11/23/2017 VRF or VRV ?

Learn About The Differences And VRF System Design

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VRV or VRF ?
e. info@coolautomation.co
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Whats the difference between VRV (skype:igor_mit_work?cha

and VRF? International +44 20 3286

(tel:+44-20-3286 5672)
Many people who ask this question, mistakenly interpret it as 2 UK +44 208 203 1105 (te
different HVAC technologies. Actually, those are two different 208-203 1105)
terms for the same type of HVAC technology. Based on
Inverter technology compressors, the rst VRV HVAC systems
UK Of ce
were invented by Daikin during the early 1980s. As a
technology leader in the HVAC industry, Daikin had registered > 85 Kenilworth Road
the VRV term (which stands for Variable Refrigerant Volume1) > London

as an of cial trademark. All other companies use VRF (Variable > HA8 8XA
Refrigerant Flow2) for their similar HVAC systems. Eventually, > United Kingdom
VRF is the more common term for these types of systems, and
this is the term that will be used for the rest of the article.
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VRF can easily be related to as the Rolls Royce of Air

Conditioning Systems. Its a very sophisticated technological
air conditioning system, based on several principles:

1. Refrigerant only where refrigerant is the only coolant

material in the system (in contrary to the chilled water

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systems, where refrigerant is used for cooling/heating

the water that is circulated throughout the whole
system).
2. Inverter compressors that allow lowering power
consumption with partial cooling/heating loads.
3. Several air handlers (indoor units) on the same
refrigerant loop / circuit.
4. Ability of modular expansion (especially applicable for
large projects, that can grow in stages).

Typical VRF system structure

A typical system consists of an outdoor unit (comprising one or
multiple compressors), several indoor units (often and
mistakenly called fan coils), refrigerant piping, running from
the outdoor to all indoors, using Refnet Joints (copper
distributors in pipes) and communication wiring.

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11/23/2017 VRF or VRV ? Learn About The Differences And VRF System Design

Communication wiring consists of a 2 wired cable, chained

from the outdoor to all indoors, creating an internal closed
loop network, that is an essential part of any VRF installation.

As for the Control, each indoor is controlled by its own wired

control panel, while there are some possibilities for wireless
remotes (IR) and centralized controllers, enabling controlling
all indoors from one location.

How does VRFwork?

The operation logic of the VRF is fully built-in inside the
system and is proprietary for each VRF manufacturer. The
system gets inputs from the user (e.g. desired comfort
temperature) and from the surroundings (outside ambient
temperature), and according to that data it implements its
logic in order to get to the desired comfort conditions, utilizing
optimal power consumptions.

The ability to adjust itself to the outdoor conditions is one of

the main factors that makes VRF systems so ef cient,
compared to the traditional water cooled systems, based on
chillers and fan coils.

Now, lets dive in, and see how it works in details. Lets take as
an example a typical VRF installation, with one outdoor unit
and multiple indoors.

At the beginning, the system is in standstill condition

(everything is turned off).

Once a user turns one of the indoors ON by its local remote,

the outdoor gets noted regarding it, and starts working. At
this point, it will examine the outdoor conditions
(temperature), the operating indoor requirements (operation

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11/23/2017 VRF or VRV ? Learn About The Differences And VRF System Design

mode, set point temperature), and will operate the compressor

at the exact level, required to comply with the indoor
requirements.

When another indoor unit is turned on, the outdoor

recalculates the requirements from all the indoors, and will
increase the compressors output, according to the required
level of demand.

This process is constantly occurring with any change,

performed in the HVAC system. As described, the VRF system
is fully automatic, and regulates its power consumption based
on the demand arriving from the indoor units and outside
prevailing conditions. User can have in uence on the desired
indoor comfort conditions, modifying: Operation mode
(on/off), Operation state (Cool/Heat/Fan/Dry/Auto), setpoint
temperature, fan speed (high/medium/low/auto). Controlling
those parameters is the only thing required for proper
operation, and the only thing that is required for proper
integration with the VRF system.

VRF System types

Cooling only systems (less popular) those systems can only
cool. Heating is not available. Fan and Dry modes are available
for each indoor unit independently.

Heat Pump systems (most popular) all the indoor units can
either heat, or cool (not at the same time). Fan and Dry modes
are available for each indoor unit independently.

Heat Recovery systems (less popular) those systems are the

most sophisticated ones, where cooling and heating may be
available by each indoor unit, independently, at the same time.

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11/23/2017 VRF or VRV ? Learn About The Differences And VRF System Design

Have any questions ?

Want to learn more about how to integrate HVAC
systems? drop us a line at info@coolautomation.com
(mailto:info@coolautomation.com)

Footnotes

1. http://www.daikin.com/products/ac/lineup/vrv/
(http://www.daikin.com/products/ac/lineup/vrv/)
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_refrigerant_ ow
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_refrigerant_ ow)

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