With our sensor solution for measuring A2L refrigerants, we are making a contribution to the safe transition to those that are more climate friendly. The heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) industry is currently experiencing one of its most significant regulatory changes in recent decades. As of January 1, 2025, most newly manufactured appliances in the US and Canada can only contain these new refrigerants.
This poses a serious challenge for established original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the HVACR industry. Sensirion plays a key role in supporting manufacturers. As a leading company in gas sensor technology with over 20 years of experience, we are very well established and ideally placed to meet the requirements.
New regulations in the US heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration market
The HVACR industry is in the midst of one of its biggest regulatory changes in decades with the transition to lower global warming potential refrigerants, which are often flammable A2L refrigerants. As of January 1, 2025, only systems using the new refrigerants may be manufactured in the US and Canada. This change is forcing OEMs to build systems with different safety mechanisms. OEMs must ensure that leaks in appliances with significant refrigerant loads are detected and trigger a system response to minimize any safety risks. To avoid concentrations above the critical flammability limit, sensors are used to detect leaks quickly, effectively and reliably.
Strengthening proximity to the end customer with complete solutions
To detect refrigerant leaks, we develop complete sensor solutions that can be used directly by the OEMs. These modules consist of a sensing core component, which is based on the measurement principle of thermal conduc- tivity, and other supporting electronic components – all housed together in a protective casing. The modules combine important properties such as durability, fast res- ponse time and robustness. They allow accurate and fast measurement even under the harshest environmental con- ditions while remaining a cost-efficient solution. More than 10 million such A2L sensors will be installed in air condi- tioning systems and heat pumps every year.
We develop different product variants to accommodate diverse customer requirements. They are based on the same measuring cell but otherwise differ greatly. Each customer project has to meet different criteria and the modules therefore have varied form factors, connectors or cables, electrical interfaces as well as refrigerant type support with tailored alarm thresholds.
This module strategy allows us to be a direct supplier and thus create closer contact with the OEM. As a result, we understand the use case better, gain experience together and can thus define the mission profile and requirements more precisely. This vertical integration helps us to actively shape the market together with the customer and be at the forefront of new innovations.
Sensirion’s refrigerant leakage sensors officially recognized by UL Solutions
All our refrigerant leak detection sensors are recognized by either UL Solutions or Intertek according to UL 60335-2-40. These certifications are a crucial prerequisite for the regulated use of our products and make them an indispensable component for residential and commercial systems. The certification helps HVACR application manufacturers to simplify product compliance and accelerate their time to market.
A2L as a great opportunity for Sensirion
Leakage sensors for the new A2L refrigerants are currently one of the biggest opportunities for Sensirion. We want to establish ourselves as the number one for A2L sensors to play a major role in this market in the future. We are continuously working with all the relevant key cutomers in the market across all subsidiaries. As a result, many employees are currently actively working on various A2L projects worldwide in the departments of R&D, Operations, Quality and Sales.
Innovations thanks to top team performance
The collaboration is based on an agile and dynamic mindset across all the departments involved. The team demonstrates a continuous willingness to go the extra mile at a fast pace, enabling short development cycles of just a few weeks. Behind this achievement are employees who are motivated and ambitious, and together pursue one goal: to bring the project successfully to the market. This is innovation!
Sensirion provides employees the “playground” to realize such innovations. There is a mixture of required procedures, boundaries and formalities combined with a certain degree of freedom in the way we work and the opportunity to take shortcuts – we call this the “Sensi-style”. It allows the team to make the difference together.
