Events and Exhibitions
DAIKIN LAUNCHES FIRST
R32 UNIT IN SA
Daikin is first-to-market in South Africa with its range of R32 split units that
were officially launched at two functions at the end of 2018. Its new managing
director was also introduced at the events.
D
aikin announced its range of energy-efficient Sky Air R32
split units to the industry with two launch events. The
Johannesburg event took place on 31 October 2018 at Urbanologi,
with Cape Town following the next day on 1 November at Just
Like Papa.
Although R32 (an HFC) split units have been popular
worldwide for some time now, Daikin is the first supplier to
bring these units into South Africa, leading what they call the
‘BlueVolution’ mission. They urged various stakeholders present
(including distributors, contractors, and other industry members)
to “join the future”.
In Cape Town, Daikin Cape Town branch manager, Tory
Sabatti, formally welcomed everyone to the event and introduced
the new managing director, Koen Van Wynendaele*.
Michael Bynens, Daikin South Africa’s corporate and sales
planning manager, then shared a brief history of the company and
the timeline in terms of its product development leading up to
this launch. He spoke about where Daikin started and where the
company is heading, highlighting the fact that Daikin South Africa
will also take on the local refrigeration market in 2019 with their
extensive global product range.
Liam Mackenzie, Daikin South Africa sales director, was up
next to go into more detail about R32 as a refrigerant and why the
company has moved towards this option. He looked at a history
of refrigerants and shared future trends before going into the
Team Daikin at the Cape Town launch.
16
RACA Journal I January 2019
The new R32 units were on display at the launch events.
technical properties of the refrigerant and motivating why it is a
good idea to switch to R32.
He compared R32 to R310A and R290 alternatives, and
showed a video proving how difficult it is to ignite R32, addressing
concerns over its A2L mildly flammable status. He also got a bit
more practical and looked at how one would change from R410A,
including how the tooling differs.
Bynens then introduced the actual BlueVolution product
R32 residential split unit range, which is now available in South
Africa. This includes the Emura, Perfera, and Sensira ranges,
the first two of which he looked at in detail, communicating the
various new and exciting features.
Mackenzie then spoke about the new Sky Air A-series before
Bynens closed off by announcing that all Daikin units will now
www.hvacronline.co.za