Prohibition on single split air-conditioning systems with HFCs of GWP 750 or more

From 1 January 2025, single split air-conditioning systems containing less than 3kg of fluorinated greenhouse gases with a global warming potential (GWP) of 750 or more may no longer be placed on the market¹. The restriction appears in the F-gas rules as proposed Item 12a, listed in a 2014 government-commissioned review of refrigerants in heat pumps alongside earlier bans on equipment containing HFCs with GWP of 2,500 or more from 1 January 2020 and GWP of 150 or more from 1 January 2022¹.

Manufacturer guidance describes the same date and threshold. Daikin states that from 1 January 2025 only products containing a refrigerant with a GWP below 750 may be placed on the market for split systems with a charge below 3kg, covering both air-to-water and air-to-air split equipment². Toshiba's guidance gives the same rule for mono split-system room air conditioners containing less than 3kg of refrigerant⁴.

The restriction applies to the point of placing on the market, not to equipment already installed. Products with higher-GWP refrigerants can still be sold, maintained and repaired for their full lifetime provided they were placed on the market before the ban date, according to Daikin². Daikin adds that a unit bought before the ban may still be installed and operated after it comes into force, because the decisive factor is when the product was placed on the market².

Further product bans follow on a published timetable.

Daikin's air-to-water page lists the 2027 monobloc threshold as applying to self-contained systems up to 12kW and above 12kW up to 50kW, and its air-to-air page lists the 2029 split threshold of GWP below 150 for systems up to 12kW². The two pages agree on the 2025 date and threshold.

Alongside the product bans, the regulation sets a phase-down of the quantities of HFC refrigerants available on the market from 1 January 2025, applying only to newly placed HFCs; recycled and reprocessed refrigerant is not affected by the new quota, and HFO refrigerants are not affected by the phase-down². Toshiba describes the phase-down as a gradual reduction of HFC quantities down to 21 per cent in 2030, and states that there are no restrictions on using R-410A to service equipment, with 21 per cent of the reference level still available after 2030 for servicing⁴. Toshiba also reports that between 2016 and 2018 prices of refrigerant used for heat pump air conditioners rose by approximately 500 per cent⁴.

"From January 1, 2025, only products containing a refrigerant with a global warming potential (GWP) < 750 may be placed on the market for split systems with a charge below 3kg."

Why it matters for households

The rule changes what can be sold new, not what can stay in a home. A single split system already installed, or one placed on the market before 1 January 2025, can continue to be used, maintained and repaired². For a household replacing an old unit or fitting one for the first time, the equipment on offer from 2025 must use a refrigerant below the 750 GWP threshold, which in practice means lower-GWP options such as R-32, described by Toshiba as having roughly one third the GWP of R-410A⁴.

Refrigerant choice also touches servicing. Toshiba states that R-410A alternatives are mildly flammable and cannot be used to retrofit existing equipment designed for non-flammable R-410A, and that retrofitting should not be attempted⁴. It adds that servicing R-410A equipment should remain possible for the foreseeable future under the phase-down⁴. Daikin notes that where safety constraints at the site make a compliant installation impossible, product bans may not apply².

For a home's energy independence, the practical effect is on the equipment available at the point of purchase and on the refrigerant a system runs on, rather than on the heat or cooling it delivers. The F-gas split system ban guide sets out the dates, and the wider regulation and policy section covers related scheme rules.

What happens next

In 2030 the EU Commission will evaluate whether the post-2030 product bans are technologically feasible, and amendments to bans taking effect after 2030 remain possible depending on that report². Daikin also lists a 2030 review of whether a complete ban on newly marketed HFC refrigerants from 2050 is feasible, with an unrestricted ban from 1 January 2050 depending on the result of a review in 2040². No UK-specific commencement date or implementing instrument for the 2025 restriction appears in these sources.

Sources4 cited

1. Eunomia_-_DECC_Refrigerants_in_Heat_Pumps_Final_Report.pdf, assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
2. Air-to-water heat pump bans of the EU F-gas regulation | Daikin, daikin.co.uk
3. Air-to-air heat pump & air conditioner bans of the EU F-gas regulation | Daikin, daikin.co.uk
4. Microsoft Word - R32 Common Questions 120418, toshiba-aircon.co.uk