54 Company profile
The patented RetroPump heat pump system offers increased energy savings at a lower cost than conventional heat pumps.
Robyn Grimsley
MD Aircon & Refrigeration
MD Aircon & Refrigeration is a local company specialising in service and innovation in air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pumps. Robyn Grimsley sat down with the company director and founder, Derick Gomez, to find out more.
Started in 2011 by Derick Gomez, MD Aircon & Refrigeration specialises in the supply, fitment and maintenance of air-conditioning, refrigeration and domestic heat pump systems. The company also offers the patented RetroPump heat pump system, designed to minimise cost and maximise energy efficiency.
Derick, who has OTTC diplomas in electrical, refrigeration and air conditioning, previously worked for Air Cuadrado, Concord Air, Climatron and Raya Engineering. Together with his uncle, retired mechanical engineer Chuchi Cenizo, Derick is also co-inventor of the RetroPump system.
“ I started out working for my father’ s duct-erecting company, Air Cuadrado, where I learnt plumbing and ducting. When he passed away, I discovered that my true passion and calling was air conditioning, which I then expanded to include the closely related field of refrigeration. I am very passionate about what I do, and I felt that I was being pressured to do work that I considered substandard— I would rather give the customer product that is beautiful, functional, and showcases quality workmanship, than focus only on function,” he explains.
Vision and mission MD’ s mission is to achieve service excellence through quality workmanship and dedication to upholding customer relations. The company’ s vision is to capture
10 % of the South African water heating systems market within the next five years, and in so doing step away from the all-too-common unrealistic claims on performance by providing substantiated claims for their products.
Innovation: the RetroPump The energy-efficient RetroPump came about as the result of difficulties Derick experienced when trying to enter the heat pump market.“ I met a gentleman from ThermalWise a few years earlier who introduced me to heat pumps. I was keen to get into the market because I could see that heat pumps were selling and there was a need for energy saving. He guided me, showed me how to do the calculations on energy saving and how to sell the product to the customer. Unfortunately, the customers I was dealing with perceived the end cost of the pumps as being too high,” he explains.
So he started thinking about ways to streamline the product— to make it simpler and more cost effective. He consulted his uncle, and Cenizo came up with the unique idea of using thermal syphon technology for hot water. And after three— expensive— years of R & D, they achieved a working prototype. The RetroPump has been on the market since November 2015, and already a number of clients, including International Plumbing House( IPH), have seen a tangible benefit from the heat pump since implementing it in early 2016.
The RetroPump uses the same principle as conventional pumps, but with a different system. Like a conventional pump, the RetroPump has a compressor, a fan, and a thermostat that will switch off the unit. The uniqueness of the system lies in the coil, fabricated by MD, which replaces the traditional heat exchanger or condenser. MD also produces the flanges for the geysers to suit the PCDs. The company keeps additional stock on hand for use as spares and back-ups.
Derick explains that with conventional heat pumps, the water is pumped from the tank or geyser to the heat pump, where it is heated and then pumped back again. In contrast, the MD RetroPump replaces the electrical element of a geyser, increasing efficiency by heating water in the tank where it is stored. This also means that there are fewer opportunities for things to go wrong,
February 2017 Volume 22 I Number 12