News Feed

Australia faces high refrigerant prices and shortages

The Australian Government introduced legislation in 2017 to phase down high-GWP refrigerants, on the assumption that the industry would gradually transition to newer, lower-impact alternatives. This transition has not occurred at the expected pace, and equipment using older technologies has continued to be purchased and used.

Refrigerants Australia has previously urged the Australian Government to implement regulatory reform covering commercial refrigeration and air conditioning. This includes a GWP limit on new equipment from 2026.

New refrigerant regulations and pricing changes in Australia from early 2026 are driven by the ongoing HFC phase-down. This is expected to result in a 19% reduction in import quotas, increased scarcity, and higher costs for high-GWP refrigerants such as R410A, R407C, and R32.

Part of this reform includes a proposed bulk import ban from 2028 and a proposed service ban from 2030. This may create significant supply and demand constraints and may affect replacement / repair options for existing equipment.

This regulatory change places additional pressure on the air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC) industry, which was listed on the critical trades list in December 2024.

Heat and Health Research Centre study on critical humidity temperatures

A multidisciplinary team of researchers is striving to understand the health impacts of extreme heat exposure on human life.

Critical Humidity is an environmental threshold at which no person would be able to survive for six hours. New research indicates that Critical Humidity, defined as a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C, means the air temperature is 35 degrees with 100% humidity.

According to Ollie Jay, a professor of heat and health and the director of the university’s Heat and Health Research Centre, there is mounting evidence suggesting the limit may be lower than initially thought.

“We don’t want to be sleepwalking into a scenario where we think that these future conditions are going to be survivable when, in fact, they’re not going to be,” Professor Jay says.

Heat Watch is a web-based application that personalises heat health risks with a weekly forecast.

Click the link

Proudly supporting Greenfleet

Greenfleet is a leading not-for-profit environmental organisation taking practical climate action. Insight Control Services is proud to be partnering with Greenfleet to offset our service vehicles carbon emissions.

Super Cool Asia & CSIRO study finds energy savings through preventive maintenance.

QBCC licence changes to the HVAC industry commence 1st January 2020

Introducing QR Code Asset Management.

Insight Control Services offers our clients QR code asset management. With every asset assigned with a high-quality durable, UV resistant QR code, which is then linked to our job management software. 

Benefits of QR code asset management, is each time the asset is serviced or repaired, the QR code is scanned providing asset details and service log history.

One of the QR code key features is the clients ability to scan and view asset details through there mobile phone camera, while also being able to report an issue associated with that asset and instantly sending a message to our job management software. We also provide our clients an annual asset lists per site.

QR Code Asset Management, offering smart client solutions.