammonia remains the most energy efficient refrigerant available and has a strong track record in industrial settings, though it comes with higher upfront cost and a smaller pool of trained engineers able to maintain it. CO2 continues to gain ground in logistics and industrial facilities, helped by faster installation, a broader skills base and easier access to maintenance support.
Neither is a universal answer and within CRE environments the use of hydrocarbons is becoming more prevalent. The right approach depends on the site, the risk profile for the client and building and how quickly support needs to be available if something goes wrong.
Plan now, decide later
None of this requires committing to wholesale replacement today. What it does require is visibility: a clear survey of current assets, an honest assessment of remaining life and a refrigerant strategy that reflects the building’s actual operational needs. Organisations that put this in place now will be in a far stronger position to act decisively once the regulatory picture becomes clearer, rather than scrambling to catch up.
