If you import or sell heat pumps, the refrigerant inside them just became a sourcing decision. The EU's revised F-gas Regulation ((EU) 2024/573, in force since 11 March 2024) keeps tightening the screw on high-GWP refrigerants — and R32, today's market standard, sits on the wrong side of the line.
The date that matters: 1 January 2027
From 1 January 2027, monobloc air-to-water heat pumps and self-contained air-conditioning up to 50 kW may no longer be placed on the EU market if they contain a fluorinated gas with a GWP of 150 or more (bar narrow safety exceptions). R32 sits at a GWP of 675 — well over the limit. In plain terms: new R32 monoblocs are on their way out.
Why R290 wins
R290 (propane) has a GWP of about 3 and is not a fluorinated gas at all, so the F-gas phase-down simply does not touch it. That is why the market is moving to R290 monobloc heat pumps — not out of panic, but because it is the future-proof choice that will not be regulated out from under you a few years after you have stocked it.
What it means if you import
R290 is flammable (classified A3), so the import has a few specifics worth getting right up front:
- ADR transport for the charged units on the road leg.
- EPREL registration and a complete CE / technical file — increasingly the first thing buyers (and marketplaces) check.
- Customs and origin handling — and, if you source from outside the EU, the duty and paperwork that come with it.
How Nexportal helps
This is exactly the kind of shipment where a forwarder with content earns its keep. Through Nexportal we handle the freight, the ADR road leg, customs and the compliance paperwork in one place — so the switch to R290 is a sourcing decision, not a logistics headache.
Sources: Regulation (EU) 2024/573 on fluorinated greenhouse gases (EUR-Lex); European Commission — F-gas legislation.