Leminar Air Conditioning on October 25 conducted a seminar in Dubai to launch Rheem’s range of low-height air handlers and to showcase the US-headquartered manufacturer’s outdoor condensing units in the GCC region. The outdoor units are available from 1.5 tonnes of refrigeration (TR) to 3 TR. They will be available in the range starting from 3.5 TR to 5.5 TR from Q1 2018.

Jeff Goss, Senior Manager, Product Management and Business Development, Rheem, helmed the launch by making a presentation, titled, ‘360°+1 Design Philosophy at Work’, in which he said a 360-degree approach had been at the heart of Rheem since 2010, when the company started redesigning its HVAC products, with performance, serviceability, installability and integration as the core virtues. The virtues, he said, had helped the company meet the specific requirements of the GCC region, characterised by high-ambient conditions and a corrosive environment.

Elaborating, Goss said Rheem’s emphasis on performance had resulted in a product with an EER exceeding 13 in T1 conditions, which he added, met Trakhees, Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC) and ESMA standards and qualified for Estidama’s Pearl 2 rating. Goss added it was not enough to raise efficiency alone and that it was important to be mindful of capacity. “So for T3, we offer best-in-class capacities,” he said. “Our units have been tested across multiple ambients from 35 degrees C to 52 degrees C, which have been certified by UL.”

Speaking on the longevity of the product and how it contributed to the performance, Goss said the cabinets, painted in polyster-based material, had passed through 1,008 hours of salt-spray-corrosion testing to ensure that a scratch or a chip in the unit, did not result in the corrosion spreading to the rest of the product. “This focus on durability is the reason why products installed here 30 years ago are still operating well,” Goss said.

Speaking then on installability, Goss said such qualities as a sturdy cabinet, simplicity, convertible return air arrangement and flexibility in the drain connection contributed to ease of installation on site. Rheem’s focus on making the commissioning of the product as easy as possible, he added, meant easy hi/lo voltage hookup.

Elaborating on the simple nature of the unit, he said the absence of complex electronics ensured reliability and no breakdown in operation. “No electronics, no harmonics, no downtime,” he said. Also the slim nature of the air handler, measuring 10.5 inches in height, even for 3TR capacity, helped ensure it could go easily into tight spaces, he said. The convertible return air arrangement, he added, was another important feature. “The feature enables easy conversion from vertical to horizontal orientation for ease of installation,” he said. “So where we have a space constraint, we can install and get proper flow to the product.”

Goss said the new unit had provision for multiple filter options, in the form of separate locking spaces, which meant it allowed for installation of additional media, if needed. Switching focus to the long pipe length, as another important installation feature, Goss said the total equivalent piping up to 300 feet and a vertical separation up to 150 feet were the reasons behind the success story of Rheem’s installations in Sharjah, to name one place. “You can give an elegant look to the building and don’t need to install in the balcony,” he said. “It can be done in the roof or the basement.”

Turning his attention to serviceability, Goss spoke of how the ability to drop the filter from the bottom of the units was an important example of the thought Rheem had applied while making design decisions. He listed other features like ease of access to the electrical section through the service panel, ease of access of the drain pan through the bottom without disturbing the installation, and a removable fan deck, which gave blower motor access from the bottom.

Pramodh Idicheria, Executive Director, Leminar, who held centre-stage prior to Goss, spoke of how Leminar was the largest distributor of Rheem products outside of the United States. Leminar, he said, held AED 40 million worth of Rheem products at any given point in time in its 120,000 square feet of storage space across the UAE, thus ensuring it was never short of supplies.

In his address, Idicheria listed out other brands that Leminar represented, including Armacell, Frese, Mueller and Weicco. He added that the company went beyond supplying products, though. “We do demand control ventilation, hydraulic calculation, pump room calculation, CFD calculation and heat-load calculation,” he said. “So we are not just a supplier but go beyond.”