I am proud to say that RefrigerantHQ has been mentioned in quite a few different websites in their ‘Top HVAC Websites,’ section. These various post are a great way for an audience on one site to discover a related site that they may have not known about in the past. Thanks to these posts I have seen an increase in traffic so I thought that I would return the favor by compiling a best of here as well.
My website, RefrigerantHQ, is a niche within a niche. Yes, I see my site as part of the HVAC industry but as you all know we tend to focus only on the refrigerant or air-conditioning side of the world. While there are many top ten or top whatever sites in the HVAC industry I thought that I would take the time today and put together a top listing of all of the best refrigerant sites out there. The sites listed below are all highly regarded and respected. Most of the time when I am writing an article I will either get the idea from one of these sites or I will refer to them as a source. Let’s take a look.
#1) – Cooling Post
The Cooling Post is a website based out of the United Kingdom. Like my website they tend to focus only on the refrigerant and air conditioning aspect of the industry. I have them ranked as number one in my listing as they provide a great, steady, and late-breaking news on the industry. Chances are if something has happened the Cooling Post will have an article about it. I try to reference them as much as a I can as a reputable source. If you haven’t already subscribed to their newsletter then I would highly recommend doing so! It is sent out twice a week and there is usually always an interesting topic related to our niche.
#2) – ACHRNews
I’m sure most of you have heard of ACHRNews. They have been around as a magazine for nearly one-hundred years. While they focus on anything and everything in the heating and cooling world they do offer very detailed articles and updates on the refrigeration side of things as well. Their subscription base looks to be mainly composed of contractors and technicians.
Depending on the article these guys can either cover a broad topic or they dive down into the weeds and details of certain applications. I would suggest subscribing if you are a small business owner or someone who is just looking to keep up with all of the changes in the HVAC industry. Personally, I use ACHRnews as a reference and a source for quite bit of my articles as well.
#3) – RACPlus
RAC is out of the United Kingdom just like the Cooling Post is. RAC is another website and magazine dedicated to the refrigerant and air conditioning world. While some of their stories may be European Union centered I can assure you that they do a variety of international stories including covering the United States. Just today I signed up for their monthly print magazine and I’m looking forward to diving into it when the first edition arrives.
While I have used RAC as a source in the past I do not see them as often as I see the previous Cooling Post and ACHRnews. That’s not to say that they don’t provide great articles, they do, but sometimes it is not the exact kind of story that I am looking for on my site.
Something kind of neat that I would like to mention here is that they are putting on a ‘2018 Cooling Awards,’ program. The official link can be found by clicking here. There are many different categories to win. The 2017 winners can be found by clicking here.
#4) – SHECCO
Shecco is an interesting company. They are a company dedicated to advancing and promoting natural refrigerants. Instead of having one centralized site they run a variety of websites, magazines, and publications. As an example, R-744.com is owned and ran by Shecco. This website is anything and everything related to CO2 refrigerants. Another website of theirs Ammonia21.com is, you guessed it, dedicated to Ammonia (R-717) in refrigerant applications.
On top of their various websites they also host an annual tradeshow out of Long Beach, California. 2018’s show is this June and there are expected to be around four-hundred and fifty experts, policy/law makers, and end users attending. Registration for the event can be found by clicking here. While I was planning to attend this year I now found that I am unable due to a family medical issue. I’m hoping for next year!
Shecco’s various sites:
#5) – iiar
Iiar is another advocate group for natural refrigerants including Ammonia. This site is more a lobbying group. I say this as their address is in Virginia and their board of directors are all come from various large companies across the United States as well as outside of the US. I would take most of their articles with a grain of salt. This website provides occasional news and updates on natural refrigerants and I have used them as a source or reference a few times, but nowhere near as much as the previous sites.
#6) – ClimateControlNews
Again, this isn’t a site that I have used very often but they do provide informative articles and updates. Climate Control News is based out of Australia which is great as I usually don’t see too much news coming from over there. Most of the time I only end up reading about western changes either from the United States or the European Union. This website actually gave me the idea for a story I did the other day about a new refrigerant phone application that will soon give us the first accurate measurement on how much charge is left in a dying or scrapped air conditioning system. (Story can be found here.)
#7) – LindeGas
While this isn’t a news or magazine site I find myself using Linde’s website quite often when I am looking for specific facts about a certain refrigerant. For example, if I didn’t know the exact GWP of R-134a or the ASHRAE safety classification then I simply go to Google and type in, “Linde R-134a.” Bam, I get exactly what I needed.
As you can see from the above link, this page gives you a break down of all applications 134a can be used for, GWP, Ozone depletion potential, oil requirements, and much more information. This is my go to site when looking for refrigerant specifics.
Honorable Mention – ACRJournal
My honorable mention here is the ACR Journal out of the United Kingdom. While I haven’t personally sourced from them I can say that after browsing their site they look to have some good articles. I did notice that they haven’t updated for a month or two, so you won’t get as much news from them as say a Cooling Post subscription but it may still be worth your time to look this site over.
Conclusion
Well folks, that’s my listing of top refrigerant sites for 2018. Now I know that I have missed some sites. It’s bound to happen. I’m hoping that if you run a site or if you know of a site that wasn’t included in this listing to please send the information my way. If I feel that it fits into this listing then I will edit the article and add your suggestion. The goal here is to provide a great and ever building list for everyone to source from.