The air conditioning market shifted to R32 faster than most installers had time to fully absorb what that shift means for the installation itself. A GWP of roughly 675 – significantly lower than R410A – is good regulatory news. But the A2L classification that came with R32 isn’t a label on a cylinder. It’s a specific set of requirements that EN 378 places on system design, installation, and servicing.
Where the A2L Class Came From
The A2L class was introduced into standard PN-EN 378-1 in 2017, carved out from the broader A2 class of mildly flammable refrigerants. The distinction lies in flame propagation speed: A2L refrigerants spread fire more slowly than classic A2 substances, meaning lower risk at the same basic flammability level. R32, R452B, and R454B fall into this category. By comparison, propane (R290) -despite an excellent GWP of around 3 – falls into the far more demanding A3 class, highly flammable.
This distinction isn’t academic. It determines what safeguards, what ventilation, and what spatial restrictions apply to a given installation.
What “Mildly Flammable” Means for Installation in Practice
It’s easy to reduce the A2L topic to “is R32 safe.” The answer is: yes, within the limits the system was designed for. The problem shows up when an installer treats the switch from R410A to R32 as a cylinder swap rather than a change in the system’s design parameters. Charge limit, plant room ventilation, detector placement – these are elements that need to be calculated for the specific installation, not copied from the previous project.
The GWP ≥ 2500 servicing ban, in effect since January 2026 [DO UZUPEŁNIENIA PRZEZ KLIENTA: internal link to the August article on the F-gas ban], is accelerating this shift – more and more installations will run on A2L-class refrigerants, not because it’s a trendy choice, but because high-GWP alternatives are simply running out.
Summary for an Installer Deciding on a Refrigerant Today
A2L isn’t an obstacle – it’s the new design standard. It requires calculating the charge limit for the specific room, confirming the team has the right training, and treating the flammability classification as a design parameter rather than a footnote on a data sheet. Companies that do this now avoid corrections at handover – and questions from the investor that are hard to answer after the fact.
Contact your Entalpia Europe regional representative to check A2L refrigerant availability and technical documentation for your project.
